Anti-racism: Lessons for the classroom and faculty lounge
We speak with Mica Pollock about US vs Hate and Schooltalk. Student anti-racism messaging in any medium can catalyze youth activism. Comments embedded in teachers’ everyday communication can...
Consumption as ethics: Talking with students about food
We welcome back Monica Chen of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. She describes the animal-agricultural complex that exploits workers in meatpacking plants and animals in factory farms and devastates communities...
Busting out of the classroom: Connecting local history to everyday life
Social studies teacher David Edelman and student Raúl Baez speak about their class's "Virtual Walking Tour of Slavery in New York City" and other projects in which students become...
Food injustice: The corporatization of school meals
We speak with Monica Chen, veteran teacher and executive director of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition. Monica tells us how cow’s milk became a staple in school lunches even though...
Audit culture: The dehumanization of education
World renowned educational consultant Bill Stroud talks about schooling within our capitalist culture and the impact that on-line learning will have on teachers' autonomy and teacher-student relationships. He...
Supporting student civic activism: Social studies on steroids – Part 2
Dr. Alan Singer, Dr. Pablo Muriel, and Gates Millennium Scholar Dennis Belen-Morales, three generations of teachers, describe how they center student activism in their project-based social studies and history...
Supporting student civic activism: Social studies on steroids – Part 1
Dr. Alan Singer, Dr. Pablo Muriel, and Gates Millennium Scholar Dennis Belen-Morales, three generations of teachers, describe how they center student activism in their project-based social studies and history...
Police and metal detectors in schools: Student perspectives
Nia Morgan and Anahi Ortiz Fierros of Urban Youth Collaborative describe how police and metal detectors humiliate and traumatize students. The story of the "fork in the backpack" illustrates...
Impact of Remote Learning on the Washington Heights Community
In March 2020, teaching environments quickly moved to remote learning in an effort to stem the growing COVID-19 pandemic. As District 6 in Washington Heights grappled with how to...
*UPDATE* Civics education: A Constitutional right?
Last year we interviewed Mark Santow, one of the plaintiffs suing the State of Rhode Island under the 14th Amendment for failing to provide some students civics curricula and...
Too Late For Reform: Abolishing the Police in Schools
Toni Smith-Thompson, Senior Organizer at NY Civil Liberties Union, discusses the importance of replacing police presence in schools with restorative practices. Toni envisions ethical schools, in which all students...
Savage inequalities: How school funding intentionally privileges white, wealthy communities
Zahava Stadler, Policy Director of EdBuild, explains how housing discrimination and state funding policies disadvantage Black and low-income districts. EdBuild has reported on funding schemes throughout the country, documenting...
Reimagining college admissions: Performance assessment pilot at CUNY
Dr. Michelle Fine speaks about better alternatives to standardized tests for students to demonstrate college-readiness. NYC's Consortium Schools, which use Performance Based Assessment Tasks, collaborated with CUNY to open...
Students demand equity and inclusion: call for admissions, curriculum, counseling changes
Manhattan's Beacon High School students are fighting for racial equity in NYC's highly segregated school system. Three student activists talk about their experiences in the elite public school, the...
Crises and opportunity: A holistic approach to supporting and empowering youth
In light of the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted BIPOC, and BLM uprisings, we’re revisiting Jon’s interview with Jason Warwin of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. COVID-19 has devastated Bro/Sis’s community...
Challenging hierarchies: The role of the social justice teacher educator
Dr. Sherry Deckman speaks about creating classroom environments that challenge cultural and social hierarchies. Teachers need to be aware of the lenses through which they view the world and...
Why teach history? Knowing “why” shapes “how”
Richard Miller, who taught in progressive NYC secondary schools for 28 years, talks about teaching students to think like historians, weighing different sources and drawing their conclusions from evidence. The...
Therapeutic crisis intervention: a consultant’s role in creating an ethical school culture
Misha Thomas, longtime consultant with Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, discusses how schools can develop trauma-informed systems for resolving behavioral conflicts and crises. He explains that schools should...
The principal as “keeper of the vision”: Fostering and protecting an ethical community
Jill Herman, founding principal of East Side Community H.S, now at Bank Street College, raises essential questions: To whom should a principal be accountable? How can social emotional learning and academics be...
Parent voice: Supporting families with special needs
Ellen McHugh of Parent to Parent delves into the challenges facing parents of students with special education needs. Ethical relationships among educators, parents, and the students themselves are crucial...
Parent voice: Supporting families with special needs