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A firsthand account of the experiences of elementary and middle school students' daily lives at an underserved urban public school.
A Curriculum of Control illuminates the often-overlooked daily experiences of elementary and middle school students at Baker School, a K–8 urban public school. Based on two years of ethnographic research and the author's prior teaching experience in a similar setting, this book offers a vivid portrayal of students' routines, the messages they receive from educators and the broader community, and the ways they navigate a complex and frequently challenging environment. Unlike most studies, this book centers students as the primary actors in education and by doing so compels readers to confront how students' experiences at Baker School compare with the goals of public education. Focusing on a core group of fourth- and eighth-grade students—Nyeisha, Jayalya, Rashanna, Bianca, and Renee—along with their teachers and families, the book reveals how students navigate, experience, respond to, and resist the school's curriculum of control.
"A Curriculum of Control is a methodological and conceptual triumph, a clarion call for humanizing change in schools and the field of education. Through a humanizing, assets-based lens the book evinces catalytic understanding of what it means and feels like to exist in the current public school milieu of compliance and control. The book pulls readers into a compelling story of human experience, offering an actionable critique of how limiting and scarce schools and classrooms are and how liberating and abundant they can be." — Dr. Sharon Ravitch, coauthor of Leadership Mindsets for Adaptive Change: The Flux 5
"I could definitely see this book being used in educational studies courses to illustrate how the processes of control that reflect a more carceral approach to schooling begin in elementary school. I also think it could be used to demonstrate the impact of that control on elementary students and teachers." — Lisa Smulyan, author of Balancing Acts: Women Principals at Work
"A Curriculum of Control is a layered, troubling, and honest ethnographic exploration of control-based school and classroom culture in an urban K-8 school. It’s an especially important read for educators and school leaders today, when the most hyper-punitive aspects of schooling are hidden behind the facade of transformational-sounding initiatives like trauma-informed care and restorative practices. Nicole Mittenfelner Carl models the power of student voice, weaving a powerful, important analysis of the impact of these conditions from students' experiences and words." — Paul Gorski, author of Fix Injustice, Not Kids and Other Principles for Transformative Equity Leadership
"Why are low-income Black students so often portrayed in the news and public discourse as fierce, defiant, or 'bad' and in need of discipline? In A Curriculum of Control, Carl reframes these narratives, showing student fierceness as a human response to dehumanizing systems—and revealing how schools like Baker are products of systemic and structural inequality shaping the lives of students, families, and communities." — Linda M. Pheng, University of Pennsylvania