"It's Like We're One Big Family": Marginalized Young People, Community, and the Implications for Urban Schooling.

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of high school students from a diverse, low-income urban community in Toronto, Canada. Findings revealed a strong sense of community, reinforced by the interlocking racial and class oppression and stigmatization participants experi-enced within the broader society, including school. The argument is made that students ’ strong sense of community stands in contrast to the individualistic ethos that characterizes mainstream schools where educators frequently fail to cultivate the “community cultural wealth ” (Yosso, 2005) such students possess. The article concludes with a discussion of strategies educators can utilize to cultivate the strengths that marginalized youth bring to the classroom, high-lighting the potential benefits of service learning, in particular.