Schools in American Cities

Welcome to the spring 2015 semester of Schools in American Cities! 

This course is designed for students to investigate the issues, challenges and possibilities of urban schooling. The purpose of the course is to create a community of learners who will conduct inquiry into both theory and practice to build an understanding of critical issues in urban education. Through readings and viewings, writings, field experiences, and discussions, participants will address a range of factors that create the conditions for teaching/learning and reform in city schools.

This is an interestingly different kind of place for writing, both for discovering and articulating your own thoughts and for putting these in conversation with others' thoughts. It's not a site for "formal writing" or "finished thoughts." This is also a "conversation" place, a place to share your own thinking-in-progress and to find out what other people are thinking. The idea here is that your "thoughts in progress" can help others with their thinking, and theirs can help you with yours. Who are you writing for? Primarily for yourself, and for others in our course. But also - this is a "public" forum, so people anywhere on the web might look in. You're writing for yourself, for others in the class, AND for others you might or might not know. The web is giving increasing reality to the idea that there can actually evolve a world community, and you're part of helping to bring that about. Of course, feel free to comment on any post below, or to create your own post.