Resegregation As Curriculum: The Meaning of the New Racial Segregation in U.s. Public Schools

Resegregation as Curriculum offers a compelling look at the formation and implementation of school resegregation as contemporary education policy, as well as its impact on the meaning of schooling for students subject to such policies. Working from a ten-year study of a school district undergoing a process of resegregation, Rosiek and Kinslow examine the ways this "new racial segregation" is rationalized and the psychological and sociological effects it has on the children of all races in that community. Drawing on critical race theory, agential realism, and contemporary pragmatist semiotics, the authors expose how these events functioned as a hidden curriculum that has profound repercussions on the students' identity formation, self-worth, conceptions of citizenship, and social hope. This important account of racial stratification of educational opportunity expands our understanding of the negative consequences of racial segregation in schools and serves as a critical resource for academics, educators, and experts who are concerned about the effects of resegregation nationwide.

Jerry Rosiek is an Associate Professor of Education Studies at the University of Oregon, USA.

Kathy Kinslow graduated with a Ph.D. in the Social Foundations of Education from the University of Alabama in 2009 and currently works as an independent scholar in Syracuse, new York.