(Im)Moral Praxis: Configuring Theory and Practice of Students at Risk

University of Calgary Press. 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada. Tel: 403-220-7578; Fax: 403-282-0085; e-mail: ucpmail@ucalgary.ca; Web site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/ucpress

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7

At Risk Students; Theory Practice Relationship; Preservice Teacher Education; Foreign Countries; Urban Schools; Praxis; Moral Values; Disadvantaged; Academic Achievement; High School Students; Metropolitan Areas; Teacher Expectations of Students; Goal Orientation

1206-9620

In spite of mission statements which articulate respect and value for all students, at individual, institutional, and systemic levels, educators make choices on an ongoing basis which reinforce existing hegemonic structures. These include larger societal forces; curriculum and the structures of schools; and attitudes, dispositions, and expectations of teachers, administrators, and the students themselves. Within schools students are provided, explicitly and implicitly, with varying degrees of encouragement and opportunities for validation, participation, and recognition. In particular, students from underrepresented groups' experiences of disengagement, disempowerment, and marginalization are often compounded within schools. However, in spite of being often systematically discouraged from further educational pursuits, a number of students who are deemed "at risk" place a high value on academic achievement and are compelled to seek creative and nontraditional routes to overcome these obstacles to attain their goals. This paper is part of a larger study (McMahon, 2004) which explores urban students' experiences of being marginalized by and academically at risk in high schools, to their becoming academically successful in universities in a large metropolitan centre in Ontario. (Contains 3 endnotes.)

ERIC

32

2012

EJ987300