Monday, August 29, 2016

Teacher Wars: Understanding the Chaos of the "Reform" Movement

Our last meeting of The Teacher Wars was a great one!

We continued working on a timeline of notable events mentioned in the book. We also talked about themes in the book. Throughout history, top down reforms have been put into place with little thought for how they will actually play out in schools. Also segregation, both in teacher and student populations, continues to be a huge issue in schools. Many people have concluded that school integration has been a failure, but looking at the history, schools were never properly integrated, to put it mildly. 

At the end of our last meeting we talked about what stood out for us individually, and participants had some amazing observations which I quote here. Jonathan observed how reforms were put into place with little thought of "administrative feasibility" and regard for the paperwork they require. Maureen commented on the "illogic of building instruction around data from assessment." She also noted the "faux civil rights movement" that has played out in education reforms, notably the community schools movement of the 1970s and the current charter school movement. As Maureen put it, some reforms have "manipulated the voice of the community" to gain popularity.  In addition, she noted how personal education is---these are people's children---and how "personal education stories shaped policies" and how "So rarely throughout history have people talked to the teachers." "Amen," said Jen Pour. 

James ended the session by asking about WE's plans for reform and asking how non-educators could get involved. I suggested speaking at SRC meetings, writing editorials, going to rallies/meetings, and staying informed about the issues. Janene suggested becoming involved with a "Friends of.." group at a neighborhood school and talking to teachers

For those who haven't read this book, it's not without its problems, but it does provide a comprehensive history of the profession and attempts at reform of all kinds. I recommend it for anyone who wants to gain a big picture view of the nonsensical and chaotic "reform" landscape of the moment.


Teacher Wars: Understanding the Chaos of the "Reform" Movement

Our last meeting of The Teacher Wars was a great one!

We continued working on a timeline of notable events mentioned in the book. We also talked about themes in the book. Throughout history, top down reforms have been put into place with little thought for how they will actually play out in schools. Also segregation, both in teacher and student populations, continues to be a huge issue in schools. Many people have concluded that school integration has been a failure, but looking at the history, schools were never properly integrated, to put it mildly. 

At the end of our last meeting we talked about what stood out for us individually, and participants had some amazing observations which I quote here. Jonathan observed how reforms were put into place with little thought of "administrative feasibility" and regard for the paperwork they require. Maureen commented on the "illogic of building instruction around data from assessment." She also noted the "faux civil rights movement" that has played out in education reforms, notably the community schools movement of the 1970s and the current charter school movement. As Maureen put it, some reforms have "manipulated the voice of the community" to gain popularity.  In addition, she noted how personal education is---these are people's children---and how "personal education stories shaped policies" and how "So rarely throughout history have people talked to the teachers." "Amen," said Jen Pour. 

James ended the session by asking about WE's plans for reform and asking how non-educators could get involved. I suggested speaking at SRC meetings, writing editorials, going to rallies/meetings, and staying informed about the issues. Janene suggested becoming involved with a "Friends of.." group at a neighborhood school and talking to teachers

For those who haven't read this book, it's not without its problems, but it does provide a comprehensive history of the profession and attempts at reform of all kinds. I recommend it for anyone who wants to gain a big picture view of the nonsensical and chaotic "reform" landscape of the moment.


Rethinking Gender, Sexism, and Sexuality in Our Schools

Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality met four times this summer to think about our individual selves, our school culture, and curriculum, as they relate to LGBTQ students and educators, feminism, and gender.
Many thanks to our hosts and note - takers, including Giovanni's Room, for making space for us.

One participant wrote about an action that she took following her involvement with this book group!





In our last meeting we talked about the idea of doing low/medium/high risk actions to make our schools and workplaces more respectful of gender and sexuality. We passed out stickers that we could put up in our rooms that said on a rainbow flag "this is a safe space for LGBTQ people." I thought about how I wanted to put it low enough for my preschoolers to be able to see it ask about it. So far, with the exception of my enthusiastically supportive co-teacher, no one has commented on it but I'm looking forward to some object being the thing to start the conversation. Somehow it is easier to answer a question then to come up with the right time to bring up a new topic with children. This small, very "low risk" action has made me more open to the next level of actions I could take, and more excited to explore what the next step will be for me in my classroom.

__________

Here are our notes for all of our meetings.  It's a great document.

Some of the things we discussed as we move forward are... 
- having space to continue this conversation as LGBTQ issues, feminist lenses, and ending sexism, applies to our classrooms, schools, and lives.  
- continuing in the form of an ItAG through TAG Philly this winter (see tagphilly.org)
- continuing to use this list to share ideas, stories, and resources
- creating a list of different ways to do this work in small and large ways
- creating a list of points for Rethinking Schools that includes feedback about the text
- using resources similar to those from the British Columbia Teacher's Federation that we shared last night.  

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Restorative Practices Project from Two Book Groups



Two books in the 2016 Summer Reading Series focused on the school-to-prison pipeline:  Pushout and Being Bad

If you haven't seen the blogs posts from our two book groups, check them out!
We're excited to come together, share our insights, and pinpoint concrete ways to organize against the forces that align to criminalize youth in schools.  To that end, we are forming the "Restorative Practices Project" (RPP).  This is a space for educators, parents, community members, youth and other allies to explore how to implement restorative practices in a single classroom, a group of classrooms, an entire school or a group of schools.

No one is an "expert" here, but we are committed to figuring this out and using each other as resources.  We plan to meet monthly.  Our first meeting is on Wed., Sept 21 from 4:30-6:00pm at 1500 Locust. We'll be meeting in the lounge on the top floor (press the PC button in the elevator).  (Call Kelley at 215-868-3089 or Mary at 215-680-2950 if you can't find us.)  Please bring a snack or drink to share.

Please sign up for the RPP using this form -- even if you can't make the first meeting -- so we can share resources with you and keep you updated on any changes.
Please help spread the word and forward this to anyone who might be interested.

Thanks so much!
Kelley, Kate & Mary, on behalf of the Being Bad book group

Friday, August 19, 2016

Disrupting the School to Prison Pipeline

The Being Bad book club had a good second meeting at the end of July. Our small group  discussed how restorative practices could transform how we do discipline in our classrooms and schools and disrupt the school to prison pipeline. One of our members has done significant work  to institutionalize restorative practices across multiple schools. I'm new to this idea, but the working definition I took away  was that restorative practices allow people involved in a conflict  to talk to each other, come to an understanding  of what happened, and repair the damage that was done. In contrast to traditional discipline methods, which are driven by teachers and administrators, in a restorative practice approach the child owns the problem  and takes  initiative in solving it. One crucial element of the practice  is allowing time and space for children to calm down before addressing the problem. There is obviously much more to say about this approach.





For teachers who are interested in exploring a restorative practice approach in their own classroom/schools, our book club agreed to form a Restorative Practices Project. First meeting: Weds, Sept 21 from 4:30-6 at 1500 Locust. We'll be meeting in the lounge on the top floor (press the PC button in the elevator).

{Kate Atkins}


Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Dog Whistle Politics

Here are some of the notes from the last two book group meetings discussing and learning from Dog Whistle Politics, by Ian Haney Lopez.  The group continues to explore how racially coded appeals have been used a cynical political strategy to undermine New Deal liberalism and dismantle the middle class over the last five decades. The next meeting is August 25th from 5-7pm at Temple University (Ritter Hall 477A).  See you there!




Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Needing to Continue the Conversation: Talking Back, Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, by bell hooks

After tonight's talk, we all left with the need to continue the conversation. We all felt the need that this book reminded us of the many conversations that Black women forget to have. The controversy of Gabby's hair, young girls twerking at picnics, designers refusing to clothe Black and Latina female entertainers, talking too "white" and the reminder that many of us have emulated the words and feelings of the oppressors by taking to social media and running each other through the mud and muck. Repeating the hatred of white supremacy by way of words and actions.

This is why this conversation must continue until we are ALL liberated from our tenuous past.


Read more at:

http://confessionsofsingleparentactress.blogspot.com/2016/08/whose-pussy-is-this-talking-back-by.html

{Tamara Anderson}

Sunday, August 7, 2016

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood: Critiques and Six Word Summaries

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood had a great third meeting on Thursday, July 29, at Olney Charter School.  The group was a bit smaller than the first two meetings (8, instead of 15-18), which allowed for a more intimate free-flowing conversation.  The meeting before had yielded some critiques of Emdin’s book:  Why doesn’t he ground his ideas within a larger community of thinkers?  Why, especially, does he neglect to discuss the ideas of women of color who have made countless contributions to his line of thinking?  Aren’t some of these ideas already things we do as teachers?  Why the fancy names and very specific directions for the practices?

With these questions in mind, the facilitators suggested that we frame our dialogue around what we found useful and what we found concerning or had questions about.  This provided a helpful frame that led to a productive conversation. 

We summarized the last chapters with 6 word summaries (below), then got to discussing the book, deepening our analyses of what it means to be a White folk (or a rest of y’all too) teaching in the hood. The framework presented was simple, and provided space for folks to express their concerns, while also leading us down some productive lines of thinking about how we can build more trusting relationships with students and their families. 

Six Word Summaries of the Chapters:
Chapter 3 – Find community pedagogues, like preachers, barbers.
Chapter 4 - Choose diversity. Listen. Empower leadership. Repeat.
Chapter 5 – Observe students teaching. Adjust pedagogy accordingly.
Chapter 6 – Build active, mutually supporting classroom culture.
Chapter 7 – Engage in community of our students.
Chapter 8 – Battle education. Street rules. Authentic assessment.

[Kathleen Riley]

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Organizing for Immigration Rights

In our first meeting of the "Illegal People" book group we had a really great crowd. The group consisted of a mix of social workers, teachers, lawyers, activists, and others. There was a huge range of experiences that people bring to this group and it is interesting to hear people's perspectives.  At the beginning of the meeting people shared what brought them to the group and what they found intriguing about the book. We spent some time in a discussion about neoliberalism and what it looks like in the US and abroad. In small groups people considered the causes of migration and the experiences low-wage immigrant workers in the United States. We concluded with a conversation on how the capitalist quest for low wage workers  benefits from a political system that creates classes of people with few rights. We also had an interesting conversation about how this idea intersects with the public's view on who is "worthy" to get immigration papers and who is not.

At our second discussion of "Illegal People," we delved into the ways that undocumented Latino and Black workers have been systematically divided and pit against each other by the agricultural, construction, and hospitality industries. The group discussed how white supremacist capitalism causes this divide-and-conquer strategy between workers, and how we might be able to push back through effective organizing. We also reviewed Philly's successful local anti-deportation campaign, highlighting the connections between mass deportation and mass incarceration. The conversation was powerful in part because of the wide array of backgrounds: teachers, community organizers, parents, professors, social workers, and more. It was a thought provoking discussion that left us ready for more! 


In the last meeting of the group we discussed the impact of immigration policies on documented immigrant workers, and also on low-wage citizen workers in the US. It was a lively conversation in which many people included personal and professional experiences to enrich the dialogue. Nicole spoke about many of the current immigrant rights organizing campaigns going on in Philadelphia, and another group member spoke about programs within the School District of Philadelphia to support immigrant and ESOL students. We ended the meeting with an action brainstorm about how people can support immigrant rights work both within and outside of schools. We will present these ideas at the WE book group closing meeting on September 1st.

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood


The general consensus as we discussed the pedagogical strategies Emdin describes in Chapters 3 - 9 was that, as a whole, they seem consistent with the actions of a culturally competent teacher. Many found Emdin lacking in his conceptualization of these pedagogical actions within a coherent anti-racist framework. An interesting discussion then emerged around the question, 'Can teachers become less racist/more anti-racist without engaging in deep self-reflection about implicit bias and institutional racism before following Emdin's "steps" OR is starting with Emdin's "steps" an accessible way to get teachers who might initially be put off by critical self-assessment to self-reflect on biases as a result of the teacher-student interactions the 'steps' create?' 

Looking forward to our last session on August 11, we began brainstorming actions we could take as a result of our discussions and learning over the course of a book group. Ideas included supplementary reading lists (add resources here), creating PD materials to share with our schools and networks, and turning this book group into an ItAG.

{Derrick Houck}

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Pushout Meeting #2 this Thursday

The next meeting to discuss Pushout is on Thursday, August 4, from 4:00-5:30, at the Philadelphia Writing Project (42nd and Locust).  Here are some questions and points of discussion we are thinking about! 

The poet Audre Lorde once wrote, and I paraphrase, “I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that feel good, but the pain, the intense – often unmitigated pain,” that often goes dismissed and unnoticed.

The author has detailed several accounts of the criminalization of black girls in  schools . How does this quote expand on her general theme?

Chapters 3 and 5: Jezebel in the Classroom & Learning on Lockdown

Questions and discussion points:

1. What is a Jezebel ? Are there other names that you can think of that are synonyms for the word?

2. How do strict dress codes endanger black girls when they are thrown out of school for not following such dress codes?

3. Do strict dress codes stop behavior issues in the classrooms overall? What has been your experience as an educator with dress code policies?

4. Here is a quote from a speech by  of Malcolm X  in 1962: The most disrespected woman in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the black woman.

How is this still true today for our young black female students today?  On page 123 one young girl wrote on a sign, "I am not my booty."  As educators how do you help young black girls appreciate and value themselves?

6. Beyonce's grandmother :

“Take one pint of water, add a half pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons, the zest of half lemon. Pour the water into one, then to another several times. Strain through a clean napkin. Grandmother. The alchemist. You spun gold out of this hard life. Conjured beauty from the things left behind. Found healing where it did not live. Discovered the antidote in your own kitchen. Broke the curse with your own two hands. You passed these instructions down to your daughter, who then passed them down to her daughter.”

How does the author shed light on the metaphorical lemonade making or personal struggles and hardships for girls trying to learn on lockdown?

{Peggy Savage, Kristin Luebbert, Kait McCann}

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Reflections on Between the World and Me

Our group met three times to discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates’s non-fictional account of growing up as an African-American male in America in the late 20 th century, written as an extended letter to his 15-year old son, Samori. This short work (152 pages), divided into three sections, details Coates’s childhood in West Baltimore, his experiences at Howard University, and his married life in New York City and travel to France.



Many people in our group were struck by or had directly experienced Coates’s articulation of the pervasive and insidious fear felt by African-Americans that their bodies could be victimized at any moment either directly by white society or by other African-Americans who had converted their fear into aggression. This fear is shown through Coates’s difficult navigation of his West Baltimore neighborhoods, his anger at the irrelevance of his schools to address this reality, and the experience of some African-American parents who exercise violence on their children in an agonizing response to their own fears of living in an oppressive society.

Earlier on in our discussion, we also tried to understand the meaning of the title – Between the World and Me. What is it exactly that consistently comes “between” the world and Coates? The most immediate response, of course, is racism, but Coates rejects this obvious answer and attempts to understand the roots of racism, ultimately seeing the human need to oppress and dominate others as giving birth to racism and other forms of oppression (socio-economic, gender, environmental, etc).

In addition, Coates’s desire to uncover the roots of racism is to disavow the belief that any essential human characteristics can be determined based solely on one’s skin color, which often becomes shorthand for the “innate superiority” of whites and the “inferiority” of blacks. Repeatedly Coates refers to those “who believe they are white” to articulate this sense of perceived racial superiority. He also uses the term the “Dreamers” to define a dominant white society that has built its success on the
oppression of others and then continually forgets this essential and ongoing injustice. Even though the work is highly critical of white society, the group also wondered why this work was so popular with white people and whether Coates was elivering a softer, more palatable message on racial injustice in this work.

The joy, wonder, and comfort of experiencing the diversity of black people that Coates’s feels at Howard University functions as a counterweight to dread and destruction of his upbringing. Many people in our group commented on this section of the book, many with first-hand experience of Howard. However, the tragic death of a Howard classmate, Prince Carmen Jones, at the hands of policeman (the second section of the book is framed by Coates’s experience of Jones’s death and Samori’s experience of Mike Brown’s murder) becomes ongoing evidence for Coates that no matter what black people do or don’t do, no matter what success they have achieved, their bodies are particularly vulnerable to a society that insists on racial differences and sees black people as a threat to its power and stability.

For a short work, Between the World and Me is incredibly dense and touches on so many issues relating to race relations in America and around the world. Our discussion also touched on so many topics that it is very difficult to do justice to the richness and variety of our three sessions. I will highlight a few that I recall below:

-The intellectualism of Coates’s parents and extended family (and then classmates and professors at Howard) that foster his desire to continually question his experiences and assumptions, even those that are favorable to African-Americans.

-Coates’s tension between wanting to communicate the history of African-American oppression in America and his own fears and experiences with racial injustice to Samori while also wanting to see him as a unique individual with an elevated socio- economic position and possibly different experience of race.

-The ways in which racial oppression and injustice are linked to and reinforced by the creation of an underclass by the capitalist system.

-The personal nature of this narrative that gives it such emotional poignancy. Parents discussed their own fears and hopes for their children and those who do not have children talked about the difficulty of bringing a child, particularly a child of color, into such a dangerous and discriminatory world.

-The question of how can schools more effectively address the issues raised in the book and to connect more meaningfully with the lives of students. Coates’s is highly critical of school’s superficial treatment of African-American history in the country and its sole focus on the non-violent approach of MLK. (Harold Jordon photocopied Coates’s Atlantic magazine essay “Non-Violence as Compliance” for the group.)

-The role of historically black colleges and the unique challenges that African-Americans face in choosing whether to attend institutions of higher learning in which they will be the minority or the majority.

-Coates’s refusal to be comforted by religion or trust that the Dreamers will awake, ultimately predicting environmental devastation predicated on the same fundamental need to dominate and oppress that motivates racial disparity.

{Charles Maurer}

Monday, August 1, 2016

"We Seek to Intervene:" From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation Meeting 2

A look into what’s being talked about in the BLM to Black Liberation group as they prepare for the next meetup:

A reflection from Shira Cohen on our last session leads us in…

Thank you so much Keeanga for hosting and sharing about this amazing book last night. Apologies for slipping out early. Thought about this while leaving and wanted to share - One thing I've been thinking about is ownership of movements. We talked a lot about who wields decision making power in the movements for Black liberation, who "founds" movements and takes credit for victories and shifts, the role of traditional political party politics and moving or resisting spaces of liberation, and how schools and society take ownership or do not or absolves it/themselves of responsibility of being a part of the work of educating and talking about liberation rather than the work resting on individuals. This also seems to connect to who takes ownership and responsibility in organizing spaces as well particularly when taking on anti racist organizing practice. Thinking about alot!  Thank you all for sharing, Keeanga, Chris, Ismael for bringing the group together and the wisdom in the room and looking forward to the next one. 



This time we'll take a look at the beginning of "What's next?" as we came to it to close out our previous discussion. This includes Chapter 6 and Chapter 7. (sorry as that might be a really short reminder on chapter recommendations)  

Recently, Keeanga was featured on DemocracyNow where she offered this as a response to the political theatre of the DNC: 

"So, I guess I was thinking that the speech, along with the convention as a whole, in many ways has demonstrated this gap between the kind of symbolism and the reality that exists on the streets of Philadelphia and around the country. And so, I think that Hillary Clinton gave a speech that was full of platitudes and that, in some ways, I guess, was of symbolic value, but that really lacked any kind of specificity in terms of how we are going to address very serious crises in this country...I think that what we’ve learned from the Obama presidency is that we have to move from symbolism into actual policies and programs that are going to improve the lives of everyday, ordinary people."

This should be a timely cross-examination with the visionary call to action set forth today by The Movement for Black Lives' #Vision4BlackLives, which collaborated with many on-the-ground Black-led organizations to express policy demands to support and uplift Black lives: 

"We have created this platform to articulate and support the ambitions and work of Black people. We also seek to intervene in the current political climate and assert a clear vision, particularly for those who claim to be our allies, of the world we want them to help us create. We reject false solutions and believe we can achieve a complete transformation of the current systems, which place profit over people and make it impossible for many of us to breathe."



I feel like the visions of what we have planned for the future of our work in Philadelphia, in conversation with what Keeanga has written towards, what the Democratic Convention has failed to live up to, and what movement organizers have made concrete shall make tomorrow a really awesome dialogue. See you then!

The Shared Work of Organizing: Secrets of of a Successful Organizer

In our second book group, we discussed...
...organizing teachers and higher education workers
...how different unions within one union have different issues
...the essential piece of showing you care about the issues faced by colleagues who earn low wages or who have less status in a bureaucratic system
... transitioning into a union in a non-union workplace.
... gearing up for a contract fight and the tension between the business model and social justice model of unions.  

Our other takeaways...
...Friendships are important to organizing.
...Relationships - build them first.
...Talking about feelings is hard work.
...Start with food and drink.
...Focus on shared issues when choosing a campaign.
...Build power by gaining small wins
...Workers have natural solidarity, but work places are often designed to undermine that solidarity.
...We know that flyers, emails, and tweets don't "organize," but conversations do.

In our third session, we focused on helping a PFT member and a parent plan an action at the school their children attend.  We spoke about recognizing potential leaders, having that all-important initial conversation, and arranging quickly for a meeting.  Discussions revolved around identifying a discrete problem within and issue and focusing on a winnable action. We talked a lot about overcoming fear (our fear and others' fear) and identifying the person who can make a change. 

Members found the book extremely practical and with wide-ranging implications for job, school, and community organizing. Most of our discussions dealt with people's own organizing situations in the schools, and we brainstormed strategies together. 

Though the book mostly dealt with workplaces outside the schools, it did include a great story in which teachers effectively challenged unhealthy mold in their school -- a problem that very much mirrors what's going on in some Philly schools.

Many of us agreed "Secrets of A Successful Organizer" was easy to read, and that it seems like there are a lot of small things that WE can use to further our efforts. That being said, it definitely seems like a book that would be more helpful to discuss as a group rather than read independently.