Title: Life Stories of Troubled Youth: Meanings for a Mentor and a Scholarly Stranger
Abstract: Not long ago, a teacher of troubled youth grew weary of the school district’s failure to understand why it was difficult for her students to come to school. She asked her students to “tell truth to power” by sending the school superintendent a booklet of their personally crafted life stories. In the 5 years she has taught at Penny Lane, Jane has come to connect with many of her students and feel the weight of young lives laced with homelessness, violence, and drug abuse. When school authorities ask, “Why don’t these kids come to school?” Jane responds, “How can these kids possibly show up every day considering the problems they face?” She wanted the authorities to provide economic and political support for the work she was trying to do. As she explained the writing assignment the students grew silent and their eyes drifted up to the ceiling as they considered her proposition.
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-10-15
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 5
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