Contents
Foreword William Trent ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
PART I: SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE DRAMA TO COME 1
1. A Sense of Belonging: Inclusion and Equity in Ta’Von’s Journey Into School 3
A First Glance at Ta’Von 5
Historical and Ideological Forces 9
Transition Into Early Schooling and the Problematics of Race 13
About Those Blues 15
Queries and Visions 16
2. Preparation: Gathering Data, Finding Theoretical Glasses, and Becoming “My Friend From Preschool” 19
Accompanying Ta’Von on the Journey 21
Constructing a Telling Case 30
The Secret Ingredient in Case Writing 33
PART II: THE SCHOOL HOUSE BLUES: TA’VON’S TRANSITION TO AND THROUGH SCHOOL 35
3. Schooling Begins: “I Really Really Loved Preschool” 37
A Place for Everyone: “We” Gather Together 40
Everyone Is Equal: We Are ALL Learners 44
We Make Worlds: Social Pleasures and Power of Multimodal Composing 47
“You” Join “Me” in the Social Pleasure of Popular Song 51
On Turning to a New Chapter 53
4. A Shift in Schools and in a Sense of Belonging: “How Come … He’s in Kindergarten?” 55
Ta’Von and the Refracted “We”: Intersectionality and the Construction of “Difference” 57
Concluding: The Relational Dynamics of Classroom Belonging 80
5. Smartness and Friendship in a Stratified World: “I Know I’m Smart ’Cause I Don’t Copy” 83
The Fate of the Collective “We”: Stratification and Belonging 85
“Smartness” as a Source of Social Power: Gifts of Help and Assumptions of Leadership 90
Belonging and Learning 96
Coming Attractions: Belonging, Learning, and the Music of “Not Real” Composing 98
6. Shifts in the Terms of Engagement: “I’m a Musician” 101
Stretching the “We”: Indexing Belonging in the Music of “Not Real” Composing 103
Textual Resources and Compositional Feats: Official Skills in “Not Real” Spaces 106
Music “Smarts” as a Social Tool?: “How ’bout We Form a Club?” 113
Unofficial Resources and Official Places: Knocking on the Curricular Door 118
Belonging, Competence, and Learning: Toward Textual Crossroads 120
7. Educational Reverberations of the School House Blues: Toward Inclusive Classrooms 125
Preschool: “We” All Belong 127
Kindergarten: The Social Stratification of “We” 131
2nd Grade: Rhythmic Beats on Curricular Walls 137
Final Notes of the School House Blues 143
Appendix: Reflections on the Drama of Research and the Discipline of Methods 147
References 151
Index 161
About the Author 171
