Acts of Resistance: Student (In)visibility

Acts of Resistance: Student (In)visibility

Consent Decree, Community Psychology

Article on racism at Champaign Unit 4 School District.

From abstract:

This paper argues that public school structures are
oppressive for all students. Because of racial, class and gender
biases, school environments are often especially problematic for
African American and working-class/working-poor students.
Boys and girls also experience school differently because of
gender roles. These intersecting problems include facing
dominant narratives based on stereotypes and discrimination. The
current study took place in a school building that serves
predominately African American and low-income students. The
questions examined include: how does school silence children,
and how do children resist being silenced? Observational and
interview data indicate that children are disciplined into
invisibility by treating them stereotypically and consequently
demanding uniformity in their behavior as a way to control their
mostly colored bodies. Children resist such treatment through
creative and collaborative acts that promote their voice and
visibility and which critique the dominant narrative. In general,
students attempt to construct an alternative view that allows
another, student-generated narrative to emerge.

Regina Day Langhout

Culture & Psychology

2005

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