As community schools grow in numbers, this article argues that the model needs to be interrogated in order to address the power imbalances that exist between non-dominant families and schools. This paper draws on a citywide study of parent interviews as well as public documents and interviews with key community school leaders in Baltimore to…

Research indicates that youth, especially those facing injustice, such as youth of Color in urban settings, are essential participants in educational decision-making. However, due to adultism and intersecting forms of oppression, their inclusion is not the norm. Grounded in the concept of adultism and the tradition of storytelling, we address the…

Family-school partnerships are considered essential to the success of multiply marginalized children in urban contexts. These partnerships often, however, reinforce middle-class white normativity and subsequent oppression of families outside the dominant culture. Home visiting is one such practice spreading throughout urban centers. Is it possible…

This interview study examines the school choices of white middle class parents who live in a large Northeastern city. Interviewees identify as progressive urbanites and express an appreciation for racial diversity. Simultaneously, interviewees draw on anti-Black stereotypes when evaluating school options and avoiding majority Black schools. While…

This paper critically explores theoretical, conceptual, and methodological dimensions of three social-justice oriented educational approaches: Bourdieuian Analysis of Capital (BAC), Funds of Knowledge (FK), and Community Cultural Wealth (CCW). We surface convergences and divergences across these three frameworks, seeking to clarify them…

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) provides a model for youth leadership in research aimed at tangible improvements to their lives. We employed YPAR with queer and trans young adults in a qualitative study about trans high school youth. In this paper, we highlight the importance of relationships, dialog and reflexivity to ensuring ongoing…

Drawing from the narrated experiences of teacher educators (TEs) at different institutions, this paper analyzes TEs' perceptions of support related to their work in teaching about race and racism. TEs varied in the extent to which they viewed their institution as supportive, and they identified factors that signaled that their institution…

In this research article, the authors examine the intersections of culturally sustaining pedagogy and critical family engagement to explore the possibilities for equitable family-school partnerships in urban schools. Based on the common values of trusting and caring relationships and power disruption within those fields, as well as data from a…

With the expansion of online instruction in K-12 education, how and what is taught in a single course has the potential to affect the learning of thousands of students. Our mixed method study applies a critical lens to examine the extent to which four widely used online high school courses are culturally relevant and responsive. Online lessons…

Using critical race structuralism (CRS), a new contribution, as well as primary and secondary data, this article explores the role of science in teaching social justice issues in urban education. In the United States, a teaching workforce, which is predominately White, middle class, and female, intersects with an increasingly diverse student…

This study examines how three recently arrived Indigenous male migrant youth from Guatemala and Mexico in an urban high school in the Pacific Northwest understood and employed Spanish and English to navigate racialized and languaged interactions. Utilizing a Critical Latinx Indigeneities framework, findings from this study show that Spanish is a…

We present a conceptual exploration of armed love as a component of liberatory pedagogy. We ground our work in community cultural wealth theory (CCW) that centers social capital often found in non-dominant communities under pressure. We argue that recognizing and working against exploitation using the community's social, cultural, and historical…

Bourdieu's critical analysis of capital (BCAC) is a useful tool for unmasking how schools legitimate class structure and identifying the institutional, societal, and cultural forces that structure class reproduction and oppression. In this paper, we examine the ways educational researchers have constrained the critical application of Bourdieu's…

Using data from a participatory ethnography of an urban high school slated for closure, this article examines the impact of comprehensive transformation on the university-school partnership's goal to change from a culture of underachievement and negativity toward a culture of collaboration and excellence. We explore these question/s: How do…

Integrating the theories of Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman, this article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis for conceptualizing school classrooms as ritualized spaces that shape the roles, relationships, and interactions of students and teachers. This analysis is then used to examine the impact of one urban classroom that employed…