In the 1960s and 1970s—when many communities resisted school integration and schools held low expectations for working-class kids and constricted teachers’ autonomy—educators and students at a multiracial public high school in California collaborated to achieve something remarkable: they created a cohesive community that gave students a powerful sense of belonging. Over its 25-year life, the student leaders of Sunnyvale High School worked with visionary staff to reduce violence, broaden and enrich the curriculum to include US Black history and Mexican American literature, and increase girls’ access to sports. Working together, they fostered a collective sense of pride, persistence, and possibility that fed the success of students and graduates in careers and in communities. How did adults and youth forge such a powerful ethos of engagement and mutual responsibility, enabling so many to thrive? At a time when issues of racial and gender inequality are arguably as heated as they were half a century ago, what lessons does the school offer? In this book, the story of Sunnyvale High School is told by the students and educators who shaped it and made it meaningful. They attest to the lifelong impact of their shared experience.
The core assumption of this book is the interconnectedness of humans and nature, and that the future of the planet depends on humans’ recognition and care for this interconnectedness. This comprehensive resource supports the work of pre-service and practicing elementary teachers as they teach their students to be part of the world as engaged citizens, advocates for social and ecological justice. Challenging readers to more explicitly address current environmental issues with students in their classrooms, the book presents a diverse set of topics from a variety of perspectives. Its broad social/cultural perspective emphasizes that social and ecological justice are interrelated. Coverage includes descriptions of environmental education pedagogies such as nature-based experiences and place-based studies; peace-education practices; children doing environmental activism; and teachers supporting children emotionally in times of climate disruption and tumult. The pedagogies described invite student engagement and action in the public sphere. Children are represented as ‘agents of change’ engaged in social and environmental issues and problems through their actions both local and global.
Critical Lessons concentrates on the critical, reflective thinking that should be taught in high schools. Taking seriously the Socratic advice, 'know thyself', it focuses on topics that will help students to understand the forces - good and bad - that work to socialize them. This book argues why critical thinking is necessary in schools because it requires the discussion of critical issues: how we learn, the psychology of war, what it means to make a home, advertising and propaganda, choosing an occupation, gender, and religion.
John Dewey (1859-1952) was a major figure of the American cultural and intellectual landscape in the first half of the twentieth century. The contributors to this Companion examine the wide range of Dewey's thought and provide a critical evaluation of his philosophy and its lasting influence.
Shifting faculty roles in a changing landscape Ernest L. Boyer's landmark book Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate challenged the publish-or-perish status quo that dominated the academic landscape for generations. His powerful and enduring argument for a new approach to faculty roles and rewards continues to play a significant part of the national conversation on scholarship in the academy. Though steeped in tradition, the role of faculty in the academic world has shifted significantly in recent decades. The rise of the non-tenure-track class of professors is well documented. If the historic rule of promotion and tenure is waning, what role can scholarship play in a fragmented, unbundled academy? Boyer offers a still much-needed approach. He calls for a broadened view of scholarship, audaciously refocusing its gaze from the tenure file and to a wider community. This expanded edition offers, in addition to the original text, a critical introduction that explores the impact of Boyer's views, a call to action for applying Boyer's message to the changing nature of faculty work, and a discussion guide to help readers start a new conversation about how Scholarship Reconsidered applies today.
**A New York Times Bestseller** “May be the most revealing depiction of the American contemporary classroom that we have to date." —Garret Keizer, The New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Nicholson Baker, in pursuit of the realities of American public education, signed up as a substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. In 2014, after a brief orientation course and a few fingerprinting sessions, Nicholson Baker became an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. He awoke to the dispatcher’s five-forty a.m. phone call and headed to one of several nearby schools; when he got there, he did his best to follow lesson plans and help his students get something done. What emerges from Baker’s experience is a complex, often touching deconstruction of public schooling in America: children swamped with overdue assignments, overwhelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology, and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum. In Baker’s hands, the inner life of the classroom is examined anew—mundane worksheets, recess time-outs, surprise nosebleeds, rebellions, griefs, jealousies, minor triumphs, kindergarten show-and-tell, daily lessons on everything from geology to metal tech to the Holocaust—as he and his pupils struggle to find ways to get through the day. Baker is one of the most inventive and remarkable writers of our time, and Substitute, filled with humor, honesty, and empathy, may be his most impressive work of nonfiction yet.
Beyond Bystanders calls for a shift in the professional self-image of teachers from agents of socialization to active advocates of human flourishing, social justice, and world betterment. The editors propose that it is irresponsible for teachers to posit themselves as bystanders and to conceive of globalization as something happening to them. Their role as educators in all disciplines must be to establish educational leadership that would empower students to critically evaluate developing global realities – mass migrations, socioeconomic inequalities, global warming, and the dehumanizing effects of submission to social media and consumerism – and achieve the overarching goals of humanization and facilitation of the fulfilling life. A shared commitment to humanist ethics, pedagogical activism, and social engagement at Kibbutzim College of Education (Tel Aviv) and Wagner College (New York) sparked this collaboration. The authors of the book include educational thinkers such as Nel Noddings, Michael Apple, David Hansen, Pasi Sahlberg, and Wiel Veugelers as well as scholars and practitioners from six different countries and diverse professional and cultural backgrounds. An essential part of our educational enterprise must involve promoting intercultural opportunities, confronting cultural ills and ensuring that civic engagement is more attuned to political realities. Educators in all disciplines can reframe their teaching and schools to be more cooperative and civic-minded and challenge views of marginalized, immigrant, undocumented and refugee communities as strangers. “Education is not only about teaching people to read and to write. It is about teaching human rights and cultural diversity, nourishing peace and fostering inclusive and sustainable development ... I wish to commend Kibbutzim College of Education and Wagner College for joining forces to compile this volume to inspire readers in crafting new models of intellectual and intercultural understanding.” – Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO (from the Foreword)
This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of twenty-first century teaching and learning. Explores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills Addresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) The book contains a video with clips of classroom teaching. For more information on the book visit www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com.