The exciting aspect of creating a classroom community where there is respect for individual voices is that there is infinitely more feedback because students do feel free to talk-and talk back. And, yes, often this feed-back is critical. Moving away from the need for immediate affirmation was crucial to my growth as a teacher. I learned to respect that shifting paradigms or sharing knowledge in new ways challenges; it takes time for students to experience that challenge as positive

For example, a course on social and political thought in the United States includes no work by women. When students complain to the teacher about this Jack of inclusion, they are told to make suggestions of material that can be used. This often places an unfair burden on a student.

he exciting aspect of creating a classroom community where there is respect for individual voices is that there is infinitely more feedback because students do feel free to talk-and talk back. And, yes, often this feed-back is critical. Moving away from the need for immediate affirmation was crucial to my growth as a teacher. I learned to respect that shifting paradigms or sharing knowledge in new ways challenges; it takes time for students to experience that challenge as positiv

Transforming these classrooms is as great a challenge as learning how to teach well in the setting of diversity. Often, if there is one lone person of color in the classroom she or he is objectified by others and forced to assume the role of "native informant." For example, a novel is re ad by a Korean American author. White students turn to the one student from a Korean background to explain what they do not understand.

And I saw for the first tim e that there can be, and usually is, som e degree o f pain involved in giving up oid ways of thinking and knowing and )earning new approaches.

Rather than focusing on issues of safety, I think that a feeling of community creates a sense that there is shared com-mitment and a common good that binds us

It must be stated that professors cannot inter-vene if they also see students as "native informants." Often, students have corne to my office complaining about the Jack of inclusion in another professor' s class.

Students taught me, too, that it is necessary to practice com-passion in these new learning settings. I bave not forgotten the day a student came to class and told me: 'We take your class. We learn to look at the world from a critica! standpoint, one that considers race, sex, and class. And we can't enjoy life anymore.

Multiculturalism compels educators to recognize the nar-row boundaries that have shaped the way knowledge is shared in the classroom. It forces us all to recognize our complicity in accepting and perpetuating biases of any kind. Students are eager to break through barriers to knowing. They are willing to surrender to the wonder of re-learning and learning ways of knowing that go against the grain. When we, as educators, allow our pedagogy to be radically changed by our recognition of a multicultural world, we can give students the education they desire and deserve. We can teach in ways that transform consciousness, creating a climate of free expression that is the essence of a truly liberatory liberal arts education. 4 Paulo Freire This is a playful dialogue with myself, Gloria Watkins, talking with bell hooks, my writing voice. I wanted to speak about Paulo and his work in this way for it afforded me an intimacy-a familiarity-I do nat find it possible to achieve in the essay. And here I have found a way to share the sweetness, the soli-darity I talk a bo ut. Watkins: Reading your books Ain 't I a Woman: Black Women a nd Feminism, Feminist The!Yfy: From Margin to Center, and Talk-ing Bach, it is clear that your development as a critica! thinker has been greatly influenced by the work of Paulo Freire. Can you speak abou~ why his work has touched your life so deeply? hooks: Years before I met Paulo Freire, I had learned so much from hi s work, learned new ways o f thinking a bo ut social reality that were liberatory. Often when university stu-45

Despite the focus on diversity, our desires for inclusion, many professors still teach in classrooms that are predominant-ly white

When I first entered the multicultural, multiethnic class-room setting I was unprepared. I did not know how to cope effective!y with so much "diflerence." Despite progressive po li-tics, and my deep engagement with the feminist movement, I had never before been compelled to work within a truly diverse setting and I lacked the necessary skills. This is the case with most educators

The unwillingness to approach teaching from a standpoint that includes awareness o f race, sex, and class is often rooted in the fear that classrooms will be uncontrollable, that emotions and passions will not be contained.

I was disturbed by what I felt was a Jack of understanding on the apart of many professors as to what the multicultural classroom might be like

espite the contemporary focus on multiculturalism in our society, particularly in education, there is not nearly enough practica! discussion of ways classroom settings can be trans-formed so that the learning experience is inclusive

When a student who is poor makes it to college, it is unlikely that he or she is a "legacy admit." These are applicants whose parents or relatives have attended, have contributed to, or are in some way affiliated with the university. As a Harvard alumna and admissions interviewer, I can verify that the application includes an inquiry about any person you are related to who went to Harvard. And there is consideration for that.

By the time students-especially poor students-enter high school, one of the most crucial forms of cultural capital they will need is the ability to pay for . a college education. On the basis of the lack of access to generational wealth, inexperienced parents who often have not attended college, and the pangs that stem from being a first-generation college goer, high school becomes a critical juncture at which students are either aware, prepared, and savvy about col-lege admissions or woefully behind in their ability to navigate the application process

But no one told me about the course sequence in middle school. That's when I would have had to enroll in my first algebra and Spanish classes and the appropriate high-level science courses. To reach discrete math, Spanish VII, and physics, I would have had to begin taking those courses in the sixth grade. My school did not offer those. I missed out, and the effect was costly. Over $25,000 to be precise.

When I ask my students if they have tracking programs at schools they have attended or where they completed their student teaching, many of them routinely answer "no." When I inquire about gifted and talented (GAT or TAG) programs, many of them instinctively begin to describe, in detail, the differentiated curricu-lum, enrichment opportunities, and vastly different experiences each program entails.

_The neighbor's point was an excellent one. Access to quality child care, early learning, preschool, and even kindergarten (which is not mandatory in all states) is key. Investments in quality early childhood education not only has one of the highest yields-for every $1 spent on early education and care, $8 is saved on crime, public assistance, supplemental schooling, and so on-but is also one of the most important stages at which a child's educational trajectory is shaped (Nisbett, 2009). The question we must ask of children reared in poverty is, When they set foot in kindergarten, how many years "behind" are they in learning opportunities, literacy and numeracy development, reading and writ-ing "behaviors," and the many benefits of quality early care? Although the nosy neighbor in our favorite film highlighted the disgustingly expensive extremes to which the wealthy will go to start their children's educational careers off right, the n~tion ~f needing to start every child's education with the highest quality expenences is spot on.

Why are people poor? Most notably, why do the same groups of people te~d to endure poverty from generation to generation? And ultimately, why do chil-dren of the poor predictably perform poorly in public schools? As noted earlier, a historicized and contextualized view points to several factors, including the by-products of imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and racism. Bourdieu's cul-tural and social reproduction theories, alongside the Marxist "correspoocle~ce principle," just to name a few critical tools, help provide answers to our queries.

"Why do poor students perform poorly?" The question is not about poor students and why they underperform in a system purportedly designed to elevate their opportunities and outcomes.

In short, they genuinely wonder how such dismal outcomes f poor children could persist when the great equalizer undoubtedly works andor poverty-ending solution is clearly at hand. Year after year, I continue to observ: that as a result of this flawed, deficit thinking, both pre-and in-service teachers have come to develop and staunchly cling to their disgust at what they perceive to be squandered opportunities. Poor children fail in schools because they are not taking advantage. Poor people exist because they wasted a good, free educa-tion. The poor themselves are the problem.

in contact with various colleges and admissions offices around the country. Those consultations hap-pened frequently for her White counterparts. She had no idea when applications were due, what they entailed, what fee waivers were, or when to take standard-ized tests. She dreamed of attending James Madison University. She ended up at Norfolk State University because it was the only college to accept her applica-tion late.

The neighbor's point was an excellent one. Access to quality child care, early learning, preschool, and even kindergarten (which is not mandatory in all states) is key. Investments in quality early childhood education not only has one of the highest yields-for every $1 spent on early education and care, $8 is saved on crime, public assistance, supplemental schooling, and so on-but is also one of the most important stages at which a child's educational trajectory is shaped (Nisbett, 2009)

When I first constructed the ladder to describe how schools structure inequality, I struggled with where to begin. My training as an early childhood educator, experience as a child care provider, education in developmental psychology, and specialization in human development told me to start in the womb. What are the factors that affect poor children before they are even born?

he surest way to build wealth-as indicated by the real in real estate-is to own a home. Both Katznelson (2005) and Wise (2005) mapped, in bril-liantly unconsidered ways, how "affirm~tive action" in the United States has always benefited Whites and most significantly in the building of White wealth. From establishing the country's earliest legislation restricting the landed gen-try to White males, to offering mortgage loans to Whites only via the Federal Housing Authority and the GI Bill, to excluding Blacks and people of color from home loans and subdivisions by way of redlining and restrictive covenants, both scholars illuminate the long-standing and state-sponsored wealth gaps (ravines) between Whites and all others. On the basis of the inability of far too many people of color, as well as a vast number of Whites-neither of whom inherited wealth from their forebears-to purchase homes or, more important, to purchase homes in a "good school dis-trict,,, housing segregation continues to plague the educational and social out-comes of multiple members of the underclass. And on the basis of the method by which we have chosen to fund public schools in this country (relying heavily on the values of the surrounding properties), "demography is destiny" in that "students' test scores are highly correlated with the amount of money their parents make and the zip codes where they live" (Atkins, 2010, p. xi). It should be no secret, then, that people who lack access to generational or inherited wealth-and were legally barred from purchasing homes as the best prospect for building wealth-end up in subpar school districts that are funded by sub-par tax revenue. It should also be no wonder that the children of poor people attend poorly performing schools in poorly funded districts with disproportion-ate concentrations of poor classmates. And yes, students in these circumstances are more likely to perform poorly. Why are people poor? Most notably, why do the same groups of people te~d to endure poverty from generation to generation? And ultimately, why do chil-dren of the poor predictably perform poorly in public schools? As noted earlier, a historicized and contextualized view points to several factors, including the by-products of imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and racism. Bourdieu's cul-tural and social reproduction theories, alongside the Marxist "correspoocle~ce principle," just to name a few critical tools, help provide answers to our queries.

My new tradition is to begin each foundational course in my program by con-textualizing and historicizing public education. To assist me, I use the diagram shown in Figure 16.1. The topics I address and the stories I tell within each rung of the ladder of structured inequality are candid, personal, and decidedly pointed in order to stimulate discussion.

1 have been teaching teachers for over a decade, primarily in teacher educati?n ~rograms designed to prepare urban educators and always guided by a social JUStice framework.

Whether inspired by Mann's plea to elevate the masses to higher moral and financial ground via schooling, or other notions of social justice, even now Europeans refer to publicly funded education as "the social elevator" (Lopez-Fogues, 2011). As Mann originally conceived the function of public education, there was overt recognition that something in society was amiss, and that "something" could be effectively redressed by offering public education to all-not just some. The same "something" that Mann was acutely aware of and deeply troubled by was and is the gross and growing disparities among the social classes. We continue to need methods for shrinking overwhelming and widen-ing class divides. Many of us choose to address the equity gap by struggling to supply universal access to high-quality, free, and appropriate public education. Nearly two centuries later, "the great equalizer" cannot equalize soon enough

he gap between belief and action has emerged in different school districts at different times over different issues; education policy has therefore been not only contentious but confusing. Policymakers have pursued, with con-siderable support, one goal or set of goals for a while and then stopped or shifted emphasis; some policymakers have pursued a direction in one jurisdic-tion while their counterparts elsewhere have moved strongly in anothe

This irrationality is most apparent when it comes to reforms that could have the greatest impact and that have the soundest research support. Where it has been tried, educating poor children with students who are more privi-leged, or educating them like students who are more privileged, has improved their performance and long-term chance of success

his overlap adds more diffi-culties to the already difficult relationship between individual and collective goals of the American dream, in large part because it adds anxieties about di-versity and citizenship to concerns about opportunity and competition. The fact that class and race or ethnicity are so intertwined and so embedded in the structure of schooling may provide the greatest barrier of all to the achieve-ment of the dream for all Americans, and helps explain much of the contention, confusion, and irrationality in public education.

Until recently local prope_rtY taxes provided the hulk of the financing for public schools, and local officials ·11 ak d · · b · ..,,.,ents stl m e most ec1S1ons a out personnel and pedagogy.

uality preschool, indi-vidual reading instruction, small classes in the early grades, and consistently challenging academic courses have been demonstrated to help disadvantaged children achieve, just as they enable middle-class children to achieve. Similarly, it helps all children to have peers who take· school seriously, behave in ways that help them learn, and are backed by parents who have the resources to en-sure that schools satisfactorily educate their children. Most importantly, qual-ified, knowledgeable teachers make a difference. Well-off children almost \ always attend schools that have most of these features; poor children too fre-quently do not.

Desegregation enhanced the long-term life chances of many African American students and rarely hurt white students, but the movement to complete or maintain it has largely been over for 2 5 years. School finance reform broadens schooling opportunities for poor children with-out harming those who are better off, but equity in funding has depended mostly on the intervention of the courts

Hispanics and inner city residents still drop out much more frequently than others, the gap between black and white achievement rose during the 1990s after declining in the previous decade, the achievement gap between students from lower-and higher-class families has barely budged, and poor students in poor urban schools have dramatically lower rates of literacy and arithmetic or scientific competence.

The paradox stems from the fact that the success of one generation depends at least partly on the success of their parents or guardians. People who succeed get to keep the fruits of their labor and use them as they see fit; if they buy a home in a place where the schools are better, or use their superior resources to make the schools in their neighborhood better, their chil-dren will have a head start and other children will fall behind through no fault of their own

Public schools are essential to make the American dream work, but schools are also the arena in which many Americans first fail. Failure there almost cer-tainly guarantees failure from then on. In the dream, failure results from lack of individual merit and effort; in reality, failure in school too closely tracks structures of racial and class inequality. Schools too often reinforce rather than contend against the intergenerational paradox at the heart of the American dream. That is understandable but not acceptable.

Decisions about schooling also take place in a context that makes it hard to change anything and especially difficult to alter the structure of privile.ge. Unlike schooling in every other major industrialized country, public educaoo~ in this country is democratic and deeply loca

Quality preschool, indi-vidual reading instruction, small classes in the early grades, and consistently challenging academic courses have been demonstrated to help disadvantaged children achieve, just as they enable middle-class children to achieve

he gap between belief and action has emerged in different school districts at different times over different issues; education policy has therefore been not only contentious but confusing

Many issues in education policy have therefore come down to an apparent choice between the individual success of comparatively privileged students and the collective good of all students or the nation as a whole

Not all residents of the United States believe all of those things, of course, and some believe none of them. Nevertheless, this American dream is surpris-ingly close to what most Americans have believed through most of recent Amer-ican history

From the perspective of the individual, the ideology is as compelling as it is simple. "I am an American, so I have the freedom and opportunity to make whatever I want of my life. I can succeed by working hard and using my tal-ents; if I fail, it will be my own fault