A Portrait of School-Community Change: Two Activists' Journey to Change an Urban Elementary School

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Biographical and Documentary SIG Poster Session

Abstract

The crisis often faced by too many disadvantage young African Americans, Latinos, and poor white males and females in inner city, suburbia, and rural America is the absence of assistance, support and personal development during a critical period in their lives. As a result of the trauma experienced by these students, it often manifests itself in destructive behavior leading to discipline problems in school. This study embedded the researchers at an urban school on Chicago’s south side during a major overhaul of the physical and philosophical changes in the school culture. Acting on the suggestion of the principal the researchers were invited in to install a restorative justice program and reclaim school culture to produce a more engaged learning environment.

Authors

• Marlon I. Cummings, Governors State University

• Shaka Rawls, University of Illinois at Chicago