Full Description
How can we promote the learning and well-being of all students, especially those who come from some of the most disadvantaged backgrounds? Anindya Kundu argues that we can fight against deeply rooted inequalities in the American educational system by harnessing student agency—each person's unique capacity for positive change. To make his case, Kundu draws powerful narratives from a population of individuals who beat the odds to become academically and professionally successful. These strivers have overcome challenges such as broken families, homelessness, unexpected pregnancies, forms of abuse, incarceration, and more, to make it in the world. But it wasn't simply individualism, tenacity, resilience, or grit that helped them. Rather, as Kundu illustrates, it was a combination of social and cultural supports that paved the path towards their dreams, harnessing the inherent power of their agency.Book Features:
A counter-narrative to the popular misconception that all students need is "grit."
A strengths-based approach to education that is sensitive to students' communities and cultures.
Rich, first-person quotes from individuals who have overcome immense odds.
Useful diagrams for educational stakeholders on the relationship between grit and agency.
Descriptions of dense sociological concepts presented in plain terms.
Inclusion of fundamental and new waves in psychology.
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Welcome to "American Dilemmas"
Introduction: From Seeing Roses in Concrete to Believing Schools Are Gardens
1. Rugged Individualism and the Co-Option of Grit
Individual Outcomes are Largely Products of "Social and Cultural Reproduction"
Swim Tests and Afro-Puffs
Getting to Agency: Limitations of Grit in Fully Explaining Achievement
2. Agency as a Foundational Sociological Concept
A Classic Sociological Debate and Finding a Balance through Grit and Agency
Studying Exceptional Cases to Broaden the Understanding of Disadvantage
Agency Re-Defined and Operationalized
3. The Home and Family
Parenting Amidst Structural Limitations
"Growing Up Too Soon": Immense Responsibilities and Nuanced Effects on Agency
Young Parents: An Amplifying Effect on Agency and Grit
Conclusion
4. The Social Environment and School Settings
Social and Cultural Capital Revisited: Essential Ingredients to Success
Mentors and Networks: Improving Students' Worldviews, Senses of Self, and Help-Seeking Behaviors
Conclusion
5. The Ever-Evolving Human
Purpose: A Component of Passion and a Basis for Developing Grit and Agency
Giving Back to Make Positive Change: A Form of Positive Resistance
Faith: Reaffirms Purpose, Hones Focus and Fuels Agency
Mental Health, Wellness and Fulfilment Benefit from Monitoring and Social Supports
Understanding Burnout from a Social Perspective
Guided Self-Reflection can Help a Person Re-Realize Their Passions and Agency
Conclusion
6. Conclusion: Fighting the Normalization of Failure
Shifting Paradigms About What's Possible
Recommendations for Fostering Grit and Agency
Appendix: Positionality, Research Design, and Conceptual Framework
Why I Research
Research Positionality
Methodology
Addressing Limitations and Looking Forward
Participant Reference Table
Photos
References
Index
About the Author
