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A book review by Laurie Slovarp
C&I 508
Fall 2012

 Severalslides have audio to expand on the
points made on the slide.

 Youeither have to double click on the
speaker symbol, or click on it and then click
the play symbol (depends on the program on
your computer)

 Ten short true stories about students who,
despite horrendous situations, rose above
and got an education that changed their lives
for the better.
 Common themes:
 Difficult family lives (to say the least)
 Poverty
 Tragedy
 Low expectations from most
 1-2 very influential individuals who believed in
them
I will highlight a few of the stories

 From the projects of Baltimore
 Friends into gangs and drugs
 Mother gave him to her father (Big Rod)
 “You know, I never wanted you. You wouldn’t be
here if your father wasn’t so cheap. I needed
money for an abortion, but your cheap XXX of a
father never gave me the money. Now, you all in
my bizness. You need to leave here…” (p. 28)
 Big Rod
 “Boy, I ain’t got a lot of money, so you gonna
have to find a way to get your own money, but I
do have time and I will give you plenty of that.”
(p. 28)

 Ronnie‟s 5th grade teacher, Ms. Tillman
 Introduced him to poetry, which he loved
 Believed in him and encouraged him
 Drug dealing friend Moon
 Secretly tutored him in reading and looked out
for him
 Big Rod
 Encouraged him, attended school events, taught
him how to be an honest and hard working man

 Ronnie graduated college and created a self-
sufficient and honest life for himself

A majority of his friends growing up dropped
out of school and several were either shot
and killed or went to jail

 Moon is serving a life sentence for murder

 Functionalism (Brint, 1998; deMarrais & LeCompte,
1999)
 Clear order in the gang/drug culture
 Don‟t mess with those at the top of the order
 This culture is resistant to change and there is pressure
to not venture outside of the „accepted‟
mentality/culture.
 Those that are entrenched in the culture feel threatened
by those that pursue different lifestyles
 Conflict theory (Brint, 1998; Collins, 1971; deMarrais
& LeCompte, 1999)
 Those within the gang/drug culture with money and/or
power dominate the structure of the society
 A lot of conflict between gangs or different
neighborhoods as well as conflict between those who
accept the gang or drug culture and those who do not

 Interpretive Theory (deMarrais & LeCompte,
1999)
 Ronnie‟s personal relationships with his grandfather,
Moon, and Ms. Tillman had a huge influence on his
ability to escape the culture he grew up in.
 Critical Theory (deMarrais & LeCompte, 1999)
 Ronnie grew up in an oppressive environment that is
the result of many factors
 Minority status
 Poverty and social stratification
 Lack of education
 But…he was resistant to his „lot in life‟ and both
macro and micro elements lead to the development
of the skills and perseverance needed to get an
education, which provided the means for him to
create a better life.

 Born in Afganistan before Taliban rule
 Girls were educated and allowed to work
 Zina loved school and education was emphasized
in the family
 Mother – professor
 Father – government worker
 Taliban took over and made it illegal for girls to
go to school and women to work
 Father and grandfather killed by Taliban
 Family moved to refugee camp in Pakistan and
eventually to US through Global Missionaries
 Zina eventually went to college and studied
Sociology and Women‟s Studies with significant
help from a teacher (Joy)

 Conflict
Theory – macro level (Brint, 1998;
deMarrais & LeCompte, 1999)
 Great deal of conflict in Afganistan between
Taliban and the citizens, men and women, girls
and boys, etc.
 Taliban gained control and made the rules
 Ended education and work for women with goal of
socializing them towards extremist Muslim traditions
 Women as servants
 Men have all the power
 Clearly made a huge impact on the socialization of
everyone in that country. Even boys who were allowed
to be educated were indoctrinated with Taliban ideas.
 Acceptance of violence and brutality

 Interpretive
Theory – micro level (Brint,
1998; deMarrias & LeCompte, 1999)
 Personal interactions made a huge impact on
Zina‟s eventual socialization and the person she
would become
 Family, particularly her father who supported
education for girls
 Teacher (Joy), who helped and encouraged her to go
to college

 Originally from Puerto Rico
 Alcoholic father beat the mother regularly
 Mother took kids to DC to live with a cousin
 Excited about the opportunity to go to school in US
 Outgoing and a fighter – took on role as protector from her
father
 Raped by an uncle repeatedly, which completely change her
 Withdrawn, self-destructive, fearful, lost all self-esteem, didn‟t care
about school, very angry and mean
 Got pregnant in 8th grade
 Decided she wanted to become a truck driver
 Eventually went to a Charter school that helped with childcare
 Vice Principle Mr. Stewart showed her kindness and mentored her
 Got a Master‟s degree and ended up as Dean of the charter
school she attended

 Interpretive Theory (deMarrias & LeCompte,
1999
 Micro-level events seemed to overwhelmingly
shape who she became
 She was destroyed and saved by individuals
 Father
 Uncle
 Principle

 Lots of examples of different elements of each of the
sociological theories discussed in class
 Interpretive Theory dominated in these stories
 Makes sense since they were personal accounts
 Unfortunately, these cases are exceptions rather than the norm
 Analysis of groups of individuals with similar situations would likely
reveal more elements of functionalism and/or conflict theory as a
whole
 One person can turn someone‟s life around even under the worst
of situations
 With perseverance, and support, any one can change their life
 We should never ….
 stop believing in students
 stop encouraging students
 have low expectations for students
 make assumptions about what a student is or has been through and
how those events have impacted them
 make assumptions about what a particular student is capable of

 Strengths
 Enjoyable to read
 Inspirational
 As an educator
 As an individual
 Great examples of how individuals can overcome the
odds
 Demonstrates how education is one of the primary
gateways to a changed life
 In every story it was ultimately education that allowed
them to create a life different then the one they had
grown up in
 Weaknesses
 Nothing of any consequence
 Could have used better editing. I noticed several
typos

 Can you think of an example(s) of a student that you
personally gave up on or had low expectations for (or
you observed that in another teacher)? If so, tell us
about it.
 How do you think that impacted the student‟s eventual
success?
 Do you have any examples stories similar to those in
Voices of Determination (students who defy the
odds)?
 If so, who were the influential individuals in their life?
 Why do you think we have a tendency to give up on
students or to make assumptions about their
potential? What can we do as educators to insulate
ourselves from our natural tendency to think this
way?

 Brint, S. (1998). Schools and societies (2nd ed.).
Stanford, CA: Standford University Press, 1-30.
 Chavous, K. P. (2012). Voices of determination:
Children that defy the odds. New Brunswick,
New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.
 Collins, R. (1971). Functional and conflict
theores of educational stratification.
American Sociological Review, 36, 1002-1019.
 de Marrais, K.B. & LeCompte, M. D. (1999). Theory
and its influences on the purposes of schooling.
In The way schools work: A sociological analysis
of education (3rd ed.). New York: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc., 1-22.

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