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The Urban Review

, Volume 47, Issue 3, pp 492–512 | Cite as

Urban School Formation: Identity Work and Constructing an Origin Story

  • Lauren J. Silver
Article
First Online:

Abstract

In this article, I analyze the formation of Shearwater High School in St. Louis, Missouri and I explore the identity work involved in building the school. Diverging from standardization trends in urban education, the school came to fruition through a creative process, which was in-flux and supported by diverse communities in St. Louis. This article applies three identity lenses—intersectionality, an identity of becoming, and the practice of recognition—to explain the social construction of the organization and its mission.

Keywords

Urban education Youth Organizational identity School formation 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Stephanie Krauss and the Shearwater team for sharing their stories and experiences. I also want to thank the American Culture Studies program and the Center on Urban Research and Public Policy, Washington University in St. Louis, for funding this research.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Childhood StudiesRutgers UniversityCamdenUSA

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