My Struggle with Identity in a White Education System
Jackson reflects on the racist history he learned in school as a child and powerfully connects those experiences to his own incarceration.
Reflections
If I Could Rewind That Morning
A former 5th-grade paraprofessional reflects on how racism shaped a student-teacher interaction in a classroom that also fostered trust, joy, and exploration.
Letter to My Asian American Students
A high school social studies teacher critiques Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in a moving letter to his students.
Let’s Stop Using Metaphors that Celebrate Extraction, Colonialism, and Violence
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.
In the Wake of Uvalde, a Teacher’s Plea for Police-Free Schools
Braginsky argues that her students — and young people everywhere — are safer in school without police.
Fatphobia Showed Up in My Classroom
It is the noisiest time of the day at school. It’s lunchtime and I’m sitting with two of my 3rd graders in the basement cafeteria of our public school building […]
It’s a Big Fat Deal
A special education teacher tackles fatphobia in our schools head-on, pointing out how we fall far short in our efforts to rid it from the classroom and how fundamentally detrimental fatphobia is to teaching and learning.
Eugene Debs and the Idea of Socialism
This year is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the scholar-activist Howard Zinn (1922–2010), author of A People’s History of the United States. In each Rethinking Schools issue this year, we have published a “Zinn at 100” essay. This is not nostalgia. We commemorate Howard Zinn because his writing continues to provide needed context for today’s events.
Don’t Despair About the Supreme Court
The courts have never been on the side of justice, only moving a few degrees one way or the other, unless pushed by the people. Those words engraved in the marble of the Supreme Court, “Equal Justice Before the Law,” have always been a sham.
Oakland Youth to Teachers’ Retirement System: “Divest Now!”
It was a letter to the CalSTRS board, demanding that they dump the pension fund’s investments in oil and gas companies. It was signed “From the many young climate justice activists who will continue to be at every one of your meetings until you divest.”
Abbott Elementary: A Sitcom with a Conscience
The show also reminds us that regardless of parental, administrative, and legislative warnings against bringing politics into classrooms, teaching remains a political act.
Can a 4-Year-Old Know Her Gender Identity? Yes.
“Do you feel like a boy?” “No, mom. I’m a girl.” My daughter’s statement could not have been more direct, honest, and clear. In that moment I glimpsed how deeply gender-expansive people feel who they are, no matter what society has labeled them as at birth.
Educators Speak Out: Spring 2022
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 . . .
ZINN AT 100: Empire or Humanity?
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?
Teaching about Ukraine
Dear Rethinking Schools friends, Like you, we are angry and fearful about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is already causing immense suffering — which will only increase. These are […]
“Take These Nametags Off!”
A doctoral student tells the story of her experience with a dangerous role play — poorly conceptualized and taught — when she was an undergrad.
Zinn at 100: The Scourge of Nationalism
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.
The Story of a Seed
An agriculture teacher describes teaching “every seed has a story” with 1st graders by honoring the story of, and planting, the Makah Ozette potato.
Pledge to Teach the Truth
To respond to the right-wing legislation across the country, which attacks racial justice teaching, the Zinn Education Project organized a “Pledge to Teach the Truth” and invited educators to say […]
What I Wish I Had Said
An elementary teacher stories her struggle to speak up to a colleague about a racist nickname.
Dear Educators, It Is Time to Fight for Asian America
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 […]
Dear Educators, It Is Time to Fight for Asian America
What is happening now is nothing new. The racism, the devaluing of life of Asian and Asian Americans, the dehumanizing of immigrant workers, the fetishism of — and violence toward — Asian women have been perpetuated throughout U.S. history.
A Message from the Future II: The Years of Repair
The latest installment of our regular Earth, Justice, and Our Classrooms column.
Our Stories: Students Curate the Museum of Corona History
The best teachers that I’ve had are still quiet voices in my head. In college, I took Professor Phyllis Jackson’s art history course “Black Aesthetics and the Politics of (Re)presentation.” […]
Say Their Names
“I can’t breathe . . . please . . . Mama!”The knee choking the neck to deathPolice hands in pockets andIndifferent expressionsAnother day on the J-O-BAnd moreMore details I can […]