Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School

In Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children in School (2017), educator and academic Carla Shalaby argues for a radical reimagining of education rooted in freedom and dignity. Drawing on a blend of child psychology, pedagogical theory, and her own classroom research, Shalaby explores the experiences of four young “troublemakers” in early elementary school classrooms with the aim of reframing the pervasive concept of “misbehavior” as a purposeful disruption that signals institutional harms in the education system and classroom. Though the work falls under the nonfiction/education genre, it incorporates elements of sociology, narrative, and philosophy. In the Dedication, Shalaby commits the book’s royalties to the Education for Liberation Network—a coalition focused on expanding critical pedagogy.

This study guide refers to the 2017 New Press print edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains discussions of racism, including racialized mass incarceration.

Summary

Troublemakers opens with a Foreword by educator Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot that explains Carla Shalaby’s methodology, which draws on techniques including portraiture, pedagogy, and informal interviews both inside and outside the classroom. This, Lawrence-Lightfoot says, makes Troublemakers a touchstone for attempts to reenvision the US educational system along lines of love, freedom, and humanity rather than conformity and control. Shalaby’s own Preface then lays out her basic claim: that “troublemaking” children do not intend to disrupt or harm with their “misbehavior” but rather are human beings who creatively challenge rules and authority in school. Rather than excluding and pathologizing “troublemakers” for their loud defiance, Shalaby argues that society—especially teachers—should understand these children’s “songs” as carrying urgent lessons about the failings of the educational system. Shalaby’s four subjects—Zora, Lucas, Sean, Marcus—disrupt their elementary-school classrooms in ways that should prompt the education system to embrace imagination and play, celebrate diversity rather than encourage assimilation, heal trauma rather than punish symptoms, and facilitate belonging rather than breed isolation.

In Part 1, Shalaby visits the Forest School, a progressive but largely white and upper-middle-class institution. First she profiles Zora, a creative, biracial Black girl who, encouraged by her parents, embraces self-expression and dramatic performance. Her teacher, Mrs. Beverly, scolds her consistently for “standing out.” Following Zora, Shalaby introduces Lucas, an animated boy desperate for play who tends to fixate on his own interests and desires. Like Zora, Lucas is constantly redirected and reprimanded for his restless intensity, which results in a diagnosis of ADHD and medication; Zora receives the same diagnosis and treatment. Both children long for social belonging—their disruptions are often comical and clearly geared toward attracting attention—but their nonconformity breeds exclusion.

In Part 2, Shalaby shifts to Crossroads Elementary, an urban school with a racially and economically diverse student population; the school seeks to disrupt traditional power imbalances and embrace social justice. Here Shalaby observes Sean and Marcus, two disruptive boys whose acts of defiance frustrate their teacher Emily’s aims for a compassionate, egalitarian classroom community. Emily strives to respond with care rather than punishment but faces exhaustion managing their provocations alongside many children who require more attention. Sean is argumentative, questioning everything and demanding that others recognize his own wishes. His mother, Kate, sees this as a valuable trait, and Shalaby agrees that it could be a useful skill in a democratic society. Rather than helping him hone this ability, however, Sean’s school constantly subjects him to time out and other forms of exclusion. Marcus, meanwhile, comes from a family that is tightknit despite his father’s incarceration. Raised in this nurturing environment, Marcus seeks similar care at school, but Emily, who strives to foster independence, misunderstands Marcus’s attempts to engage others in mutually supportive relationships as him “taking advantage” of people. Sean too receives a diagnosis of ADHD and medication, while Marcus, who is Black, receives the more racialized diagnosis of “anger issues.”

Ultimately, Shalaby observes how demands for conformity spark conflict with students like Zora, Lucas, Sean, and Marcus. However, Shalaby contends that their resistance is not mere disobedience but communication of unmet needs for self-determination, community, recognition, and love. In the concluding chapters, Shalaby issues a call to action for educators and readers: to reimagine classrooms as spaces that prioritize play, creativity, belonging, empathy, freedom, and human dignity. Classrooms currently preparing children for conformity in an unjust and oppressive world ought instead to prepare children to build a freer and more egalitarian society.