Genevieve:
I like your questions. My original questions I shared with you certainly have
changed over time to start including some of the ones you generated.
Philosophically, I'm not too fond theories of cultural reproduction, at least
in the educational theory I've run across, because they haven't really
accounted for resistance. Certainly few empirical studies have. Even though
resistance, as any teacher working in public schools can attest to, abounds.
I have addressed quite a few of the questions you mentioned in the course of
establishing an institutional history of my site. I've gotten some historical
documents, but the best source has come from people I've interviewed. I
always ask them for stories about the agency -- notable events that stand out
or seem significant. Funny or sad stories. And these story has been
incredibly rich and provide me with a lot of insight about the place. I'm
about to interview the janitor, who has been there for years and seen "it
all," and I'm trying to get up the nerve to ask him if I can interview his
wife who he told me has grown up in the housing project where the community
center is located.
I certainly am sensivte to conflict and crisis. In fact, the center is going
through a major financial crisis due to budget cuts in the county (ironic at a
time when the general economy is flush). The fact that it's not closing its
doors attests to the resourcefulness and tenacity of the leadership. So, your
notion of "follow the money" is interesting in the fact that when there is
money to be cut from a government budget, human services again is the first to
be axed, and, once again, poor communities suffer.
Sara
Vanderbilt University &
Partnership for After School Education
New York, N.Y.
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