The urban elementary school teacher: A feminist analysis

The dissertation highlights the many deeply rooted problems elementary school teachers in Boston face in trying to be caring, effective teachers. A brief history and demographic information of the Boston Public Schools provide the context for extensive interviews with ten middle-aged, female teachers. The intellectual rationale is provided with an overview of classic theories of adult development but is most strongly grounded in feminist scholarship. The dissertation provides an analysis of how patriarchal patterns and sexist prejudice in society undermine the respect for teachers and strip them of power, and how these patterns and prejudices silence teachers\u27 voices within the Boston Public Schools. By asking these teachers to tell their stories, the dissertation reveals some of the myriad educational and societal factors that influence life in the urban classroom. The voices of the teachers, the heart of the dissertation, provide an eloquent plea for taking elementary school teachers seriously and including them as vital partners in school improvement. The voices of the women are organized according to certain issues that kept surfacing in their interviews. These issues were: the influence of patriarchy, being middle-aged and experienced teachers and a list of teacher concerns, including, sexual abuse of children, over emphasis on testing, the changing role of the school, the imposition of a single basal reader, poverty, and school administration. The reader discovers the remarkable insight, stamina and courage of these teachers in their daily encounter with the societal evils that their children fall prey to. A phenomenological style of interviewing constitutes the methodology of this dissertation. This feminist analysis makes public the lived experience and private reflections of these women who have chosen careers in service to others, often called women\u27s work. They have long spoken in private; now their public voices beg to be heard and valued as a powerful source for reform of the schools