Roses in Concrete: A Review

In my search for course-related materials, I found this website and related videos of a class discussing the importance of education that focuses on community. The videos come from an organization in Oakland called “Roses in Concrete” in which Jeff Duncan-Andrade teaches a cohort of 26 students through their 4 years of high school. The approach is described as, “quite simple; encouraging students to take pride in their histories, cultures, and communities in order that they might share personal and collective commitments to grow healthier communities”. The organization is determined to achieve their goal of building a whole school in Oakland following the same program, that encompasses the needs of the society, which motivates their children to become successful students who will go on to college and then give back to their community in order to bring higher development to urban areas.

On the website, rosesinconcrete.org, there are many videos of the program’s students and how they view the program. In relation with George Dei’s schooling as community theory, many of the students stated feeling a “sense of family” with their teacher and fellow students and how important this inclusiveness was to their success. George Dei spoke of many students facing problems of poverty, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and discrimination in housing and social services, and how these problems affect the whole society and have implications for student’s educational success.

Jeff Duncan, the teacher at Roses in Concrete, agrees. In this video, Jeff Duncan emphasizes the difficulties of growing and achieving in conditions that are designed to hold you down, hence the metaphor of “Roses in Concrete”. He states that "hope" is the one factor that is designed to disrupt cycles of trauma and allowing positive contribution to community.  He says if physiological/safety needs are not met, as they are usually not in urban communities, it is impossible to achieve self-actualization, which is the pre-condition for academic success.  The emphasis in the "Roses in Concrete" program, is not for its students to graduate and then leave their oppressive community, but to educate themselves in order to return to their community, and make lasting contributions and change so that the next generation may be uplifted and encouraged by their success. A quote from George Dei's theory is as follows,

"We all expect our students to learn and utilize their education to improve their lives and those of their communities. But such learning is only possible if the resources, the environment, and the desires are existent and available in the educational context for the learner" (Dei, 2008, p.348)

Roses in Concrete is determined to meet the needs of its students by providing the resources they need, along with providing an encouraging environment to create hope within its students that their desires can be achieved and can improve their personal situation, along with their community. I believe that programs such as this one should be an inspiration to our public school systems and that teachers such as Jeff Duncan are great role models and are necessary to promote the positive changes we want to see in our communities.