Tectonic Plates Rattle In the instance of a #metoo moment or when a sexual dynamic is introduced to an academic, professional or intellectual context, the lens focuses tightly on the two primary people. The focus of that lens follows the tradition that sex occurs behind closed doors. Once we remove that constraint, the damage can…
Tag: education
The PH.D. I earned in my sleep
Stress dreams are a reflection of the seen and unseen stress of our waking lives. In general they are not fantasies set in unreal landscapes cavorting with mystical animals. Stress dreams too often are a photocopy of the days – a little blurred, lacking detail, washed out colors but intensified reactions, complex inner narratives, and…
Bigfoot, the Lochness Monster and Institutional Racism
As a historian, a classroom teacher, and aware person I cannot tabulate the amount of time I have spent trying to convince white people that racism exists. I am a white enough person that I had to be educated – but luckily that intervention happened at a young enough stage of development that it became…
letter of recommendation to officially leave my professional role
Dear School community, I am writing to recommend Amélie Baker for a longer extension of her time as a writer. Amélie found great fulfillment as a teacher in BPS for ten years. During her time she taught a range of courses, some more successfully than others. She foresees a return to the classroom in the…
Culture and our salvation by Terry Marshall & Aisha Shillingford
https://medium.com/@mischiefisintelligent/culture-and-our-salvation-b152b04626c8#.uucf2ix8r please please check out this extraordinary thesis about social change
yell in the face of treacherous, ugly underwater hidden beasts that rule our society
What strikes me on a daily basis is how much I relied on my role as a teacher to cement my sense of a purpose in this world; that is what I miss the most about teaching. Under the blanket of paperwork, bureaucracy, media criticism, district policies obeyed or ignored, I could always point to…
non-failure at its finest – directly targeting prismatic failure
the Creative Time Summit: The Curriculum “At the Summit, Chief Curator Nato Thompson described this year’s theme, “the curriculum”: “It singled that which prepares a person for working, thinking, and participating as a fully developed member of society. When understood as a network of lived experiences, learned actions, and known facts, curriculum speaks to all…
When Albert Camus Won the Nobel Prize and Thanked His Teacher
When Albert Camus Won the Nobel Prize and Thanked His Teacher. Some more on Camus 19 November 1957 Dear Monsieur Germain, I let the commotion around me these days subside a bit before speaking to you from the bottom of my heart. I have just been given far too great an honor, one I neither…
Even if you are not involved with public schools, this is still a GREAT infographic and evidence of how grassroots organizing can operate as a teaching tool.
let’s play a game – spot the hypocrisy
Bill Gates makes his fortune on new technologies – both hardware and software. Bill Gates uses a small portion of his gigantic fortune to fund “education reform”. He throws money at every new, shiny idea that comes across his desk – small schools, technology in the classroom, the Common Core, and educating for global competencies….
letter to my teens
When I am here, within these wall, and in conversation with you, I am in the role of a teacher. That role has certain privileges and responsibilities. But I am also a community member of the city of Boston, and know the ins and outs of this place. When meetings like this one happen, it…
hey, so by the way, you are racist
A recent article in the guardian put words and a definition to how racism has mutated: “Gone is the overt, violent, and legal racism of my childhood. It has been replaced by a subtler version. It is a racism that is easier to ignore, easier to deny, and consequently almost as dangerous.” – Chris Arnade http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/12/america-racism-subtle-dangerous-new-york…
collective failure 