In her new book, The Spirit of Our Work: Black Women Teachers (Re)member, Cynthia Dillard (now dean of the College of Education at Seattle University) provides language for what occurs when Black women teachers discover their spiritual wisdom and identities that are part of a long historical continuum of Black women’s resistance, creativity, and ultimately, their healing.
There is no end-point in the fight for justice and equality, no moment when the argument is finally settled. As Angela Davis has said, “Freedom is a constant struggle.” Although that proposition seems exhausting, it is also hopeful. If our wins are never wholly secure, then neither must our losses be permanent. The struggle for reproductive justice continues, and our curriculum must nurture our students’ capacity to envision and participate in its next stages.
To say this year has been tough on schools and educators would be a wild understatement. We asked a group of educators if there was one moment, event, or issue that really stuck out for them — something that encapsulated their experiences during these tough times. We also asked if there was anything that gave them hope, strength, or helped them through this year. Here’s how they responded . . .
A 5th- and 6th-grade teacher asks her students to wrestle with what “identity” and “intersectionality” mean.
Have we reached a point in history where we are ready to embrace a new way of living in the world, expanding not our military power, but our humanity?
An elementary teacher helps her students express themselves about social justice issues like the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter through movement and dance, and helps them see how dance can celebrate diversity.
As part of the so-called “Great Resignation,” many teachers are leaving the field or thinking of leaving earlier than expected; the impact on public education could be catastrophic.
Role plays can offer students engaging ways to learn, but require careful contextualization and follow-up. This article offers some cautions and guidance about using them.
A doctoral student tells the story of her experience with a dangerous role play — poorly conceptualized and taught — when she was an undergrad.
In honor of Zinn, we are featuring a “Zinn at 100” essay in each issue of Rethinking Schools this year. This is not nostalgia. We commemorate and celebrate Zinn for his ongoing relevance in helping us think about education and activism.
Wolfe-Rocca shares the results of the first-ever comprehensive review of state standards on Reconstruction, noting that Zinn Education Project researchers found that the standards fail to define the era or outline its crucial themes. The article also offers what the Zinn Education Project proposes for state and district standards.
Teachers nationwide have been standing up to register their resistance and solidarity, organizing rallies, supporting school board candidates who reject these bills, and doubling down on their own efforts to learn and teach about race.
Alexander and their middle school students use the powerful poem “To live in the borderlands means you,” by Gloria Anzaldúa, to explore the borderlands of their own lives.
A music teacher stories her tense journey to listen to and include a parent in her child’s education.
Harrington Pangallo describes pushback for reading a book to answer a student question — “What does gay mean?” — and her response.
An elementary teacher stories her struggle to speak up to a colleague about a racist nickname.
Raising writers By Linda Christensen The read-around is the classroom equivalent to quilt making or barn raising. It is the public space—the zócalo or town square—of my room. During our […]
A school teacher and his students radically reimagine classroom “norms” by focusing on needs-based reflections.
A teacher educator helps preservice teachers understand the history of how Mexican Americans have been racialized as Black and white at different times to keep them out of white schools.
Join The New Teacher Book editors, authors, and early career teacher-scholars who wrote and shaped this book. Sign up for the entire workshop series or sign up for one workshop at a time.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which promised “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or […]
There are so many voices right now grieving what we have lost with the school closure — our relationships with students and co-workers, the laughter and energy that echo down […]
“I just want to be done. Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it,” Haylee wrote to me in an email. A month after school closed on […]
I hate this pandemic. But, I am also humbled by the little bundle of destructive protein that has put our American way of doing things on pause. And kind of like […]
How we grade students — or whether we grade students — has always been contested terrain. The pandemic has brought new attention to the politics of grading. In the 1960s, […]