Educational Resilience in Inner-city America: Challenges and ProspectsMargaret C. Wang, Edmund W. Gordon The story of life in inner-city America and the education of its people is often recounted as a tragedy; the ending is often predictable and usually dire, highlighting deficiency, failure, and negative trends. As with most social problems, children and youth in the inner cities are hit hardest. But this dismal view is only half of the full picture. The cities of our nation are a startling juxtaposition between the despairing and the hopeful, between disorganization and restorative potential. Alongside the poverty and unemployment, the street-fights and drug deals, are a wealth of cultural, economic, educational, and social resources. Often ignored are the resilience and the ability for adaptation which help many who are seemingly confined by circumstance to struggle and succeed "in the face of the odds." This book helps to broaden the utilization of ways to magnify the circumstances known to enhance development and education, so that the burden of adversity is reduced and opportunities are advanced for all children and youth -- especially the children and youth of the inner cities who are in at-risk circumstances. The focus is on: * raising consciousness about the opportunities available to foster resilience among children, families, and communities, and * synthesizing the knowledge base that is central to implementing improvements which serve to better the circumstances and educational opportunities of children and families. This volume is intended for a wide audience of readers, but particularly those who are in a position to shape public policy and deliver educational and human services. |
Contents
Variations in the Experience of Resilience | 27 |
Educational Resilience in Inner Cities | 45 |
Rigsby | 85 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
Educational Resilience in Inner-city America: Challenges and Prospects Margaret C. Wang,Edmund W. Gordon No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
academic achievement adaptation adults adversity African-American adolescents American at-risk attributes behavior Benard Cambridge University Press chapter characteristics Chicago Child Development children at risk Children's Defense Fund Cicchetti competence concept of resilience conduct disorders context cultural defined delinquency Developmental Psychology developmental psychopathology developmental tasks economic hardship Educational Research environment environmental example experiences focus foster resilience Freiberg function Garmezy goals high school high-risk human development identify important individual inner cities inner-city schools interactions intervention involvement Journal learning longitudinal studies Masten ment negative organization organizational outcomes parents peers perspective predicted problems processes programs protective factors Psychiatry psychological psychological resilience psychosocial relationships resilient children Risk and protective risk factors role Rolf Rutter schizophrenia school effectiveness self-efficacy strategies stress stressors study of resilience success teachers Temple University theory tion tive U.S. Department urban variables vulnerability Walberg Wang Werner York youth