EDUCATION PORTFOLIO

       For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too is a book written by Professor Christopher Emdin to shine a light on teachers who weren’t raised in an urban setting but have chosen teach in one. The idea behind the book was to give teachers a view of the neoindigineous culture, as he calls it, of the urban youth.  He gave them the term neoindigenous because he compares the youth to the indigenous Native Americans who were oppressed in their land by foreigners.  In this book Emdin gives a new approach to teaching the youth in an urban community as well as give a new perspective of the urban youth.  His goal is for educators to stray away from the idea of teaching in an urban school in order to help save the students.  He called this the savior complex, which gives teachers in minority and urban communities a false sense of saving kids. 

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       In this book, Edmin puts forth the idea of Reality Pedagogy.  Reality Pedagogy is Edmin’s vision of pedagogy in which it demonstrates the importance of building realistic relationships with students that involve their community and culture and weaving it into the classroom.  Edmin emphasizes the importance of understanding the students’ culture and to do these educators must make an effort to immerse themselves into their culture by visiting community events, engaging in their music and games and adapting these into their lessons.  In this book, It is evident that Emdin has a deep devotion and respect for the urban youth and that he strives to be their voice.