Here’s one for you. It’s a good read. I promise. Especially if you’re a teacher, policy maker, scholar or just generally interested in education and you’re looking for a fresh, objective viewpoint on schooling for kids who have fallen through the cracks of the public system. I talked to lots of kids in an urban Edmonton high school, including a number of Indigenous youth. What I discovered was their experiences, needs and personalities. Turns out they’re interesting and had a lot a lot to say about what type of pedagogy works for them. Good thing they’re in a school that listens.
Here’s what a few others had to say:
At a time when high school completion, high school success, and student engagement are foremost on the agenda of most provincial governments and school jurisdictions, Wishart’s book serves as another reminder that those we single out as the most deficient, the most oppressed, have the potential to inform us of the changes needed to create an education system for today’s world. Sharon Friesen, Education Canada, 2010, Vol. 50 (5)
There aren’t enough people raising the issues that this book raises. Perhaps we shy away from difficult topics too often, but not Wishart, who titles one of her concluding sections “Disrupting the Status Quo Through Uncomfortable Conversations.” Our education system and our society would benefit from being disrupted more often by uncomfortable conversations that force us to look at old concerns from new perspectives. We might even develop an educational philosophy that, in Wishart’s words, “…moves beyond the type of schooling that leads to people acquiring power and material wealth to people who want to question what constitutes the public good” (p.145). Kevin Taft, MLA Edmonton Riverview, January 2010
This book is heavy reading but it does contain fresh ideas for change in our efforts at dealing with issues surrounding at risk teens including a goodly number of Aboriginal youth. The author’s analysis is a starting point for concerned educators. It should be a useful text for lawyers practicing in custody matters in the marital law field. Ron MacIsaac, The Saskatchewan Advocate, December 2009
The Rose that Grew from Concrete exemplifies how teachers learn from their students – learn to work together, to listen, to adapt, and to connect. Paula E. Kirman, Prairie Books Now, Fall/Winter 2009
