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Article: Urban Schools - Day Camps or Custodial Centers?
- Article from:
- Phi Delta Kappan
- Article date:
- November 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mr. Haberman would encourage those engaged in reconstruction and reform of urban schools to devote some effort to reconsidering their assumptions about what a school is and what the participants do there.
LANGUAGE IS NOT an innocent reflection of how we think. The terms we use control our perceptions, shape our understanding, and lead us to particular proposals for improvement. We can see only as far as our language allows us to see.
In common usage, the places children and youths who live in urban poverty are required to attend for 180 days each year are "schools." We call them schools because the people who pay for them, work in them, and send their ...