Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geoffrey Canada: Reimagining the School Community

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers

  • 46 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter provides insight to the work of Geoffrey Canada, a school reform leader who developed the successful charter system and neighborhood partnerships, the Harlem Children’s Zone. Canada’s work has been highlighted on the national and international levels and captured the attention of leading political figures and filmmakers. His work is grounded in disrupting the status quo, social injustice, systemic barriers, and anti-Blackness rhetoric. Through this chapter, the authors explore Canada’s efforts and the responsive impact his work has had on school community practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Archuleta, M. (2012). Harlem children’s zone first graduates off to college. Open Society Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowdoin College. (n.d.). Geoffrey Canada scholars. Thrive. https://www.bowdoin.edu/thrive/geoffrey-canada-scholars/index.html

  • Canada, G. (1995a). Fist, stick, knife, gun: A personal history of violence in America. Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (1995b). Geoffrey Canada (A. Bernstein, Interviewer) [Interview]. In Mother Jones.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (1998). Reaching up for manhood: Transforming the lives of boys in America. .

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (1999a). Raising better boys. Educational Leadership, 57(4). Social Science Premium Collection.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (1999b). The currents of democracy: The role of small liberal arts colleges. Daedalus, 128(1), 121–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (2001a). Take a stand. In Reclaiming children and youth. Social Science Premium Collection.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (2001b). The best way we know how. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 10(1). Social Science Premium Collection.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (2008). Education and the economy. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 107(2), 128–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canada, G. (2010). Testimony before the senate committee on health, education, labor & pensions. https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Canada.pdf

  • Chavous, K. P., & Canada, G. (2017). Voices of determination: Children that defy the odds. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (2006). By any means necessary. Essence, 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbie, W., & Fryer, R. G. (2011). Are high-quality schools enough to increase achievement among the poor? Evidence from the Harlem children’s zone. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(3), 158–187. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.3.3.158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graduate School, H. (2020). 100 Stories of impact: Breaking the cycle of poverty. Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/hgse100/story/breaking-cycle-poverty

  • Guggenheim, D., Kimball, B., Chilcott, L., Strickland, B., Canada, G., Rhee, M., Weingarten, R., Roland, E., Richman, B., Finton, G., Cassidy, J., Roberts, K., Beck, C., & Legend, J. (2011). Waiting for “Superman.” Hollywood: Paramount Home Entertainment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, D. (2013). Assessing the Harlem children’s zone. Center for Policy Innovation, 8. The Heritage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlem Children’s Zone. (2021). Visionary Geoffrey Canada. Harlem Children’s Zone. https://hcz.org/about-us/leadership/geoffrey-canada/

  • Holloway, S. M. (2019). The newest scholars: Geoffrey Canada scholars, year two. Bowdoin. https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2019/09/the-newest-scholars-the-geoffrey-canada-programs-second-year.html

  • Honor Society. (n.d.). www.honorsociety.org. https://www.honorsociety.org/

  • hooks, bell. (2015, October). Black masculinity, threat or threatened I the new school. YouTube. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/

  • Jalovec, K. E. (2010). Review of whatever it takes: Geoffrey Canada’s quest to change Harlem and America, by P. Tough.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jean-Louis, B., Shoemaker, K., & Gordon, E. W. (2016). The Harlem Children’s Zone: An “all hands on deck” approach to transforming education and community.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. (2018). Washington and Canada: Free market idealism in the context of social defeat. The Journal of Negro Education, 87(1), 33–45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7709/jnegroeducation.87.1.0033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, H.L., Ortiz, B., Swaner, R., Shoemaker, K., Jean-Louis, B., Northridge, M., Vaughan, R., Marx, T., Goodman, A., Borrell, L., Nicholas, S., & Harlem Children’s Zone Asthma Initiative (2006). Childhood Asthma and Extreme Values of Body Mass Index: The Harlem Children’s Zone Asthma Initiative. Journal of Urban Health, 83, 421–433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-006-9050-9

  • Letarte, P. (2010). Q&A with Geoffrey Canada. University Wire.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas, J. (1995). Fist, stick, knife, gun: A personal history of violence in America. Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas, S. W., Jean-Louis, B., Ortiz, B., Northridge, M., Shoemaker, K., Vaughan, R., Rome, M., Canada, G., & Hutchinson, V. (2005). Addressing the childhood asthma crisis in Harlem: the Harlem Children’s Zone Asthma Initiative. American journal of public health, 95(2), 245–249. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2004.042705

  • Obama, B. (2014). Remarks by the president on promise zones.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravitch, D. (2011). The message of ‘superman’ is wrong, and so are the facts. The School Superintendents Association. https://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=17520

  • Spielman, S. E., Golembeski, C. A., Northridge, M. E., Vaughan, R. D., Swaner, R., Jean-Louis, B., Shoemaker, K., Klihr-Beall, S., Polley, E., Cushman, L. F., Ortiz, B., Hutchinson, V. E., Nicholas, S. W., Marx, T., Hayes, R., Goodman, A., & Sclar, E. D. (2006). Interdisciplinary planning for healthier communities: Findings from the Harlem children’s zone asthma initiative. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(1), 100–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360608976727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The New Yorker. (2014). Geoffrey Canada on ending poverty – currents – Youtube. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oOLYHAF8xA

  • Tough, P. (2009). Whatever it takes: Geoffrey Canada’s quest to change Harlem and America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D. (2020). The burning house: Educating black boys in modern America. Nylinka Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

Additional Resources

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA

    Jennifer Bailey

  2. University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

    Trevor McCray & Cora Garner

Authors
  1. Jennifer Bailey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Trevor McCray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cora Garner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Bailey .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Leadership, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Brett A. Geier

Section Editor information

  1. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

    Brett A. Geier Professor

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bailey, J., McCray, T., Garner, C. (2023). Geoffrey Canada: Reimagining the School Community. In: Geier, B.A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_129-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_129-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-81037-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81037-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation