The Grammar of School Discipline
Author | : Hannah Carson Baggett |
Publisher | : Rowman & Littlefield |
Total Pages | : 227 |
Release | : 2021-05-18 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781793601766 |
ISBN-13 | : 1793601763 |
Rating | : 4/5 (66 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: The Grammar of School Discipline examines how seemingly discrete school discipline policies and practices constitute a particular grammar: Removal, Resistance and Reform. Weaving numeric data with portraits of students and school practitioners, the authors detail a nuanced landscape of school discipline in Alabama and its anti-Black foundations. The removal of Black students can be traced to the antebellum construction of Blackness as criminal, deviant, and deserving of punishment. A focus on resistance centers the agency that students and practitioners exercise despite anti-Black removal. An exploration of specific reform efforts emphasizes that even the most well-intentioned and well-organized reforms are limited when the removal of students remains an option for practitioners. The authors end with an appeal to educational stakeholders to repair the harms that these anti-Black policies and practices inflict on students and communities, and thus move towards repairing the damage that white supremacy inflicts on everyone’s humanity.