Fugitive Learning in Schools: Extending Patel's Theory of Learning as Marronage

• In Event: 64.027 - Resisting Curricula of Oppression

Abstract

This paper extends Patel’s (2016) theory of learning as marronage, in which learning is characterized as a fugitive act that must be understood in relation to the oppressive structures in which it occurs. I first identify examples of fugitive learning within oppressive structures, locating these examples most prominently in historical and contemporary out-of-school contexts. Next, employing a theory of racial capitalism, I provide an overview of oppressive structures in education. Then, I examine a case study of one urban high school, identifying oppressive structures in this school and the subversive learning that occurs within these structures. This paper thus locates potential sites of, and provides a framework for understanding, fugitive learning within contemporary urban schools structured by racial capitalism.

Author

• Karen Zaino, CUNY Graduate Center