When I think about what the term urban means in today’s society, I have come to the conclusion that this term is used in reference to an inner city location with minorities. Through my studies I have come to realize that we live in a society where two schools can be located in the same neighborhood, but labeled urban only if a majority of the population is Black or Latino. This makes me question, what this means in regards to urban education and teachers who teach in an urban setting. In What Do You Mean When You Say Urban By: Dyan Watson, she looked at the relationship between how the word urban is usually used to refer to race. She found that most teachers used the term to refer to racial diversity, also known as, the presence of Black
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They describe the “imagined” component as being how we view the advances that neighborhood offers, “or a burden and problem of progress” (Leonardo & Hunter, 2007, p. 779) in that neighborhood. I live in an urban community, and I can see how they have come to this conclusion that the urban is grounded in facts and unreal expectations/beliefs. I think most urban neighborhoods are defined as urban based on a combination of facts and what we “think” an urban setting is through media portrayals and word of …show more content…
I think teachings who teach in urban schools, but don’t live in an urban neighborhood will have a difficult time connecting with those students if they have preconceived notions and beliefs of those students and their families. I think Brooklyn is an urban neighborhood, and I can’t help but notice that none of my teachers lived in Brooklyn when I was in school. And even today most teachers I have worked with during my fieldwork, as well as the teacher I am working with for student teaching, all come from Long Island, which is a suburban neighborhood. I have found that it’s hard to relate to students living in an urban environment if you don’t understand how life is their community and homes. But this doesn’t mean assuming all students from inner cities have “rough” lives, or that their parents don’t care about their education. And I mention this because, this is a common perception of minority students in urban
They describe the “imagined” component as being how we view the advances that neighborhood offers, “or a burden and problem of progress” (Leonardo & Hunter, 2007, p. 779) in that neighborhood. I live in an urban community, and I can see how they have come to this conclusion that the urban is grounded in facts and unreal expectations/beliefs. I think most urban neighborhoods are defined as urban based on a combination of facts and what we “think” an urban setting is through media portrayals and word of …show more content…
I think teachings who teach in urban schools, but don’t live in an urban neighborhood will have a difficult time connecting with those students if they have preconceived notions and beliefs of those students and their families. I think Brooklyn is an urban neighborhood, and I can’t help but notice that none of my teachers lived in Brooklyn when I was in school. And even today most teachers I have worked with during my fieldwork, as well as the teacher I am working with for student teaching, all come from Long Island, which is a suburban neighborhood. I have found that it’s hard to relate to students living in an urban environment if you don’t understand how life is their community and homes. But this doesn’t mean assuming all students from inner cities have “rough” lives, or that their parents don’t care about their education. And I mention this because, this is a common perception of minority students in urban