Harvard Educational Review Aadustrial complexjSuch policies have eroded true hope and given rise to fii hope, a reactionary distortion of the radical peembeentbeats Tero te L Soe rt a a es Te Sp Ree ag eleyny be an lo ee] Dette age bas es {iter ro na ee nce |) Sata pr shnarwant aeaaereraee creo? : Aine The spreat ofthis ind oP educaToral practice our schooleadas~S [fyJ 1S Hus Re meastea sia he ee ee aed oh sire papal pet eeraar ay eine i Freire (1997) described this kind of hope as an “ontological need,” especially Sie pene ee te ete pee ope eels tor yep Brea tists a ecegec ces oo rsa of oie ee Enemies of Hope | |) Hokey Hope _| || Optimism, Corel West (200M) argues, “adopts the role ofthe spectator who JCS, «4 surveys the evidence in order to infer that things are going to get better” (p. 200), ever wher He evidence doer nor warrant sieWa conclusion THENote to Educators LJORMREY MR BUNA ANNA of false caring, one in which themore-powerful members of the relationshi ‘Gcfine themsclves as caring despite the fac that the recipients of their = led carinig-do not perceive tas such. Valenzuela’ aesthetically caring teach- rs drew heavily from the work-ethic rhetoric to describe “good” students and doled out care in proportion to students’ willingness to be accommodating of inequal sock ‘eh. It is a false hope informed by privilege and rooted in the optimism of the spectator who needs not sifer—a “let them eat cake” utterance that reveals a Mythical Hope ‘Obama's clection has the potential .o contribute to mythical hope, what Roland Barthes (1972) might have described as a false narrative of equal opportu- -niy-emptied of its historical and political comtingencies. The significance of the election of a black man as the president of this country is undeniable, is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. evidence ofthis than the election of an African American to_Peshaps thsi why West (2008) describes Obama's election a siting pre) ( Gzlogybetmecn an example of the American dream coming tue and “he | ind exhaustion ofthe eam built onthe succes of any one nd Ie palates epticl tops Mythical hope Si eta nrc dt {ng-thatts rooted in celebrating individual exceptions, These individuals are / ‘used to construct a myth of meritocracy that simultaneously fetishizes them a8 ‘objects of that myth. Ulimately,Tivihieal hope depend ow Wek aid We EW ‘oF averages to prodiuce individual exceptions to the tyranny of injustice, and ‘thus it denies the legitimacy ofthe suffering of the oppressed. Educators must _avoid the trap of overstating the significance of Obama's election for teaching and learning in urban schools, because, atthe end of the day, we are the ones ‘who create classrooms that insill in our young people the “audacity to hope”accumulation of multiple negative stressors, and is so many of them its as if ‘someone is being hit from every single side. And, is not only that they are deal- ng with aot of sres, [t's that] they have few resources to cope. (Adelman, 2008) “The exposure to chronic stress associated with ling in these Oper OF “socially toxic environments” (Garbarino, 1995) isnow thought oF a one ofthe 1most—#f not the most—sigifcant contributors to poor health. This research helps usunderstand that many of the heakh problems plaguing poor comm nities result from “unnatural causes” (Adelman, iydes of wealth inequality, group (There are ake the ‘forms of false hope, whiew ear operate tadependent Of ONE avither, these ree elements of ust operate holistically and, in fact, are mat Aly conatoae:TReesoeosica tert apart only tar the purpo of male ‘Tupac Shakur (1999) referred to young people who emerge in defiance of socially toxic environments as the “roses Wat grow frow coucrete.” Concrete is one of the worst imaginable surfaces in which to grow, devoid of essential contaminated by polh in sucha nec our students to, are these mnt for grow ‘solidarity. to share in othess-sullering, to sacrifice sa Doom, to collectvely struggle to replace the concrete completely with a rose gardens what-beall-mudacioushope The following sections discuss each of these elements in rn Material Hope Material hope is one element ofthe crtcal hope that teachers can cultivate[Note to Eventos “JOY A A HEME ANDHADE Docks worksheets, oF the lieraure. I each them using fe and then it’ mich ‘asc for sud connet them o what eye ean” pe most effective urban eclucators, in every discipline a every grade level, COMME thr ariemerigor fencer wre (nc Andrade, 2007). If we are serious about giving our children hope, we must reflect on how to connect our pedagogy tothe hatsh realities of poor, urban Gommunities. An eal to me from Ms. Truth, afourth grade teacher in Los Angeles, reveals the magnitude of this undertaking: ‘Today was an almost unbearably sad day at school. According to my siden (all Of wich were SOMBING) wo oun hn er siting oda er oon. Some men in a car rolled up, got out and shot one tthe eye (hs head ‘xploded) there was a $month olin dhe back sat (ae was left “wahartned”) the other got out and ran (they call him “baby” Marcus) the guys an alter him and shot him in the hack and then more when he fel... The nephew of one {sin my clas, the brother ofthe other iin Mr. [Randall claw. Thi ex close community o word spread prety rapidly yesterday. Foran our and a hal this smorning] the Kids all just talked and ered fle hequipped to handle a cris ike this bt we got through it. id site a posible, cried wih de Kids, ‘re all consoled cach other, and other began sharing diferent stores of Woence and fos. In the end; did what thought and hope) was best red o empower ‘them with the belie tha hey must work wo become the warriors who combat the senseless iolence and marines on the streets. Were making cards, and going {0 senda litle money othe families. The kid all seem to feel aie etter. How would you handle thi? It ooks a8 if many teachers didn say or do much, Feel ing a bic weary way. Prepare or support to handle such tragic events. The result is that, as Ms. Truth men-