Home Is a Prison in the Global City: The Tragic Failure of School-Based Community Engagement Strategies

Historically, schools serving impoverished families trapped in America’s urban “ghettos” have been resistant to community participation. Enhanced participation is critically needed, however, if long-term urban school-reform projects and efforts to develop more empowering, community-supporting forms of pedagogy are to succeed. This article examines the most influential and/or promising efforts to foster more authentic engagement between schools and inner-city communities. The author finds that while efforts to develop school-based models have largely failed, a range of community-based efforts remain promising. If educators, scholars, and policymakers are truly interested in improving school–community relations, then they will need to become more deeply informed about community forces and structures and more directly involved in efforts to strengthen community organizations.