the editors of Rethinking Schools
The youth on our cover is Lana “kQween” Grant. She was photographed by Lois Bielefeld as part of her Androgeny series. kQween’s pride—and the empathy and respect of Bielefeld’s image—are […]
The Editors of Rethinking Schools
Rethinking Schools was born in the time of Reagan. We celebrate our 30th anniversary in the time of Trump. We know something about holding on to hope during hard times. […]
Kathleen Riley, Shira Cohen
On a chilly day in the late fall of 2015, in the pews of the Old First Reformed United Church of Christ in the Old City Neighborhood of Philadelphia near the Delaware River, we sat, excited with anticipation, among nearly 200 participants at the second annual Philadelphia Caucus of Working Educators (WE) daylong convention. The nine members of our slate who would challenge existing union leadership in the upcoming election had just been announced and Ismael Jimenez, the nominee for vice president of high schools, took the mic:
We need to start shifting this paradigm. This paradigm that has us disengaged. Powerless. Beholden to interests that aren’t ours. They are treating us like objects. Things just happen to us. No longer can we sit in complacency. The victory that I’m talking about isn’t just a PFT [Philadelphia Federation of Teachers] election. This is a means to an end. And the end is justice.
Julia Torres, Camila Arze Torres Goitia, Carla Shalaby, Thomas Nikundiwe, Emma Teng, Brian Jones, Leigh Patel, Arlene Inouye, Denisha Jones, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ashana Bigard, Eric Blanc, Suzanna Kassouf, Ivelis Pérez
We asked a group of radical educators to weigh in on what they hoped would be part of any 2020 presidential candidate’s education platform.
Linda Christensen, Stan Karp, Bob Peterson, Moé Yonamine
We need teachers who want to work in a place where human connections matter more than profit. We also wrote this book because we have had days — many days — where our teaching aspirations did not meet the reality of the chaos we encountered. We have experienced those late afternoons crying-alone-in-the-classroom kind of days when a lesson failed or we felt like our students hosted a party in the room and we were the uninvited guests. We wrote this book hoping it might offer solace and comfort on those long days when young teachers wonder if they are cut out to be a teacher at all.
the editors of Rethinking Schools
So often, the climate crisis is presented in frightening, threatening terms: rising seas, superstorms, raging wildfires, unlivable temperatures, species extinction, disappearing glaciers, dying coral, climate refugees. These are real. But the paradox is that this dystopian possibility is forcing us to imagine an entirely different kind of society. Schools have a central role to play in devising new alternatives and equipping young people to bring those alternatives to life. This is the work we’ve been assigned.
Rethinking Schools Editors
it is critical and righteous work. And that by doing this work, we join an esteemed collective of educators, past and present, who went for broke teaching children that, to paraphrase Eduardo Galeano, tomorrow can be more than just another name for today.
the editors of Rethinking Schools
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
Lauren Markham
Across the United States, we are toppling monuments and former heroes. Past icons are rightfully crashing — in esteem and in our public and private spaces — as we begin the overdue process of reckoning with history. Contemporary heroes are being lowered, too. This vogue of name controversies might be seen as a petty preoccupation by detractors, but what could be a more powerful symbol than what we choose to name a school?
*** Curriculum Guide for Racial Justice & Abolitionist Social and Emotional Learning (Abolitionist Teaching Network, 2020)bit.ly/2DUWg0E12 pp. This online Guide for Racial Justice & Abolitionist Social and Emotional Learning is […]
Ty Marshall
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 […]
As we go marching, marching,we’re standing proud and tall The rising of the women meansthe rising of us all. Our lives shall not be sweatedfrom birth until life closes, Hearts […]
Tina Owen
When a homophobic minister preaches about the “sin” of a transgender student at her funeral, a teacher leads her students to focus instead on the beautiful spirit of the young woman they loved.
Ursula Wolfe-Rocca
A high school teacher looks at how a daily activity focusing on the representation of women helped transform her classroom.
June is Gay and Lesbian Pride month. At Rethinking Schools, we’ve been writing about gender and sexuality for a long time, including issues affecting the LGBTQ community. We’re pleased to […]
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.
Melissa Bollow Tempel is an excellent bilingual teacher in Waukesha, Wisconsin, loved by students and parents. Her classroom is a model learning community, welcoming all students, nurturing their growth, celebrating […]
By Wayne Au It was almost 7 p.m. when the text came in. “Hello Dr. Au. I’m the assistant superintendent of the District. I need to speak to you right […]
by Jody Sokolower, managing editor of Rethinking Schools and lead editor for Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality I came of age in the late 60s, when abortion was illegal, women were […]
This Black History Month and always, we honor the Black radical tradition that disrupts oppression and organizes for justice. We teach for joy and freedom. We teach the truth about […]
By the editors of Rethinking Schools As Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope wrote recently in The Nation, “There is a runaway train racing toward us, and its name is climate change. […]
Summary Membership Associate needed for half-time work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This position is responsible for Rethinking Schools’ (RS) customer/member relations and maintaining the central Salesforce database of all constituents of […]
After the horrific display of violence and hatred in Charlottesville last weekend that was fueled by white supremacy, many teachers have approached Rethinking Schools to ask for frameworks on how […]
