I. Deep beneath, the Fault Line agitates A Triptych Deep beneath the swiftly changing, ever dangerous political surface of public education, is there a single tremulous fault line causing these hostile currents? Could one such tectonic fault line, tremoring and quaking, cause even the present tsunami of empiricism in education? Deep within the sea of our human consciousness, then reflected in political action, areContinue reading “I. Deep beneath, the Fault Line agitates”
Tag Archives: public education
Humanism
Humanism Recently, two young teachers recently offered me wildly contrasting views on humanist education. You know, humanism, where [1] the individual student’s cognitive, social, and emotional development is the teacher’s and school’s central focus and [2] the curriculum accentuates “an inclusive sensibility for our species, planet, and lives.” One of the teachers sees humanist education more to the right, regrettablyContinue reading “Humanism”
Tidal Arguments
Tidal Arguments “Write the book, will ya!” For a while now, many colleagues and friends have urged me to write a book. You know this type of book. Narratives about my experience as a teacher of so many young people in such vastly different urban contexts: secondary public (charter, magnet, and test-based selective enrollment), Catholic, andContinue reading “Tidal Arguments”
Deno’s Senior Project
Deno’s Senior Project Sometimes, human stories that are spoken and recorded, then edited and aired, can illuminate more than written stories, where black letters sit on the white of a page or screen. A colleague of mine, Heidi Curran Bojorges, has produced just such a spoken story, Deno’s Senior Project, for Vocalo, “the cool sisterContinue reading “Deno’s Senior Project”
A Pirate
A Pirate Teachers are always stealing. Teachers steal one another’s ideas, strategies, projects — sometimes even elements of one another’s persona, the public image a teacher projects within the classroom and building. Whatever helps the good teacher become a better one. Maybe it’s a well-kept trade secret, but within the world of teaching, thievery isContinue reading “A Pirate”
Ginger
Ginger We took him in, so, yes, I used to have a dog. An insatiably curious mongrel — you know, the shaggy kind that smells real bad when almost always wet — lived with us. We six, all of us recent college grads, lived in a small house in a small, wet city in Alaska.Continue reading “Ginger”
Learning is…
Learning is . . . Learning is a Humanist Endeavor. Primary and secondary learning is not a scientific experiment, measurable at every turn. That learning is not a business transaction, quid pro quo always expected. Through the acquisition of skills and content knowledge, the goal of primary and secondary public education is to guide youngContinue reading “Learning is…”
Hansel and Gretel 