Community culture influences

Community culture is an important influence on the urban centers. That message was made clear by the creation of suburban communities. People thought that homogenous demographics allowed for a better education system. Many people moved out to suburbs with that notion.

Urban communities are strong in culture. People live in small dense areas that they will know each other well. Their relationship with one another is extremely strong. For example of Gilyard, the student had to balance his life as a student in the white community with his relationship with the black community. One part in particular showed the strength of his friendship, when Gilyard made up a story to protect his friend.

I believe that the culture of the community is the biggest influence of schools. The way the educational system is put together does not fit well with the urban community. It’s like fitting a round peg in a square hole. It just won’t happen. There needs to be flexibility in the system to help develop students and their talents. For example educators such as Lisa Delpit and Gloria Ladson-Billing showed positive results by incorporating the community language “black English” into their program. The school needs to adapt better to the students to make them feel that school is relevant in their lives. I hope that understanding the urban community will allow the school systems and their students to thrive.