See you on the dance floor

The title of a recent article by Steven Rosenfeld caught my attention: "If We Don’t Act Now, Fascism Will Be on Our Doorstep, Says Yale Historian," (March 15, 2017).

I'm not happy about the fear meme embedded and critiqued in the article, i.e. prepare for the worst. It's as if we're coaxing it into existence.

This sentence from Rosenfeld's article also struck me: "Fascism says, disregard the evidence of your senses, disregard observation, embolden deeds that can’t be proven, don’t have faith in God but have faith in leaders, take part in collective myth of an organic national unity and so forth." Manuela Cadelli writes about this phenomenon in her article "Neoliberalism is a Species of Fascism."

I think the tilt towards fascism started before Drumph, but I really don't want to be right about that. In any case, language, and how we choose to create and experience the world, matters. 

I remember when Walter Mondale closed the 1984 (!) Democratic National Convention by repeatedly calling out for Ronald Reagan. He was supposedly pulling together a fractured party by railing against a common Republican enemy (i.e. President Ronald Reagan), and all that we heard on TV and radio, and read in newspapers, and felt in the universe, was a loud and clear invocation of Ronald Reagan's name. We lost before we started, and I wonder if HRC et al. did the same thing in 2016.

Should we focus on what we want, rather than what we don't want? Do we amplify democracy or echo dark foreboding? What's the implication for the world that we want to live in?

See you on the march, at the grille, or on the dance floor.

The Once and Future ED

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-4) has proposed that ED be eliminated on Dec 31, 2018: H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education (ED; https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/899)

If you're gong to contact your Representative about this, please consider promoting another direction for ED's mission (see Option B, below).

re: Teacher observations have been a waste of time and money

The US is the wealthiest country on the planet, and Mark Dynarski wants to implicate teachers for low test scores.

Mark Dynarski gets it wrong with teacher evaluation (Brookings, Dec. 8, 2016).

1. Mark Dynarski does not understand assessment: "The crucial question is whether students are learning. To answer that, we need some measure of learning: a test."
   
   Tests do not measure student learning. Tests measure a student's ability, or choice, to achieve high test scores.
   
   Alternatively, students benefit from assessments that are designed to help them show what they have learned, from their own perspective. Crafty educators can use data, both qualitative and quantitative, from student-driven assessments to adjust instructional strategies to meet students' needs.
   
   
2. The author does not understand science: "Teacher evaluation systems need a stronger scientific basis."
   
   Quantitative data from high stakes standardized tests does not constitute "science." Science would consider a systemic, holistic approach, and then isolate variables. And there are at least as many variables in a classroom as there are students.
   
   Individual students are too varied to prove (or disprove) a teacher's effectiveness. Trends or patterns within one classroom with 25 students -- or across several classrooms with 150 students -- in the same year, or over several years, SHOULD vary based on students' interests and needs, and the extent to which a teacher is supported by her/his school.
   
   There are also too many variables before, during, and after school to link teacher effectiveness with "objective" test scores.
   
   
3.  Perhaps the author does not understand inequity: "We need a more solid research and measurement foundation about what aspects of teaching improve learning."
   
   When children arrive at school well-rested, well-fed, and feeling safe and curious, well-supported teachers can do wonders. Teachers are life-long learners, and we can always enrich our curricular, instructional, and assessment strategies. Fair-enough.
   
   However, students who are proximate to the violence of poverty exhibit enormous amounts of stress that they bring to schools. These students need equity, i.e. unique in-school services that can help them want to do well in school. And it would be really helpful if our society acted to address the upstream source of poverty, i.e. income inequality.
   Data from The Spirit Level shows that even wealthy American children also suffer from the fallout of an unhealthy society.
   
   Among the wealthiest 23 countries on the planet, those with the biggest income inequality (i.e. the U.S.) have the highest rates of depression, mental illness, teen pregnancy, incarceration rates, drug abuse, obesity, and violence, and low educational "achievement" rates (see Fig. 1 below).
   
   Fig. 1: Educational scores are higher in more equal rich countries. - The Spirit Level
   
   
4. The author does not understand pedagogy: "We are spending billions to little effect because we do not know enough about what we are looking for."
   
   I know what I am looking for; I'm sure it varies among colleagues -- and I'm OK with that. I think that effective teachers:
   a. cultivate a love of life-long learning
   b. promote critical and creative literacy
   c. foster democratic civic engagement
   
   If these outcomes come close to what we are looking for within the profession, then we should ask teachers to design their own professional learning plans so that they become more effective at realizing such aims.
   If students come to school and aren't ready to learn, then we need to support students and educators by creating and sustaining equitable in-school conditions.
   Focusing on education as a means to redress poverty will help to a point: but it will not address the source of inequities, i.e. income inequality. Therefore, we need to support students and educators by creating and sustaining equitable out-of-school conditions.
   
5. The author has a point: "We need a more solid research and measurement foundation about what aspects of teaching improve learning."
   
   We need hybrid teaching roles so that more teachers can conduct meaningful research and advocate for effective systemic strategies that promote student engagement.

 

 

Here's the Deal: We already know what needs improving.

Education Post's sensational headline reads, "Here’s the Deal: We Can’t Help Teachers Improve If We Don’t Know What Needs Improving (11/29/16)." Author Thomas Toch argues that better teacher accountability metrics will lead to—what? Higher test scores? A stronger workforce?

How about we improve teaching with the aim of a more green, healthy, and sustainable America?

And we already know what needs improving.

Our country needs to improve family access to safe neighborhoods, healthy housing, meaningful employment, and balanced nutrition. We need to improve parents' and guardians' access to time and resources so that they can make sure their children are curious, energetic, well-fed, well-rested, and learning ready.

We need to improve student and staff access to green, healthy, and sustainable schools; beautiful schools that conserve energy and water, foster wellness, and advance equity between people, planet, and prosperity are good for students. This will help teachers.

We need to improve the capacity of educators to collaborate on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and policy that enriches students' love of learning, critical and creative thinking, and democratic civic engagement. 

We need to improve supports for educators as they exercise their professional expertise.

We need to improve teachers' stewardship of the profession. 

We need to improve our civic commitment to American values such as democracy, liberty, and justice for all.

We need to improve our courage. 

This will help teachers.

Check out the organizations below.
Green Schools National Network U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Green Schoolyards America Women Of Green Center for Green SchoolsEcoRise Youth Innovations Eco-Schools USA National Environmental Education Foundation Shelburne Farms Center for Ecoliteracy GreenFutures UN Sustainable Development Platform The Networked Teacher Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse Caucus of Working Educators Badass Teachers Association Center for Teaching Quality Teacher Powered Schools Teach to Lead Network for Public Education Sustainable Happiness

What does a society look like with no racism, sexism, classism...?

I believe that one of the best responses to economic and social inequity is joy and happiness. After all, what does a society look with no racism, classism, sexism...?

I want to live in prospering, abundant, and democratic society, and I want to help create it. I am probably best situated to do so when I am coming from a place of well being. It is our well being that we risk when we maintain inequitable social and economic structures. And our civility towards our brothers and sisters can become masked if not stunted, as well.

This short video from Matthew Cooke, called Race Baiting 101, profiles some of the complexity of how the Masters conjure lateral conflict among the 99%. The video has compelling arguments and stark images that hopefully affirm how we are connected in our humanity. So although there is a bit of ugliness in the video, I think it serves as a good reminder of why I am aligned with the hope of Black Lives Matter, sustainability, feminism, and other movements for a better world.

I also remind myself that the embrace of well being, as a political act, is not a form of surrender. To want to be everywhere, all of the time -- to right every wrong, to confront every injustice -- is to succumb to the violence. I choose to acknowledge the violence, educate myself, and focus on what I want, rather than what I don't want.

In solidarity, and in peace without appeasement.

What is a Culture of Sustainabilty?

By Gamal Sherif 

Everyday, teachers work hard to foster passion, engagement, and equity into our schools. What do we need to make this work sustainable? What has to happen within our schools -- or within ourselves -- so that students and staff have beautiful environments that conserve energy and water, foster wellness, and advance social and economic justice?

On Saturday, October 15, 2016, Francine Locke, the Environmental Director at the School District of Philadelphia, and I will be hosting a workshop about sustainability at the Global Education Forum in Philadelphia, USA.

Our workshop, entitled GreenFutures - Local Action for Global Stewardship, will focus on how GreenFutures overlaps with the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). As part of our introduction, we're going to ask participants a series of questions that are designed to cultivate small-group discussion -- and more questions!

One of our first questions is: "What is a culture of sustainability?"

Beautiful green schools that engage students and staff do so, not because of solar panels, farm-to-cafeteria, or clean air and water, though these certainly do help! It's something else.

How would you describe a culture of sustainability? Let us know what you think via email, tweet, or the ProgressEd blog.

Or just feel it.

Letter to Bernie Sanders: A green, healthy, and sustainable U.S. for peace in the Middle East

Dear Bernie,

I've been thinking about your positions on war and peace, and I was especially interested in your comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As an American with Hebrew and Arab roots, I'd like to make a few suggestions about the best way to advance peace here in the U.S., and in the Middle East.

I think that, as Americans, we have to focus on what we want here in the U.S. as we address inequities around the world. I recommend that we advocate for a green, healthy, and sustainable America. I’ve outlined some general principles below.

• Green: reduce energy consumption and conserve water. The result is that we reduce greenhouse emissions, stabilize our climate, and create green jobs. A green economy fosters interdependence rather than violent competition for resources such as energy, land and water.

• Healthy: provide free health care and promote effective working conditions. People have a right to be healthy, and we need to create a culture that values emotional, social and physical wellness. We need recreation in schools and communities, contact with nature, experience with the arts and sciences, and a sense of belonging. Healthy Americans take care of themselves, their families, and their communities. Healthy Americans also have the time to influence local and global politics for a just world.

• Sustainable: study and advocate for systemic economic, social and ecological balance. War isn’t good for children and other people, and it is expensive. War is a result of fear, desperation and greed. Conflict in the U.S. and in the Middle East results from an imbalance that positions economy against people and the planet. Alternatively, sustainability is a road map to a flourishing world that ensures a high standard of living for all, in the present and in the future. For more information, read the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Middle East is a beautiful part of the world that could easily celebrate cultural diversity, honor and protect indigenous people, and even create abundance through low impact eco-tourism.

For Americans, the best way to bring peace to the Middle East is to focus on a green, healthy and sustainable America as we promote a culture of peace and joy at home and abroad.

Yours,

Gamal

A modified version of this letter was published in The Swarthmorean on Mar. 11, 2016.