Appropriate Urban Teaching Philosophies. A Book Review of Sketches in Democracy: Notes from an Urban Classroom

Lisa DeLorenzo, a professor of music education at Montclair State University, took an extraordinary leap of faith by using her sabbatical year to teach for the very first time within an urban school setting. Her recognition of her limitations in preparing preservice teachers for an urban school environment without herself having had that experience speaks volumes of her reflective capabilities, which she also employed in writing Sketches in Democracy: Notes from an Urban Classroom (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012), a thoughtprovoking analytical narrative of her experience teaching in a newly fledged charter conceived as a democratic school. Her overall purpose for writing this book was an attempt to “unravel what it means to test one’s teaching, humble one’s spirit, and question one’s values on a daily basis” (DeLorenzo, 2012, p. 2). The author sings in two voices— the urban classroom teacher and the educational researcher— artfully harmonizing her journal writings and recollections about specific events within her teaching day with her analyses of those events within the larger educational and social system. By using a narrative style, the author’s hope is to provide a rich contextual description of what it means to be an urban teacher that also serves as a jumping off point for preservice teachers to develop appropriate urban teaching philosophies. She bolsters the narrative with relevant and poignant findings from educational research, greatly increasing the ability to generalize from her singular experience. In overview, DeLorenzo’s book follows her journey through the teaching year, starting with chapter one, “Birthing a School While Still in Labor,” in which she recalls the disastrous first day of school as students did not have desks, teachers did not have the space or materials needed, and the school administration did not develop a cohesive, democratic philosophical foundation. It is every teacher’s firstday nightmare. From that low point, the author confronts the mismatch between expectations of, between, and among students, teachers, administrators, and the community. In the subsequent chapters “The Trouble with Mismatched Expectations” and “Playing School is Not the Real Thing,” she concludes that cultural responsiveness— knowing the students within their context— is the initial step to the growth of a democratic school. As the school year and the book progresses, DeLorenzo examines the relationships that formed between the students and her, questioning how to balance respect for the students’ autonomy and creation and maintenance of a positive learning environment. In “Teachable Moments, Part 1” and “Part 2,” DeLorenzo tells of a music program the students created and performed for the entire school. In the last act, students dressed and danced in a way that stunned the faculty with its overt sexuality. While the adults were dismayed, the students were very proud of their work, and the situation catalyzed a breakthrough discussion in which students wrestled with their responsibility to the larger social fabric of the school environment. In “MidYear Reflection,” DeLorenzo cleverly parallels how teachers often use holiday breaks to reflect on their teaching and work on their craft with her own presentation of what the research community tells us about the urban teenager. In the remaining chapters, the author synthesizes her experience and philosophy about the connection between democracy and urban education. What it means to be an urban student and teacher as well as what the main goal of education should be are two main themes woven together throughout the book but brought into sharp relief in the concluding chapters. In “White Teachers, Urban Schools,” DeLorenzo describes her discomfort in being White, middleclass, and in a position of power and exemplifies the unflinching manner in which she approached issues of urban teaching. Race and identity are underlying themes present in most chapters as are other complex issues affecting schooling, such as socioeconomic status, gangs, power, and gender. However, the author never uses deficit language in discussing these difficult topics, instead choosing to focus on what the students have instead of what they do not. The author displays amazing empathy as she attempts to really understand who her students are while at the same time discovering herself. From this same chapter, the author reflects: