Disruptive School Behavior

Class, Race and Culture

New York:  Holmes & Meier, 1988

             Unique in its honest confrontation with the problems of school aggression and its challenge to many assumptions and practices in education and public policy, this book presents the voices and actions of youngsters of the 1970s who made up the age cohort that had the highest violence rate in American history.  The book describes key elements of aggression and presents coping strategies for parents, teachers, government, the private sector, and concerned citizens that are relevant today.

              Hanna uses her case study of a court-ordered magnet elementary school in Dallas, Texas, to illuminate persistent, widespread problems, on a national scale. She shows that without considering the unintended consequences of their programs, policy planners unwittingly set in motion obstacles to educational achievement.

              This study violated taboos and notions of what was politically correct at the time. There was a code of silence about some aspects of the black experience that were related to class and insider-outsider relationships. Some people felt that if negative areas of that experience were discussed it would fuel bigotry. The author takes the view that unbiased research is the best way to develop effective policies.

Reviews:

            “A very important study…Likely to become a classic…certain to generate a lot of controversy…the description of the school setting, the discussion of methods of data gathering, and the theoretical analysis are simply outstanding.” – William Julius Wilson, sociology, Harvard University

            “Unique for its honest confrontation with the real problems…The implications for educational policy will be of great importance [The author has] gotten into the central problems…in a way that only a contemporary anthropologist and involved parent could…[The study] will fit right into the center of activity in multicultural and intercultural education, as well as into education and anthropology.” – George D. Spindler, anthropology, education, Stanford University

            “the chapter on cultural dissonance is most insightful, and Hanna outlines several specific issues that hinder effective interaction between black and white, middle-and lower-class children.  …This well-written, well-researched book is a contribution to the field of urban minority education and should be helpful to graduate students and policy makers.” — Choice

            “[Hanna’s book’ is a courageous one.  She has taken up one of the taboo topics of our hypersensitive age: how the lofty social and educational ideas of racial integration can be compromised, even negated, by the vexing realities of life within the newly integrated school. . .  But the greater contribution of this volume is to provide a set of concepts and insights that, carefully borne in mind, should reduce the chances that the next round of educational reforms will make matters worse.” – The Public Interest

Praised by John Ogbu, anthropology, University of California,
Berkeley; Nathan Glazer, education, Harvard University; and Chester E. Finn, Jr., (former assistant secretary for research and improvement and counselor to the secretary at the U.S. Department of Education

Revision Plan:

            A new introduction will explain that children’s behavior described in this study continues to cause problems for the individual child, student peers, the school, and community. The current context is no longer so much desegregation as bully behavior and African American rejection of schooling as acting white.  Studies supporting these issues since the original publication of the book with be cited.

Table of Contents:

1. RETREAT FROM NAIVETÉ
Desegregation, Race, and Socioeconomic Class
Odyssey to Discovery
Conceptual Guideposts
Approach to Knowledge

2. TERRORISM, FIRE BOMBING, AND CREATION
Creation of a Black Community
The Segregated School
School Desegregation and Out of the Protected Nest
Pacesetter Students and Their Backgrounds
School Culture
Black Culture, White Culture

3. CULTURAL DISSONANCE: COLOR AND CLASS
Academic Achievement
Classroom disruption: Discipline and Dancing Insubordination
Individual Versus Cooperative Work
Expressive Role Validation: On-Stage Soul
Anger; Styles of Ventilation
Friendship; Initiation, Continuity, and Termination
Cultural Duality

4. MEDDLIN’: IT WOULD HURT YOU TOO
Bullies, Bullied, Funny People, and the Protected
Verbal Aggression
Nonverbal Aggression

5. WELLSPRINGS OF MEDDLIN’
Trends in American society
Socialization to Violence: Slavery and Low-Income Patterns
Racism
“Equality” through Compensation—and the Importance of the Body
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Other Aggression Stimuli at School

6. MEDDLIN’ REWARDS, REINFORCEMENT, AND OTHER CONSEQUENCES
Responses to Meddlin’
Consequences of Meddlin’
Pluses and Minuses in the Integration Process

7. IDEALISM AND REALITY: PRESCRIPTIVE NEEDS IN THE NATIONAL CONTEXT
Victimizing Progress
Generational Credibility Gap
Breaking Taboos. White Liberals
Breaking Taboos: Concerned Blacks
Breaking Taboos: Teachers

8. KEEPING IRON-CLAD CONVICTION FROM RUSTING OUT: SOME STRATEGIES FOR THE CLASSROOM
Meshing Academic and Social Learning
Discovering Multicultural Styles
Individualizing Activities
Modifying Teacher Style
Balancing Assimilation with Cultural Pluralism and Ability Grouping
Structuring Cooperation: Jigsaw Puzzle and Tournament Learning
Refereeing Potential Conflict Activities
Recognizing Ripple Effects of Discipline
Providing Counseling
Coping with Aggression
Altering Passivity
Having an “Out-to-Lunch Bunch”
Summary

9. LEADERSHIP AND POLICY: PRINCIPALS, GOVERNMENT, AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Principals
Special Programs
Multicultural Training
Federal Courts, Quotas, Unintended Consequences, and Alternatives
Education and Economy
The Challenge
Summary

APPENDICES
Letter to Faculty and Staff
Letter to parents
Observation Form
Interview Schedule
Discipline Referral Report Form
Parents for Improving Pacesetter Letters and Forms
Social Interaction Observation Guide

WORKS CITED

INDEX