Evolving+Definition+of+Culture

=__Week 7__=

Urban school culture is...
“There is no one definitive, all-encompassing urban school culture. Urban schools share common characteristics such as concentrations of poverty, minority students, and immigrant students with differing cultures and languages. The culture of any school, however, is specific because it is co-constructed by the participants, as well as by external forces such as the local community and public policies” (Mary).

“[U]rban school culture can be defined on two levels; the observable behaviors and the underlying ideologies. I will argue that urban school culture can be defined as the daily power struggles fueled by contested ideologies that are rooted in a historical context (Spring, 2010). Urban school culture is not simply something that we possess as individuals, not something that can be given a rigid definition for all places and people, and most certainly not something that is static. It is, then, the process of social power struggles that we engage in each day, both as individuals and collectively (Swartz, 1997)” (Jessica).

“Urban schools are the C squad and affluent schools are the Varsity squad and everyone dreams of making the varsity team. Wealth becomes the carrot at the end of the stick for people to move forward” (Kerry).

“[T]he culture of urban schools is predicated by the existence of a dominant culture that has systematically built an institution of education that perpetuates a stratified society. Social inequity manifests in the achievement gap, which then continues to perpetuate a stratified social order... Throughout history, the education system has offered solutions that are borne of white guilt regarding the atrocities committed by Anglo settlers. This has resulted in the pouring of resources into poorly planned programs and do not attack the core of the underlying issues of racism that stem from ignorance, ethnocentrism, and classism. Injustice and denied access to quality education allow for the education system to seem as if it is addressing the very stratification that continues to be reproduced by this same institution” (Cindie).

“The culture of urban schools is one in which a variety of divergent cultures coalesce… [Where] students and teachers of different individual cultural backgrounds accepting public scrutiny, working to respect individual cultural differences, striving for academic achievement” (Nick).

“[U]rban school culture is a street brawl masquerading as an outpost mission” (Melissa).

"Urban school culture defined is complex and multi-layered. You cannot define urban school culture in terms of silos. To understand urban school’s culture one must look past the dominant culture’s ideology of what urban is and what defines the culture of urban schools. Urban school culture is not simply a black and white paradigm or binary as viewed and defined by those who have historically marginalized and defined various minority groups by means of providing sub-par educational opportunities to the respective groups. Urban school culture also cannot also be viewed as simply the manifestation of the hip-hop culture or of what the dominant culture portrays it to be.” (Kirsti).

“Any culture, but specifically urban school culture, as viewed through this lens is highly contextualized, fluid, polysemic and pluralistic. I see it functioning much like Joyce Epstein’s theory of the spheres of influence (Epstein, 2001), where each person’s personal heritage|practice surrounds them like a sphere, and as people interact, they merge their spheres overlapping shared qualities and experiences while creating new ones… The strength and uniqueness of Urban Culture manifest in the vast diversity and quantity of individual spheres present in an urban context” (Kim).

“Urban school culture is an entity defined by the inclusion and exclusion of the people contained within and around it. In the culture of an urban school, people and ideas can pass into the center of culture (inclusion) and people and ideas can also be marginalized on the fringes (exclusion). The laws of culture and power are a reflection of the laws of the culture of those who have power. In an urban school, this can be the the administration imposing on the teachers (or vice versa), teachers imposing on the students (or vice versa), the community imposing on the school (or vice versa), or the students imposing on each other. It is the inclusion and exclusion of others from and within the urban school community that divides or unites those within the circle and those on its outskirts” (Avril).

“[T]he culture of urban public schools of Boston as dialectical... to a fault. I have found that the positive and encouraging experience of one group, exists at the same time another group is experiencing what I’ve observed is toxic and discouraging” (Nadine).

“The culture of urban schools in the United States is a culture of domination and low expectations resulting from an oppressive structure designed to reinforce social stratification and enculturation of minority groups. While claiming to be Horace Mann’s “Great Equalizer,” urban schools instead reinforce the social inequalities that exist in society. This system ignores the true complexity, diversity, and resiliency of urban culture. This culture of low expectations and domination also results in low aspirations and little self-determination in students, which in turn preserves social stratification. This urban school culture is not new, it is instead the direct result of the historic struggle that exists between those with power and those without” (Chris).

“The definition of urban school culture is the lack of equity and access for all. The culture of urban schools is that they are often plagued with broken desks and chairs, torn books, out-dated technology, leaky water pipes, decaying ceiling tiles, peeling wall paint, dingy and depressing buildings, inexperienced teachers, and leaders who don’t spend more than three years in the building… The culture of urban schools stems from a deficit model [and] poverty” (Tamara).

“[E]ach urban area is distinct to its locality as culture is interpreted through that locality’s specific lens, a lens which is in fact determined by and unique to each individual. The general conditions that frame urban life- poverty, transiency, single-parent households, drug and gang involvement- have different meanings for different individuals. The result is a definition of urban culture that constantly shifts as each person forms and reacts through their specific habitus. It is further altered as those reactions are interpreted by others. In this way, urban culture can be thought of as a continuously fluctuating mosaic of individual interpretations” (Samantha).

“Urban school culture is highly contextualized, specific to its time and place, and is shaped by the community where the school resides. Specifically, each urban school is comprised of its own culture that is situated not only in that particular institution’s history, but by the people who inhabit the surrounding community and their history as well. Moreover, urban school culture is a direct reflection on the people’s cultural, linguistic, and social class backgrounds that inhabit the school building. In other words, it is “influenced by and shifts across contexts such as socioeconomic class, geography, and age” (Seidl, 2007, p. 179). For these reasons, urban school culture can - and does – appear different depending on who is describing it. Not only is urban school culture different in the many urban regions and states within the United States, but also urban school culture, as defined by these dynamic terms above, looks and acts differently within the same school district as well” (Elizabeth).

=__Week 4__=

Culture...
… is complex and collective

… is impacted by, and enacted and situated within the micro and macro levels of society (i.e., family, social institutions, and society more broadly.)

… is marked by and is a site of struggle

… is comprised of behaviors, practices, schemas (beliefs/philosophies), resources, values, norms and mores.

… is heritage and identity

… defines people(s) in relation to/with other groups (dominant and marginal).

=__Week 1__= Commonality Heritage Values Background Traditions Shared identity Shared knowledge Shared experience Language Food Geography History Expectations Inclusion/exclusion Social Norms, Mores Behaviors Created|creating Intrinsic Identity Ethnicity Demographics Environment Artistic expression Physical appearance Family || **Urban School Culture is...** Multi-layered Contested Peer dominated/influenced “street” knowledge various sub-cultures with own rules/habitus and ways of being dress, music, language Concept of “space”/Intimacy Pride Collective struggle Evolving Variety Community Informality Importance of companionship Isolated City Trendy Crowded Fast-paced Concrete Heterogeneous Diverse Inequality Upstream Competition for resources Poverty access || **Implications** Empathize Relate Can’t exist in a vacuum Open-minded Appreciation/respect for culture Cultural conflict Fairness: equality of access for all Awareness: practical application Change agents Weapon vs. tool Empowerment Social justice Common sense Culture Policy Urban Student cultural capital Student voice impact structure hermeneutics culture is embedded/impacts practice, research, and policy bias (subconscious) context/frame of reference achievement broad focus understand student: aspirations, behavior, attitude self-reflection: how are we viewed, how we view the world dictate how we interact with others ||
 * **Culture is...**