It's not About Grit
Trauma, Inequity, and the Power of Transformative Teaching

Steven Goodman (Author)

9780807758984

Paperback / softback, published 1 June 2018

208 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.3 kg

Speaking out against decades of injustice and challenging deficit perceptions of young learners and their families, It’s Not About Grit pulls back the veil, revealing the social systems that marginalize and stigmatize mostly poor, urban students of color and their communities. At the same time, author Steven Goodman, for nearly 35 years founder and director of NYC’s highly acclaimed Educational Video Center (EVC), shows the tremendous intelligence, resilience, and sense of agency of these students. Through the students’ in-school and out-of-school experiences, enhanced with curriculum guides and award-winning video clips from EVC, Goodman encourages educators to make a difference and demonstrates how to create safe and inclusive spaces where their teaching responds to students’ culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, housing status, and ability. Teachers will use this book to develop a pedagogy of transformative teaching.

*2018 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Award in Education

*2019 PROSE Award in Education Finalist

• Foreword Michelle Fine - xi
• Acknowledgments - xv
• Introduction - 1
• 1. “
  Unlivable Conditions”
  : Health and Housing - 13
• “
  Where the Rats Come Out”
  : Slumlord Neglect - 15
• “
  Silent Killers”
  : Mold and Asthma in Public Housing - 17
• “
  Where Are We Going to Wind Up?”
  :
• The Trauma of Foreclosure - 23
• “
  As If They’
  re Passing Away”
  : Gentrification - 26
• “
  We Have a Petition”
  : Speaking Out and Taking Action - 31
• 2. “
  They Put Us Down When We Already Down”
  :
• Police and Juvenile Justice - 34
• “
  He Starts Grabbing Me”
  : Student Perspectives on Policing
• in and out of Schools - 35
• “
  It’
  s a Memorable Moment”
  : Stop-and-Frisk Policing of
• Students in the Community - 38
• “
  All My Youth Was Locked Up in Prison”
  :
• Juvenile Incarceration and the War on Drugs - 40
• “
  He Never Got to Meet Me”
  :
• Growing Up with Incarcerated Parents - 42
• “
  Their Wrists Are Too Small, So You Have to Handcuff Them up by Their Biceps”
  :
• Zero-Tolerance Policing In School - 46
• “
  I Was 15. Came Home at 25”
  : Juvenile Detention in Rikers - 50
• “
  On the Side of the Kids”
  : Restorative Justice and
• Student Action - 52
• 3. “
  The Legal Right to Be Somebody”
  : Immigration - 56
• “
  Fearful of Any Institution”
  :
• Challenges Facing Emergent Bilinguals - 57
• “
  In the Desert, the Mountains, the Cold—
  
• With Only Water”
  : Border Crossing Stories - 59
• “
  I Was Doing Really Bad”
  :
• A Downward Educational Spiral - 63
• “
  She’
  s Barely Home”
  : Labor Exploitation
• and Parent–
  School Engagement - 67
• “
  Not Having a Dad”
  : Deportation and Forced
• Single-Parent Homes - 70
• “
  He Never Went to School”
  : A Climate of Fear - 74
• “
  I Was Empowering My People”
  : Student Immigrant Rights - 76
• 4. “
  People Are Strong When They Stand Together”
  :
• Gender and Identity - 81
• “
  I Never Went Back”
  : Bullying and Anti-LGBTQ Violence - 83
• “
  Get the Hell Out!”
  :
• Family Rejection and LGBTQ Homelessness - 87
• “
  The Place for Me!”
  :
• Inclusive School Cultures and Legal Silencing - 89
• “
  I Never Talked with Anybody About This”
  :
• Sexual Harassment - 93
• “
  Being the Sexy Girl”
  :
• Body Image and Self-Objectification - 97
• “
  I Look Fat”
  : Body Image and Eating Disorders - 101
• “
  Save a Kid’
  s Education”
  : Girls Support Groups
• and Genders &
  Sexualities Alliances - 104
• 5. “
  Some Place to Call Home”
  :
• Foster Care and Child Welfare - 108
• “
  They Stole 10 Years from Me”
  :
• The Trauma of Family Separation - 109
• “
  The System Failed Me”
  : The Disproportionate Academic
• Impact of Foster Care 111
• “
  Welfare Queens”
  : The Criminalization of Poor Black Mothers - 117
• “
  She Could Not Take Care of Herself”
  :
• Parental Substance Abuse - 121
• “
  Not Me, Not Mine”
  : Aging Out and Youth Advocacy - 124
• Conclusion “
  I’
  ve Got Your Back”
  : Moving from Trauma
• and Resilience Toward Student Activism - 129
• “
  Sites of Possibility”
  - 131
• “
  A Knock on the Door”
  : A Sign of the Times - 132
• “
  Where We Want to Be”
  : Youth Participatory Action Research - 134
• At the Screening: Parting Thoughts - 140
• Guide for Using Videos - 143
• Notes - 159
• References - 163
• Index 179
• About the Author - 190