Unlike school-aged youth attending well-resourced suburban schools, working-class poor students attending inner-city public schools are oftentimes denied the opportunity to develop a sense of agency within their schools and communities. In this article, the author addresses one way that educators and researchers can encourage young people to engage in participatory processes of teaching and learning aimed at developing personal and collective agency. In addition, she describes how a group of university-based students participated in on-the-ground experiences that contributed significantly to their understandings of how individual and collective agency energizes teaching and research processes. The author embeds those discussions within the framework of a participatory action research project she engaged in with a group of middle school adolescents in the northeast region of the United States.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Anyon, J. (1997). Ghetto schooling: A political economy of urban educational reform. New York: Teachers College Press.
3.
Arhar, J. M., Holly, M. L., & Kasten, W. C. (2000). Action research for teachers: Traveling the yellow brick road. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
Atweh, B., Kemmis, S., & Weeks, P. (Eds.). (1998). Action research in practice: Partnerships for social justice in education. London: Routledge.
5.
Banks, J., & Banks, C. (Eds.). (2001). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.
6.
Bigelow, B., Christensen, L., Karp, S., Miner, B., & Peterson, B. (2001). Rethinking our classrooms: Teaching for equity and justice (Vol. 2). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.
7.
Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in a capitalist society. New York: Basic Books.
8.
Brydon-Miller, B. (1993). Breaking down barriers: Accessibility self-advocacy in the disabled community. In P. Park, M. Brydon-Miller, B. Hall, & T. Jackson (Eds.), Voices of change: Participatory research in the United States and Canada (pp. 125-144). Toronto, Canada: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
9.
Brydon-Miller, M., Maguire, P., & McIntyre, A. (2004). Traveling companions: Feminism, teaching, and action research. Westport, CT: Praeger.
10.
Burnaford, G., Fischer, J. C., & Hobson, D. (Eds.). (2001). Teachers doing research: The power of action through inquiry (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
11.
Chataway, C. J. (1997). An examination of the constraints on mutual inquiry in a participatory action research project. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 747-766.
12.
Children’s Defense Fund. (1999). The state of America’s children: Yearbook 1999. Washington, DC: Author.
13.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (Eds.). (1993). Inside/outside: Teacher research and knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press.
14.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Sclan, E. (1996). Who teaches and why: Dilemmas of building a profession for the twenty-first century schools. In J. Sikula, T. Butter, & E. Guyton (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 67-101). New York: MacMillan.
15.
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: New Press.
16.
Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
17.
Fals-Borda, O., & Rahman, M. A. (Eds.). (1991). Action and knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with participatory action research. New York: Apex Press.
18.
Farkas, G. (2003). Racial disparities and discrimination in education: What do we know, how do we know it, and what do we need to know?Teachers College Record, 105(6), 1119-1146.
19.
Fine, M. (1991). Framing dropouts: Notes on the politics of an urban high school. Albany: State University of New York Press.
20.
Fine, M., & Burns, A. (2003). Class notes: Toward a critical psychology of class and schooling. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 841-860.
21.
Flanagan, C. A., & Sherrod, L. R. (1998). Youth political development: An introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 447-456.
22.
Fordham, S. (1996). Blacked out: Dilemmas of race, identity, and success at Capital High School. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23.
Forester, J., Pitt, J., & Welsh, J. (1993). Profiles of participatory action researchers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Einaudi Center for International Studies and Department of City and Regional Planning.
24.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). New York: Seabury Press.
25.
George, A. (1996). Methodological issues in the ethnographic study of sexuality: Experiences from Bombay. In K. de Koning & M. Martin (Eds.), Participatory research in health: Issues and experiences (pp. 119-129). London: Zed Books.
26.
Greenwood, D. J., & Levin, M. (1998). Introduction to action research: Social research for social change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Haberman, M. (1996). Selecting and preparing culturally competent teachers for urban schools. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 747-760). New York: Simon & Schuster.
28.
Harris, C. (1993). Whiteness as property. Harvard Law Review, 106(8), 1709-1791.
29.
Hochschild, J. L. (2003). Social class in public schools. Journal of Social Issues, 59(4), 821-840.
30.
Hollingsworth, S. (Ed.). (1997). International action research: A casebook for educational reform. Washington, DC: Falmer.
31.
Khanna, R. (1996). Participatory action research (PAR) in women’s health: SARTHI, India. In K. de Koning & M. Martin (Eds.), Participatory research in health: Issues and experiences (pp. 62-71). London: Zed Books.
32.
Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities: Children in America’s schools. New York: Crown.
33.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
34.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2000). Fighting for our lives: Preparing teachers to teach African American students. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(3), 206-214.
35.
Lakes, R. D. (1996). Youth development and critical education: The promise of democratic action. Albany: State University of New York Press.
36.
Leadbeater, B. J. R., & Way, N. (1996). Introduction. In B. J. R. Leadbeater & N. Way (Eds.), Urban girls: Resisting stereotypes, creating identities (pp. 1-12). New York: New York University Press.
37.
Lykes, M. B. (1997). Activist participatory research among the Maya of Guatemala: Constructing meanings from situated knowledge. Journal of Social Issues, 53(4), 725-746.
38.
Lykes, M. B. (with the Association of Maya Ixil Women—New Dawn, Chajul, Guatemala). (2001). Creative arts and photography in participatory action research in Guatemala. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Toward research/practice (pp. 363-371). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
MacLeod, J. (1995). Ain’t no makin’it: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview.
40.
Maguire, P. (1987). Doing participatory research: A feminist approach. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, Center for International Education.
41.
McDonald, J. P. (1992). Teaching: Making sense of an uncertain craft. New York: Teachers College Press.
42.
McIntyre, A. (1997). Making meaning of whiteness: Exploring racial identity with white teachers. Albany: State University of New York Press.
43.
McIntyre, A. (2000). Inner-city kids: Adolescents confront life and violence in an urban community. New York: New York University Press.
44.
McIntyre, A. (2002). Exploring whiteness and multicultural education with prospective teachers. Curriculum Inquiry, 32(1), 31-50.
45.
McIntyre, A. (2003). Participatory action research and urban education: Reshaping the teacher preparation process. Equity and Excellence in Education, 36(1), 28-39.
46.
McIntyre, A. (2004). Women in Belfast: How violence shapes identity. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
47.
McQuillan, P. J. (1998). Educational opportunity in an urban American high school: A cultural analysis. Albany: State University of New York Press.
48.
Mickelson, R. A. (2003). When are racial disparities in education the result of racial discrimination? A social science perspective. Teachers College Record, 105(6), 1052-1086.
49.
Mohr, M. M., Rogers, C., Sanford, B., Nocerino, M., Maclean, M., Clawson, S., et al. (Eds.). (2003). Teacher research for better schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
50.
Musil, C. M. (2003). Educating for citizenship. Peer Review, Spring (pp. 4-8). Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
51.
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. (2003). No dream deferred: A pledge to America’s children. Washington, DC: Author.
52.
Oakes, J. (1990). Multiplying inequalities: The effects of race, social class, and tracking on opportunities to learn mathematics and science. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
53.
Paulsen, R. (1991, April). Education, social class, and participation in collective action. Sociology of Education, 64, 96-110.
54.
Preston-Whyte, E., & Dalrymple, L. (1996). Participation and action: Reflection on community-based AIDS intervention in South Africa. In K. de Koning & M. Martin (Eds.), Participatory research in health: Issues and experiences (pp. 108-118). London: Zed Books.
55.
Quality counts: “If I can’t learn from you...”: Ensuring a highly qualified teacher for every classroom. (2003, January 9). Education Week, 22(17).
56.
Quality counts: The urban challenge, public education in the 50 states. (1998). Education Week, 17(17).
57.
Reardon, K. M. (1994). Undergraduate research in distressed urban communities: An undervalued form of service-learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning, 1(1), 44-54.
58.
Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry & practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
59.
Ryan, J. E. (2003). Race discrimination in education: A legal perspective. Teachers College Record, 105(6), 1087-1118.
60.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
61.
Sleeter, C. E. (1996). Multicultural education as social activism. Albany: State University of New York Press.
62.
Tarpley, N. (1995). On giving testimony, or the process of becoming. In N. Tarpley (Ed.), Testimony: Young African Americans on self-discovery and Black identity (pp. 1-10). Boston: Beacon.
63.
Townshend, B. L., Thomas, D. D., Witty, J. P., & Lee, R. S. (1996). Diversity and school restructuring: Creating partnerships in a world of difference. Teacher Education and Special Education, 19(2), 102-108.
64.
Wade, R. C., & Anderson, J. B. (1996). Community service-learning: A strategy for preparing human service-oriented teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 23(4), 59-74.
65.
Weis, L., & Fine, F. (Eds.). (2000). Construction sites: Excavating race, class, and gender among urban youth. New York: Teachers College Press.
66.
Wiltfang, G. L., & Scarbecz, M. (1990). Social class and adolescents’ self-esteem: Another look. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53(2), 174-183.
67.
Yates, M., & Youniss, J. (1998). Community service and political identity: Development in adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 54(3), 452-512.
68.
Zeichner, K., & Melnick, S. (1996). The role of community field experiences in preparing teachers for cultural diversity. In K. Zeichner, S. Melnick, & M. L. Gomez (Eds.), Currents of reform in preservice teachers education (pp. 176-196). New York: Teachers College Press.
