“Aren’t Grown-Ups Supposed to Keep Kids Safe?”
The Important Role Teachers Play in Resisting Trump’s War on Immigrant Families
If there was ever any doubt, now there is only certainty, as educators we’re on the front lines of this fight. And when students like Kina ask us if we can keep them safe, our actions must be our answer. If we refuse to talk about these issues — because they are too painful, too complicated, too sensitive, or too politically fraught — that sends a clear message that we have relinquished our responsibilities, as adults, to try to keep them safe. Our silence is complicity. Now is the time for action and solidarity.
Nurturing Student Activists in the Time of Trump
How we seed and support student activism will vary from community to community, school to school, and grade level to grade level. But this is a crucial moment in history, and what we do as educators matters. When we help students explore and analyze exploitation, injustice, and danger in the world, we can also help them develop the knowledge and skills to change it.
“Love Is Shining in My Heart for You, Dear Haiti”
“Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world.” That’s the only thing this Haitian American teacher remembers being taught in school about her family’s country of origin. She calls for a revolution in how educators teach Haiti.
Shock-Doctrine Schooling in Haiti
Neoliberalism off the Richter scale
Immediately after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, corporations swooped in to capitalize on the destruction and to privatize public enterprises. Hagopian explores how disaster capitalism hit the education system and what the effects were on students and families.
Where Are the Climate Change Superheroes?
Systems Thinking and Climate Activism in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest
An elementary school teacher developed the Quetzal Conundrum game to help students understand the impact of global warming in Costa Rica.
“Did Any of You Just Search for ‘Physicist’?”
Exploring Racism and Privilege in Physics Class
A physics teacher uses student research and other exercises to urge his high school class to wrestle with race, privilege, and representation.
The Constant Testing of Black Brilliance
An educator reflects on how the education system has continually tested her Blackness from grade school through professional development, and argues that we need more Black spaces to nurture brilliance.
The Importance of Goodbye
When Students Leave Midyear
A high school teacher explores how the dynamics of a classroom can change when a student leaves and what the effects can be on that student, the other students, and the teacher.
A Colonizing Agenda
Wayne Au on Bill Gates’ Education Failures
Janice Jackson interviews Rethinking Schools editor Wayne Au about the failure of Bill Gates’ educational initiatives.
LeBron’s School Should Be Every School Public, Fully Funded, and with Arms Around the Community
There are few public schools receiving as much attention these days as LeBron James’ I Promise School in Akron, Ohio — and it’s because it’s just that: a public school.
Fighting Manufactured Chaos in Puerto Rico’s Public Schools
Union activists have been tirelessly organizing with communities, recognizing that these are the same stories of communities across the United States. The fight will go on, even as disaster capitalism on steroids wants to destroy the public education system.
Despite National Outrage, Scholastic Defends Children’s Books Celebrating Trump
After reviews and hundreds of letters, Scholastic continues to defend its books praising President Trump.
Students “Warrior Up” for Climate Justice
Column: Earth, Justice, and Our Classrooms
The third installment of our new environmental justice column celebrates the annual two-day Climate Justice Fair at Madison High School in Portland.
Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice education resources 33.1
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
