Bowen Paulle: Toxic Schools: High-Poverty Education in New York and Amsterdam

In Toxic Schools: High-Poverty Education in New York and Amsterdam, author Bowen Paulle defines two violent urban schools—one in the South Bronx and one in Southeast Amsterdam—as toxic. According to Paulle, the term “toxic” is not an abstract metaphor. Rather, it embodies the constant exposure to stressful interactions that—from a mental and physical health perspective—are “hazardous” to both students and teachers. Paulle’s book brings to life two educational worlds dominated by intimidation, anxiety, violence, and chaos. While the tired topic of unequal access to quality education is not unique, Paulle’s distinctive research method allows for an alternative way of thinking about everyday life in high-poverty schools. For 6 years (three in the Bronx and three in Amsterdam), Paulle utilized participatory ethnography to study two schools. Paulle immersed himself in the mini-societies of both schools through teaching. Beyond teaching, Paulle constantly observed student behavior in and out of the classroom, conducted interviews, and fervently recorded his observations. Paulle’s research technique involved constant exposure to the social situations he himself was studying. Ultimately, Toxic Schools aims to destroy the most troubling “myths” about surviving in high-poverty schools. Paulle is most weary of the popular mischaracterization of “oppositional black culture” in urban schools and hopes that his ethnographical research and empirical findings provide an alternative way of thinking about the educational experiences of the impoverished. …