We continue our conversation with Dr. Edwin Mayorga of Swarthmore College. We discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to center joy and healing. Schools should be liberatory rather than places that are too often focused on punishment and surveillance. Schools, as “localized nodes of political power,” should adopt democratic processes that cultivate voice, participation, and collaboration. As an organizer, he encourages coalitions of people resisting different aspects of racial capitalism, including those fighting destruction of the planet and exploitation of other species.
Overview
00:00-01:34Intro
01:34-04:55Making the shift from a more traditional to a more liberatory school
04:55-08:11Sustainability after school founder(s) leave
08:11-11:37Relationships of capital to schools: Now and a century ago
11:37-14:47Education sovereignty
14:47-18:08Community land trusts as models for schools
18:08-22:20Balancing autonomy with accountability
22:20-24:41Humans’ relationships with other animals: Moving away from anthropocentrism