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There is an educational crisis looming in many urban communities today: high crime rates correlate strongly with low high school graduation rates, which in turn lead to a perpetuation of the cycle of poverty and crime. Jeff Duncan-Andrade has dedicated himself to radically reforming a system that he boldly refers to as “educational malpractice.” He has applied concepts from both teaching and coaching to develop a pedagogical approach for students in inner-city schools, “Step to College,” which he has been practicing now for more than 20 years as a high school English teacher in East Oakland. Teaching twelve basic “life principles” in addition to critical thinking skills, Duncan-Andrade creates a foundation that allows his students to make sense of school in the broader scope of their lives.“The point of education is not to escape poverty—the point of education is to end it,” Duncan-Andrade says.
Duncan-Andrade, PhD, is Associate Professor of Raza Studies and Education at San Francisco State University, and Director of the Educational Equity Initiative at the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design (ISEEED). He has lectured around the world on the elements of effective teaching in schools serving poor and working class children. In addition, he continues to work as an English teacher at Mandela High School in East Oakland. He is currently engaged in designing and launching a new K-12 charter school in East Oakland with plans to open in Fall 2015. The school will employ some of his former students as teachers.
Duncan-Andrade’s UO visit, hosted by the Oregon Humanities Center, is made possible by the Cressman Lectureship in the Humanities and is part of the year-long “vulnerable” series.
