CPAR Groups’ Final Presentations

Each semester culminated with CPAR groups’ final presentations. Drawing from their own schooling narratives, interviews with community members, class dialogues, and their critical reflections, students/co-researchers shared their understandings of schooling problems in the local community, the themes and findings they identified in the iterative and emergent process of analysis, and the actionable solutions they recommended for immediate

implementation. Below are summaries, with some direct quotes, of the CPAR groups’ final presentations.

Fall 2011

Group 1 (Racism in Education) final presentation summary: They shared, “We looked at racism in education. Racism is discrimination and prejudice.” They found numerous examples of racism that impacted students’ sense of safety and belonging in their schools and hindered their academic and social learning. Groups in the Spring 2012 semester made the same discovery. Racism surfaced via severe and shocking acts of violence and bullying, subtle comments and microaggressions, and school practices performed by students, faculty, and administrators. Many of the students in this group were first generation, and they recounted the many ways in which they had been targeted and ostracized for being different. They stressed the importance of treating students who had moved from other places with compassion. The act of moving has the potential to be stressful and sometimes traumatic, and feeling unwelcome in a new community can add insult to injury. Schools and communities need effective programs and

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strategies to support families new to the area and to encourage community members to accept newcomers with warmth, compassion, and understanding.

Group 2 (Urban vs. Suburban Schooling) final presentation summary: Group 2 mentioned that while these problems were present to some extent in both suburban and urban schools, it was evident through their research that the severity of these problems was greater in the urban schools. They shared, “These are the problems my group members came up with: lack of attendance, racism, large class sizes, lack of parental involvement, lack of interest, and lack of resources.” At the start of the semester, students/co-researchers in Group 2 thought there might be some discrepancies in the functioning of urban public schooling systems versus suburban public schooling systems; however, by the end of the semester, Group 2 deemed the

discrepancies deplorable, unacceptable, and offensive. The grand scope of the disparities necessitates immediate action to rectify the unconstitutional differences in the quality of

education delivered in the urban public schools, as compared to the quality of education received in the suburban public schools. In the Spring 2012 semester, groups also made this discovery and reacted in a similar fashion.

Group 3 (Community’s Impact on Schooling) final presentation summary: Group 3 began the semester aggressively demonizing teachers. To a lesser extent, yet still significant, they attacked students. They thought the primary problem in school was that teachers and students were lazy and apathetic. As they engaged more extensively in discursive practices with community members and fellow students, their interview processes, their narratives and

experiences, critical reflections, and group analyses work, they began to illustrate a more complicated system at play. They realized that one person or group is not to blame and that assigning blame is part of the problem. During their presentation, they shared, “We were trying

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to figure out what the main problem in schools was and we realized it isn’t just students or teachers, it’s really everyone: the curriculum, parents, the environment that the students are in, the socioeconomic disparities. This is what we realized from doing the research that we did.” These students/co-researchers discovered that there are problems in all facets of schooling that can hinder a child’s ability to succeed, and attention must be heeded to all of these areas. Futhermore, they determined that without committed collaboration from all people and all groups in a community, schools will not function as effectively as they could. In communal efforts to improve local public schools, everyone must feel welcome, heard, and respected. Spring 2012

Group 1 (Home life, poorer communities, overcrowding in the schools) final

presentation summary: At the start of their presentation, Group 1 showed a video of a recent outburst at a high school in the urban school district. It captured a visibly overcrowded school with too many students. They conjectured that there was a fire alarm, students were sent out onto the lawn, and chaos ensued. They shared, “So that's one problem: overcrowding.” Plus, a:

lack of supplies, not enough seats, lack of transportation, not enough high schools and middle schools. I had an interview with a (high student in the urban school district) who had dropped out, there was something called the annex project or program, I don't know if you all had heard of that, if you all went to (the high student in the urban school district), and it was because it was so overcrowded that they had to send students from (the high student in the urban school district) to local junior schools. And make it like a program. So they can get their high school classes but outside of the school. So that was like big. So not enough seats, they didn't have enough seats for the students to sit because

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they were so many kids, there were like 30 kids per classroom with one teacher. (Spring 2012, Group 1, final presentation)

Students in this group discovered, just as Group 2 in the fall semester had, that students in the urban district were receiving a grossly subpar education as compared to the students in the surrounding suburban districts.

They concluded, “(After completing this CPAR project) we know so many problems as well, about poverty and schools. Getting a quality education is every child's right. But in our society all children are not getting a quality education.” They stressed that most of the children living in poverty are attending urban schools. These underserved youngsters are struggling to achieve a poor education in buildings that are dangerous schools and overwhelmed while privileged students in surrounding suburban schools enjoy a higher quality education in safe, clean buildings with an abundance of supplies, resources, and social and academic support services and programs. They believed this was a serious injustice to children who had so little to begin with and thought the government should act immediately to improve these schools.

Group 2 (Disabilities, learning disabilities, disorders, groupings (cliques, self-esteem, bullying, peer pressure)) final presentation summary: Like Group 1 in the fall semester, Group 2 in the spring semester determined that rampant racism in schools and communities is a grave problem. They expanded their investigation to identifiers beyond race. They reported numerous acts of cruelty experienced by students and community members because of perceived difference and inferiority. Students suffered aggressive attacks at school based on their perceived difference (or diffability): race, disability, class, dress, appearance, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliations, and more. They reported that cruelty students endured in their schools and

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communities had serious implications. They asked, “What are the effects of bullying?” Citing research, they informed:

Firstly, bullying can lead to changes in students' appearances and personalities, work ethic inside and outside of school. For example, grades begin to drop, kids show up to school less, and it can start to become, kids can start to become depressed… Effects of bullying in the community (include that) parents feel they start to lose connection with their child. There could be an increase in violence throughout the community; high schoolers’ dropout rate will increase; and a decrease in test scores and a lack of work ethic. (Spring 2012, Group 2, final presentation)

Their presentation illustrates the interconnectedness of a community, as expressed by Group 3 in the fall semester. Whether acknowledged or not, when students suffer vicious attacks of cruelty and other schooling problems, a ripple effect occurs such that one student’s

experiences can impact other members in the school and community at large. These problems affect us all and should not be ignored.

They recommended the following actionable solutions:

Schools should have peer mediation groups so that the bully and the bullied can talk to one another and work out their problems. Schools should have assemblies to talk about bullying and the effects bullying has on each other. Teachers and parents should become more involved in their kids' lives, ask them about what is going on in school, doing more activities together, and show them that they care.” Like groups in the fall semester, they stressed the need for collaborative efforts among school and community members and groups, the importance of increased caring and compassion for students, and greater engagement in students’ daily lives. (Spring 2012, Group 2, final presentation)

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Group 3 (Overworked students (sports, jobs, lack of sleep, drug abuse) findings: Group 3 came to similar conclusions as Group 2. They reported that students are overworked and desperately need greater academic and social support in their schools to guide them through healthy ways of managing their work, home/peer conflicts, and stress/anxiety/fear regarding building demands on students in a complicated world: a lack of money, exam pressure,

competition to get into and afford college, lack of quality/affordable childcare, etc. They stressed that it is extremely important that public schools immediately increase student access to

supportive, caring people (guidance counselors, teacher, support service staff, etc.) and academic and social support services and programs (child care, tutoring, exam prep, scholarship programs, counseling, internships, etc.).