1st Edition

Race, Culture, and Schooling Identities of Achievement in Multicultural Urban Schools

By Peter C. Murrell, Jr. Copyright 2007
    232 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    226 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Responding to a need for greater cultural competence in the preparation and development of teachers in diverse public school settings, this book investigates the critical developmental and social processes mediating students’ academic identities in those settings posing the greatest challenges to their school achievement and personal development. It provides an accessible, practice-oriented culturally responsive framework for teachers in American schools.
     
    Murrell proposes a situated-mediated identity theory that emphasizes examining not just the child, not just the school environment, but also the child in-context as the unit of analysis to understand how both mutually constitute each other in the social and cultural practices of schooling. He then develops this theory into an applied psychology of identity and agency development among children and youth as well as their teachers, striving together for academic achievement in diverse school settings.
    For researchers, professionals, and students in multicultural education, educational and developmental psychology, social and cultural foundations of education, and teacher education, Murrell’s cultural practices approach builds on current thinking about multicultural teacher preparation and provides the practice component underpinning theories about cultural competence.

    Contents: Preface. Part I: Theoretical Framework. Dilemmas of Diversity in Urban Education: Race, Culture and Underachievement. Overview of Situated-Mediated Identity Theory. Cultural Practices Inquiry—Culturally Reading Individuals-in-Settings. Part II: Application of the Framework. The Construction of Academic Identities—Situativity, Positionality, and Agency in Intellectual Life. Communities of Achievement as Culturally Con-Figured Worlds. Acquisition of Cultural Practices of Achiever Identities as Learners. The Cultural Practices of Achiever Identities of Teachers. Epilogue.

    Biography

    Peter C. Murrell Jr.

    "[Murrell’s] bold statement on the impact of the community in which students learn on their learning and development .... along with a more comprehensive presentation of what constitutes cultural competency for working with diverse populations, clearly distinguish this book from many others addressing the achievement and education of marginalized youth." —Sandra Tutwiler, Washburn University

    Race, Culture, and Schooling is a thoughtful examination of the tendency among schools, particularly those in large, urban settings, to underserve "students of color" by failing to create or support meaningful opportunities for participating in school practices." -- Lindsey Hillyard, TESL-EJ, June 2008, Volume 12, Number 1