#UrbanAndMakingIt: Urban Youth’s Visual Counternarratives of Being #MoreThanAStereotype

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the narratives constructed by urban youth in a summer program for future educators of color. In particular, we asked, "In what ways do students use texts to create counternarratives of urban education?" Utilizing visual counternarratives and counterstorytelling as theoretical frames, and through thematic analysis and visual amalgamated findings, we examined how students' written, visual, and audio texts countered stereotypes. Findings revealed that students used texts to create counternarratives of self, schools, and society. Keywords urban education, students of color, counternarratives, stereotypesOur classroom walls are cracked/from the beating of our hearts/because we are alive and Black. We are marching on the battlefield/even if you won't see us. With a pencil in hand, we fight/for our right to be more than a statistic. Because you try to write us/ink and blood smearing your pages like we are an experiment/ just an outrage in history/where our story is yet to be told. We are stitching the binding/wishing you'll open a page/and just read.

The Discipline Gatekeeper: Assistant Principals’ Experiences With Managing School Discipline in Urban Middle Schools

“…Their stories or lived experiences offer different yet valid perspectives on the impact of racism, and each story debunks universal or generally accepted assertions and beliefs by the White majority (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). With regard to this tenet, scholars have challenged educators to incorporate counternarratives from African American students to displace and even disrupt deficit mainstream language and narratives present in education that seek to restrict access to learning opportunities (Dunn et al, 2018; Harper, 2015).…”

Writing with Dignity Among Youth in Urban Communities: Using Mentor Texts as a Reflective Tool for Transformation

“…Often situated in impoverished neighborhoods with government-backed racial segregation, urban schools tend to be underfunded and lack the necessary resources to support student learning (Zenkov & Harmon, 2009;Dunn, et al, 2018). Due to mitigating factors such as teacher preparation and turnover, parent/guardian involvement, and academic tracking, urban schools historically do not meet the required measures of state standardized tests (Darling-Hammond, 2010;Dunn et al, 2018). An emphasis on often low-quality tests which value rote memorization, teachers are encouraged to focus on ways to bolster test scores rather than teach critical and creative thinking skills (Darling-Hammond, 2010;McLaren, 2015).…”

“…Particularly, we saw that students resonated with a mentor text that spoke to their experiences. Although Black and Latinx students account for over 75% of the student population in Durham County (Durham Public Schools, 2018), students in Durham encounter school structures, policies, and curriculum that favor the dominant White narrative (Dunn et al, 2018). For many of the DCY students, disproportionate out-of-school suspension rates are not just a statistic, but a lived experience (Bull City Online Resource Guide, 2021).…”

Boyz in the hoods : (re) defining the narratives of Black male doctoral degree completers

“…Counternarratives focus on the need to challenge dominant narratives (Dunn, Neville, & Villani, 2018;Anderson, 2017). These narratives focus on the restricting of stories as told through a contextualized and nuanced lens (Dunn, Neville, & Villani, 2018). It is ultimately aiming to dismantle the dominant narrative, which is also known as the "master narrative" (Harper, 2015;Yu, 2010;Settlage, 2011).…”

“…Before Harper, Tucks (2009) urged authors to "suspend damage-centered research" (p. 409). To create this shift in research and analysis, authors have utilized CRT's counter-storytelling tenant (Dunn, Neville, & Villani, 2018). Solórzano and Yosso (2002) describe counter-storytelling as "a method of telling the stories of those people whose experiences are not often told" (p. 32).…”