Transgender Justice in Schools provides inspirational stories from trans students and educators and resources for teachers, students, and parents seeking to build communities where everyone flourishes. This book will educate, […]
The death of Nex Benedict, a 10th-grade student and member of the Choctaw Nation, underscores the life-or-death consequences for nonbinary students when lawmakers play politics with their lives. Nex’s death […]
Juneteenth — June 19th — also known as Emancipation Day — is one of the commemorations of Black people seizing their freedom in the United States. Below is a list of resources […]
Israel’s war on Gaza and the simultaneous crackdown on dissent has given another boost to the forces of repression.
From language arts to math to science to social studies, the school curriculum teaches young people what to think about. But it also teaches young people what not to think […]
“I have students from multiple different cities and ages all over the place. I want all of those students to know that even if they’re from a marginalized group, or […]
The editors of Rethinking Schools expose an economy that prioritizes the needs of the wealthy over those of children.
Too often our metaphors embed messages that are hostile to the Earth and to social justice. Metaphors can reflect — and legitimate — a violent, extractive, colonial worldview.
On Oct. 25, 2015, student Niya Kenny filmed a white school police officer body slamming her classmate, a Black 16-year-old girl named Shakara, to the floor during math class at […]
Joy is not an escape from the hard realities of our world, but a dive into them.
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.
Return to normal? Normal was awful. It’s time to be bold.
Like you, we are angry and fearful about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and these are terrifying times for our students. As Ukrainian educator Igor Tsyvgintsev reminds us, “The entire curriculum of school studies comes down to humaneness.”
Teaching against imperialism means teaching against the disease of racism and economic exploitation; it means teaching for equality, teaching for social health, teaching for humanity. As educators, that is the side we want to be on.
Although the increase in anti-Asian attacks has been hard for all of us, the murderous killing spree in Atlanta had our families, our youth, and our communities spiraling. From a […]
On May 31, 1921, white mobs terrorized the Black community of Greenwood in North Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as Black Wall Street, the area teemed with prosperous businesses and cultural sites. […]
In November, a clear majority of voters defeated the most authoritarian and racist presidential administration of our lifetime. But the first winter after the Trump presidency brings daunting challenges, including: […]
For the fall issue, in lieu of our regular editorial by Rethinking Schools editors, we are publishing most of the “Year of Purpose” call by Black Lives Matter at School. […]
This has been a year like no other. Fear. Illness and death. Trauma for our students, their families, their communities — and for us, as educators. We are becoming new teachers, […]
International Movement for Public Education Privatization, standardized tests, funding cuts, attacks on teachers’ unions and contracts—the issues that are central to teacher activism in the United States are international. In […]
A high school social studies teacher argues for rethinking how we teach civics so that students learn that organizing, activism, and civil disobedience are as important as the Constitution.
While names like Rockefeller, Ford, Annenberg, and Carnegie traditionally have dominated foundation-funded education reform, in recent years a new group of foundations has emerged — Gates, Walton, and Broad, to […]
“Banned in Tucson.” As many Rethinking Schools readers know, in January Tucson school officials ordered our book Rethinking Columbus removed from Mexican American Studies classes, as part of their move to shut down the […]
The South African poet and activist Breyten Breytenbach once said, “You Americans have mastered the art of living with the unacceptable.” We hope this is coming to an end—in schools, […]
Why is there so little teaching or discussion of climate change in classrooms?
