In this ethnographic study, Alexandra Freidus investigates the dilemmas of whiteness that challenge a youth-led campaign for school integration in New York City. Analyzing field observations, interviews, and internal documents, she illustrates the ways whiteness shaped young people's identities as allies and activists, contributed to an…

Background/Context: Spurred on by the mass migration of African Americans from the South and blacks from the Caribbean, Harlem by the 1920s was defined by its association with New Negro culture and was widely known as the "mecca" of black life. The New Negro movement, as the period was called by contemporaries, has become a focus of…

Purpose: Lead is a well-established environmental contaminant that over the last 50 years has become recognized as a neurotoxin with its greatest concern for the developing child (i.e. both in-utero and postnatally). What is problematic is that children exposed to lead often come from lower socioeconomic status (SES), are largely Black communities…

In this article, we examine one teacher's enactment of critical literacy pedagogy in a 7th-grade English language arts classroom in a New York City public school. By conceptualizing critical global literacies in relation to preservice and in-service teaching practices that reflect neoliberal interests, we attend to pedagogy inclusive of…

In this article we explore examples of public pedagogical actions and interventions, reading them through a social justice education framework lens. In our discussion we start with definitions of social justice, public pedagogy and case study methodologies. Then, we look at a variety of international examples to highlight the pervasiveness of…

The New York City Labor Chorus completed its 25th year in June of 2017. This paper comes after gathering of data for an ethnographic study of the chorus during the entire year, beginning September of 2016. The researcher had been a chorus member for five years and continued to be a participant while collecting data. This paper focuses on…

Social Activism Through Theater" chronicles the author's first full year as a teaching artist in New York City, including the launch of National Queer Theater and its inaugural show, Speechless, as well as his experiences investigating film and storytelling with teenagers at the Refugee Youth Summer Academy.

In the sixties, student-led protest movements transformed university and college campuses across the United States. The 1969 takeover at the City College of New York had arguably the most far-reaching consequences of all of the protests of this period. As the flagship campus of the City University of New York system, City College had a well-known…

Offers a historical overview of the role of social reformers in the formation of the New York City public school system in the early twentieth century. Considers the attitudes, motivations, and concerns of this group of largely middle and upper class men and women who had little direct involvement with public schools. (DMM)

College students who worked as interns for the Chinese Progressive Association in New York City in 1988 describe their experiences. They helped the organization with their energy, knowledge of computers, and bilingual skills. However, they were dismayed to see the political disenfranchisement and the gerrymandering which occurs in the Chinatown…

Describes student work in collecting data about the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island and how their research contributed to the decision to close the landfill. Includes discussion of research into other trash alternatives for the area. (DDR)

Describes a class project where New York City second graders worked with the community board of transportation to rename a street for an African American woman. The students succeeded in renaming 134th Street in honor of Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American educator. (MJP)

In this inventory of the main efforts at improvement in the New York City public schools since 1970, there is particular emphasis on activities from 1974 to 1976. Various kinds of programs are discussed including: educational programs; programs within traditional classroom settings and within alternative schools outside; public sector programs;…

Introduces ex-teacher and author John Taylor Gatto's experiences and views on education, including contradictory patterns of family life and education in the United States, based on traditions of various immigrant groups; deleterious impacts of standardization and institutional usurpation of family functions; and conflict between the development…

The recommendations resulting from the Community Conference are contained in this document. The conference focuses on the concept of community schools and its applicability to New York City. The concept involves expanding the use of schools as locations for voluntary activities and community service programs which serve not only the student…