Amy Halpern-Laff

Culturally responsive practice and SEL: Effective professional development and programs

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:20:00 Comments Off

Dr. Heather C. Hill of Harvard Graduate School of Education looks at the research on culturally responsive education and SEL programs. She examines components of successful professional development programs, and how they apply to SEL and CRE. Well-designed curricula give teachers a framework on which to build and perhaps self-reflect. Daily classroom practices that build trust and engagement are important. Even if the professional development is high quality and teachers embrace the strategies, principal leadership and support is critical for learned practices to continue over time.

High school sports: Ethical challenges and considerations

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:43:00 Comments Off

Master basketball coach Mark Jerome speaks candidly about social emotional complexities in sports culture and how his own ethical sensitivities have evolved over his decades of playing, coaching, and parenting. Mark describes enormous inequities in schools’ sports resources and discusses bullying and abusive parental behavior, as well as what he loves about basketball.

Transcription of the episode “High school sports: Ethical challenges and considerations”

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Amy H-L: [00:00:16] I’m Amy Halpern-Laff Jon M: [00:00:18] And I’m Jon Moscow. Our guest today is Mark Jerome, basketball coach at Beacon High School in New York City. Mark was executive director of the Riverside Church basketball program and is currently president of Live City Basketball and Global Professional Sports. He’s also the father of Ty…

Text guided literacy: Literature as experience in English class

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:30 Comments Off

Dr. Anthony Johnston, associate professor of education at University of St. Joseph, explains text guided literacy as a framework for teaching literature. A former English teacher, Dr. Johnston resists the current emphasis on close reading. Text guided literacy encourages readers to extrapolate from the text, to take the perspective of a fictional or historical character, and to make connections between the text and their own lives. As well, empathy is a catalyst for ethical actions.

Transcription of the episode “Text guided literacy: Literature as experience in English class”

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Amy H: [00:00:16] Hi, I’m Halpern-Laff. Jon M: [00:00:17] And I’m Jon Moscow. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Our guest today is Dr. Anthony Johnston. Dr. Johnston is Associate Professor of Education and Program Director for Secondary Education at the University of St. Joseph. He’s the coauthor of “Identity Focused ELA Teaching: A Curriculum Framework for Diverse Learners…

Teaching as research: Auto-ethnography of a pioneering bilingual teacher educator

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:40:30 Comments Off

Dr. Carmen Mercado, CUNY professor emeritus, talks with us about the importance of self-study, sharing diverse perspectives in class, and reflective writing in her own development and that of her students. She shares her experiences as one of the first bilingual classroom teachers and teacher educators in NYC. Carmen’s book, “Navigating teacher education in complex and uncertain times: connecting communities of practice in a borderless world,” was published in 2019.

Transcription of the episode “Teaching as research: Auto-ethnography of a pioneering bilingual teacher educator”

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Amy H: [00:00:15] I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: [00:00:16] And I’m Jon Moscow. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Amy H: [00:00:19] Our guest today is Dr. Carmen Mercado, a pioneer among Puerto Rican and bilingual educators in New York City. Carmen is a literacy educator whose formal preparation began in a small experimental dual language school in the Bronx…

The “Name Game”: racialization in a suburban high school

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:49:30 Comments Off

Drs. Tony de Jesus, Anthony Johnston, and Don Siler of University of St. Joseph recount their intervention in a multiracial high school in crisis. White students had instigated a “game” of addressing Black students as the n-word. We discuss the impact of racialization in the Trump era on white students, students of color, and the school community as well as actual and potential responses by schools.

Transcription of the episode “The ‘Name Game’: racialization in a suburban high school”

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Amy H-L: 00:15 I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: 00:16 And I’m Jon Moscow. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Amy H-L: 00:19 Our guests today, faculty members at the University of St Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, were called upon to intervene at a suburban high school when fights broke out between white and black students. Dr. Anthony…

The Algebra Project: Bob Moses on math literacy as a civil right – Part 2

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:28:30 Comments Off

The Algebra Project founder and president–and lead organizer of the famous 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer voting rights campaign–talks about math literacy as an organizing tool to guarantee quality public school education for all children. Bob Moses describes the Algebra Project’s strategies to connect math to students’ life experiences and everyday language. The interview is divided into two episodes.

Transcription of the episode “Black and Latinx students, institutional racism, and the carceral continuum”

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Jon M: 00:10 Hi, I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:16 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Welcome to Ethical Schools. Our guest today is Dr. Carla Shedd, associate professor of sociology and urban education at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Carla is the author of “Unequal City: Race, Schools and Perceptions of Injustice,” which was recently included in…

Black and Latinx students, institutional racism, and the carceral continuum

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:38:00 Comments Off

Dr. Carla Shedd, associate professor of sociology and urban education at The Graduate Center, CUNY, studies the interactions with institutions of low-income Black and Latinx students and how institutional racism impacts children from even before birth. Children who attend integrated schools have sharper awareness of inequities than their counterparts in segregated schools and communities. The “carceral continuum” is more comprehensive than the “school to prison pipeline” and comprises all encounters with institutions. Carla also talks about professionals’ ethical responsibilities and responses and how to create safe spaces.

Transcription of the episode “The Algebra Project: Math Literacy and Empowerment”

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Jon M: 00:15 Hi. I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:16 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Welcome to Ethical Schools, where we discuss strategies for creating inclusive and equitable schools and youth programs that help students to develop commitment and capacity to build ethical institutions. Jon M: 00:32 Our guest today is Kate Belin. Kate is in…

The Algebra Project: Math Literacy and Empowerment

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:37:00 Comments Off

Kate Belin teaches math at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School, a progressive public school in the Bronx, where she implements the Algebra Project, an initiative that connects math to students’ lived experiences. We talk about the synergy between the Algebra Project and Fannie Lou, both of which have their roots in the history of the civil rights movement.

Transcription of the episode “Advice for Secondary School Teachers” (encore)

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Jon M: 00:00 I’m Jon Moscow. This is a reposting of an interview with Lev Moscow who has taught history and economics at The Beacon School in New York City for 14 years. Lev offers advice for secondary school teachers on topics such as advisory, including non-European perspectives in the history curriculum, and getting students…

Advice for Secondary School Teachers

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:41:41 Comments Off

This is an encore. We interview Lev Moscow who, for the last 14 years, has taught history and economics at The Beacon School in New York City. Lev reflects that advisory, done well, can serve as a venue for students to explore questions of ethics, purpose and happiness. He talks about balancing the history curriculum to include non-European perspectives. Getting students to read more than a few sentences is perhaps today’s teachers’ greatest challenge and Lev explains his approach.

Gender Inclusivity: Where Science and Ethics Intersect

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:33:00 Comments Off

We speak with high school science teachers and trans men, Sam Long and Lewis Maday-Travis, who have developed resources and trainings to help biology teachers develop gender-inclusive curricula. Science tells us that sexual and gender diversity is both normal and positive.

Post-traumatic growth and resilience: Creating safe environments for Central American immigrant children

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:30 Comments Off

This is an encore. Our conversation with Stephanie Carnes about Central American immigrant youth was one of our most popular. Enjoy it with our wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

Stephanie Carnes is a trauma-focused bilingual school social worker in a large public high school in New York’s Hudson Valley. Stephanie worked as the lead clinician in a federally-funded shelter program for unaccompanied children from Central America and as a consultant she challenges the districts and agencies with whom she works to re-envision the meaning of an inclusive community. We talk about the necessity to normalize mental health care, how to create safe environments for immigrant children in American schools, and the power of their resilience.

Reframing masculinity: Stopping violence against women and girls

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:42:09 Comments Off

Quentin Walcott (“Q”), a leading NYC and international anti-violence educator and activist, creates programs that help transform men and boys — even batterers — into activists against violence. He focuses on the intersections of violence — race, class, and gender — and its impact on marginalized communities. Q is Co-Executive Director of CONNECT, a nonprofit that approaches domestic violence systemically and holistically, including in school- and after-school programs. CONNECT helps males reassess their perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood. While perpetrators need to be held accountable, so do institutions and public leaders.

Transcription of the episode “Paula Rogovin: Creating a social justice early childhood classroom”

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Jon M: 00:15 Hi. I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:17 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Welcome to Ethical Schools where we discuss strategies for creating inclusive and equitable schools and youth programs that help students to develop both commitment and capacity to build ethical institutions. Jon M: 00:32 Our guest today is veteran teacher, author, and…

Paula Rogovin: Creating a social justice early childhood classroom

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:43:32 Comments Off

We speak with Paula Rogovin, who taught kindergarten and first grade in NYC public schools for 44 years. Paula empowered the youngest students to become researchers and activists. She encourages students to ask questions (“anything goes”) and research is interdisciplinary, comprising literature, social studies, art, music, and science. Cultural relevance evolves organically from the research. When students discover injustices, Paula encourages them to channel their anger to become agents of change. Paula’s advice for new teachers, “Teach what you are required to teach, and stretch it.”

Kiersten Greene on technology in schools: “Are we doing our homework?”

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:36:02 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. Kiersten Greene, Associate Professor of Literacy Education at SUNY New Paltz, about classroom internet use. Electronic tech’s transformational possibilities can go unfulfilled as schools buy and use tools and materials without evaluating whether they are effective or meet teachers’ needs. Huge funding sources like New York’s Smart Schools bond issue fund…

Jesse Hagopian on bringing Black Lives Matter into schools

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:00 Comments Off

We speak with Jesse Hagopian, an editor for ReThinking Schools and a long-time teacher in the Seattle Public Schools. He is a co-editor of the book Teaching for Black Lives. Jesse discusses the groundbreaking annual National Week of Action in February that makes four demands of schools: replace zero tolerance discipline with restorative justice, implement…

Melissa Rivers on Community-Based Education in Rural Alaska

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:35:30 Comments Off

We speak with Melissa Rivers, Principal of the Scammon Bay School in Alaska’s Lower Yukon, a mile from the Bering Sea. The isolated, tight-knit Yupik Eskimo community is subsistence-based, harvesting moose and salmon. Students are artistic and learn by making things, but also must prepare for standardized tests designed for very different environments. For the past several years, Scammon Bay has participated in a cross-cultural exchange program run by the Alaska Humanities Forum to promote understanding among Alaska’s urban and rural communities.

Ethical College and Career Decisions

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John Dewey, arguably America’s greatest 20th century philosopher and educator, stressed the importance of teaching habits of rigorous ethical inquiry in the classroom and in the larger society. He argued that students should learn to consider the impacts of their individual and collective social, economic, and political choices. Fortunately, many schools and youth programs encourage…

Leo Ackley on teaching in Finland’s consistently superior schools

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:25:00 Comments Off

Amy interviews Leo Ackley, who emigrated to Finland in the 1972. He taught art, history of architecture, design, and engineering in Finnish schools for 37 years. We discuss the Finnish system. Teachers have autonomy to develop their own curricula. Finnish administrators are answerable to teachers rather than the other way around. Homework is rare and…

Transcription of the episode “Anna Allanbrook on Brooklyn New School: Centering children, marginalizing tests”

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Amy H-L: 00:15 Hi, I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: 00:17 And I’m Jon Moscow. Welcome to Ethical Schools, where we discuss strategies for creating inclusive and equitable schools and youth programs that help students to develop both commitment and capacity to build ethical institutions. Amy H-L: 00:30 Our guest today is Anna Allanbrook. Anna has…

Anna Allanbrook on Brooklyn New School: Centering children, marginalizing tests

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:30 Comments Off

We speak with Anna Allanbrook, longtime principal of Brooklyn New School (BNS). Learning at BNS is inquiry-based and cross-disciplinary. As well, BNS is known as the “opt-out school” because 95% of families opt out of standardized testing. The school offers no test preparation.

Norman Fruchter on the pioneering alternative high school he and colleagues built in Newark in the 1970s

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:37:45 Comments Off

We speak with Norm Fruchter, long-time educational activist and thought leader, about Independence School, an experimental high school where the ideal was that someone walking into a classroom couldn’t tell the teacher from the students. We discuss lessons learned – and perhaps forgotten – about supporting students whose original schools failed them. Among the school’s…

Transcription of the episode “David C. Bloomfield on why we need a revolution in attitude to see education as a social good rather than an individual property right”

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Jon M: 00:15 I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:17 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Welcome to Ethical Schools, where we discuss strategies for creating inclusive and equitable schools and youth programs that help student to develop both commitment and capacity to build ethical institutions. Jon M: 00:32 Our guest today is Dr. David C. Bloomfield, Professor…

David C. Bloomfield on why we need a revolution in attitude to see education as a social good rather than an individual property right

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:25:00 Comments Off

We speak with Dr. David C. Bloomfield, Professor of Education Leadership. Law & Policy at Brooklyn College. David Bloomfield condemns the social Darwinism and “hoarding” mentality of our education systems. He explains how school resource allocation exacerbates segregation and inequality, a process deliberately abetted by the proliferation of school districts around the country. Education policy and financing reinforce an us against them view of schools. Until we start thinking of the nation’s children as our collective responsibility, we will continue to seek todeprive “other people’s” children in order to benefit “ours,” thereby impoverishing all of us.

Scarlett Lewis on the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement: A Sandy Hook parent’s SEL program

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:33:30 Comments Off

“Nurturing, Healing Love” was the message that Scarlett Lewis found on her kitchen chalkboard shortly before her son, Jesse, was murdered in his first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In order to become part of the solution to the violence, Scarlett founded The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement with a mission to ensure that…

Transcription of the episode “Kids learn through relationships: A conversation with Pedro Noguera about building a culture conducive to teaching and learning”

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Amy H-L: 00:10 I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: 00:17 And I’m Jon Moscow. This is Ethical Schools podcast where we talk about how to create equitable and inclusive learning environments that support students in becoming capable of and committed to creating a more ethical world. Amy H-L: 00:30 Our guest today is Dr. Pedro Noguera….

Kids learn through relationships: A conversation with Pedro Noguera about building a culture conducive to teaching and learning

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:24:00 Comments Off

We talk with Dr. Pedro Noguera about public school models that work for students, parents and teachers, and how to build a social movement for a progressive education agenda. He talks about the social dimensions to learning and the mismatch between students’ needs and teachers’ skills. He argues that an obstacle to making change in schools is that we deal with education as individuals rather than collectively. Pedro Noguera is a Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and Faculty Director for the Center for the Transformation of Schools at UCLA. He is a critically acclaimed scholar, a dynamic speaker and a committed activist. His work focuses on a broad range of issues related to education, social justice and public policy. He is the author of several best-selling books and is a highly sought-after public speaker and international consultant.

Transcription of the episode “Stephanie Carnes on post-traumatic growth and resilience: Cultural competence and creating safe environments for Central American immigrant children in today’s U.S.”

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Amy H-L: 00:15 I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: 00:17 And I’m Jon Moscow. This is Ethical Schools podcast, where we talk about how to create equitable and inclusive learning environments that support students becoming capable of and committed to creating a more ethical world. Amy H-L: 00:29 Our guest today is Stephanie Carnes. Stephanie is a bilingual clinical social worker in…

Stephanie Carnes on post-traumatic growth and resilience: Cultural competence and creating safe environments for Central American immigrant children in today’s U.S.

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:34:00 Comments Off

We talk with Stephanie Carnes, a trauma-focused bilingual school social worker in a large public high school in New York’s Hudson Valley. Stephanie worked as the lead clinician in a federally-funded shelter program for unaccompanied children from Central America and as a consultant she challenges the districts and agencies with whom she works to re-envision the meaning of an inclusive community. We talk about the necessity to normalize mental health care, how to create safe environments for immigrant children in American schools, and the power of their resilience.

Transcription of the episode “Zoe Weil on humane education: The world becomes what we teach”

Amy Halpern-Laff Comments Off

Jon M: 00:15 I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:16 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. This is the Ethical Schools podcast where we talk about how to create ethical classrooms and schools that graduate students who are motivated and prepared to create a more ethical world. Jon M: 00:34 Zoe Weil is the Co-founder and President of…

Zoe Weil on humane education: The world becomes what we teach

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:30:30 Comments Off

We talk with Zoe Weil, the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education. She talks about providing young people with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to address our pressing challenges in order to transform unsustainable and unjust systems into ones that are humane, healthy, and peaceful.

Shirley Edwards on EBC High School: Building an educational community in Bushwick

Amy Halpern-Laff 00:42:47 Comments Off

We talk with Shirley Edwards about EBC High School for Public Service and the creation of an intentional educational community of students, teachers, parents, and East Brooklyn Congregations. Shirley Edwards was the founding principal. She came with a background as a teacher and a parent coordinator, and responded to parents’ desperation for a high school that would lead their children to success.

Shirley Edwards on EBC High School: Building an educational community in Bushwick (Transcription of the episode)

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Jon M: 00:04 Hi, I’m Jon Moscow. Amy H-L: 00:21 And I’m Amy Halpern-Laff. Jon M: 00:23 We’re the co-directors of Ethics In Education Network and this is our podcast, Ethical Schools. Amy H-L: 00:29 And when we talk about ethical schools, we’re not just talking about a traditional school environment. We’re talking about any environment in which teaching and learning occurs. It…

Ethical Dining at School

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Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself. – John Dewey John Dewey (1859-1952) was arguably the most consequential educational thinker of the twentieth century. According to Dewey, education should consist of meaningful activity in learning and participation in classroom democracy. Curriculum should be relevant to students’ lives as well as prepare them…

Guidelines for submissions

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Note from the editors to our readers and colleagues: We accept articles for our newsletter on any topic related to secular (preferably Deweyan) educational ethics. As you might expect, we have to pass on some articles, but we will let you know whether and when your article will run in the newsletter. Please keep in…

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