Urban education reform and equitable student access to quality schooling

Urban Educational Reform

Education and society are inextricably linked. The progress, productivity and politic of a nation all are built on this singular cornerstone. The foundation for the ability of nations, states and communities to evolve, and often the incapacity for the very same, is in substantial part determined by the nature, accessibility and purpose of their respective systems of education. This is not, however, to make the assertion that there is a single or correct approach to achieving a successful relationship between education and society. The world is comprised of innumerable cultures, ideologies and nationalist identities, all of which predispose the peoples therein to a vast array of optimal teaching methods and educational systems. It can therefore be an invaluable endeavor in better understanding the ways in which society and education mutually affect one another within in a number of contexts. This is at the crux of my educational philosophy as I seek to enhance that which I have learned as a suburban educator by entering into Brown's Master's program in Urban Education Policy.

The intended subject of my study program at Brown would be this issue of society and education, with the understanding that certain demographic conditions will tend to predispose some individuals to lesser opportunity in both contexts. From my experience as an educator, this is rarely a coincidence. Those who struggle against dysfunctional home lives, who suffer the implications of economic disadvantage or who are of ethnicities or races typically isolated or undermined in America are also quite often disregarded by the educational system. This promotes a vicious cycle of poor fortune and obstructed opportunity, with our societies core inequalities manifested and intensified by the degrees to which education remains unequal or inaccessible. I hope to dedicate my career to addressing these deficiencies in our public and urban school systems by channeling the education, credentials and knowledge gained at Brown into a career in urban educational reform. This ambition proceeds from my own experience in the suburban educational context. Here, it was not uncommon that 'problem students,' often dispatched from urban living and learning contexts, would be foisted upon our school as part of an indiscriminate effort at placing essentially unwanted pupils. The outcome was that instead of languishing in bad schools, these students would languish in good schools, being pushed to the bottom rung of course tracks and given little of the special attention demanded by years of unequal education.

Observing this firsthand, I would come to understand the inherent socioeconomic prejudices which shape our educational opportunities. It became clear that shifting such students to different contexts neither benefited the students nor addressed the problem at its roots. Said roots are in the social and civil conditions in public urban contexts, where far too many students serve as a reflection of the reciprocal relationship between social turmoil and a dearth of educational benefits. It is thus that I would ultimately resolve from my own work in the field that the only way to begin to alter the dynamics of this relationship is to intervene in the current course of urban education. We can no longer allow urban schools to reflect the worst of urban living standards.

It would be this sense of urgency that would encourage my application to Brown, where I expect to gain access to many of the most qualified and experienced minds in the field; to a community of active and enthusiastic individuals who share my convictions; to fellow aspiring reformers whose contrary perspectives challenge my own preconceptions; and to the body of information and knowledge driving the current discourse on improving educational standards on local, national and global scales.

Indeed, the structure of this particularly program will allow me to explore and refine some of my own ideas concerning educational equality through both theoretical and research-based modes of investigation. This is an exciting prospect as I have yet to truly test in a scholarly or empirical way many of the assumptions and concerns which have inclined me to take this path. Even as I seek admission into the program, I am inclined to consider the spectrum of possible avenues through which to validate, disprove or expand my existing knowledge of the subject.

This would, of course, be supplemented by the urban development, community and organization discussions which are a key component of the program. I consider these aspects essential to developing the tools necessary to actually apply to a resolution of the concerns cited at the outset of this essay. Particularly, much of my own experience and personal research suggests that educational reform is beset by all manner of practical and bureaucratic obstacle. Accordingly, I anticipate no small amount of difficulty in weathering the political entrenchment of school orientation, the racial discord in which inequality is often rooted, the recursive nature of certain academic and institutional practices, and the resistance of different sectors from teachers and administrators to parents and students. The education that Brown's program offers in the area of organizational management and its specific contextualization of this subject in the distinctly urban environment promises a framework through which I might better be able to navigate what will most assuredly be the trials of achieving my ambition.

This practical concern should also help to build a firm basis for the development of the skills, knowledge and insight to propose progressive and feasible solutions for the problems facing urban schools and students. Indeed, the opportunity to do so is one of the most imposing motives for my decision to apply for admission to the Brown program. Though I am already possessed in no small some of passion for the idea of promoting social justice through education, and though I do consider myself already to have a small wealth of personal experience as an energetic and innovative educator, my admission to Brown would place me midstream in a current of evolving knowledge.