Deborah Meier is a visionary teacher, author, and founder of successful small schools in New York City and Boston. Harry Boyte, senior scholar at Augsburg College, is founder of the youth civic empowerment initiative Public Achievement and a leader in the movement to democratize higher education. This blog is no longer being updated.
Families & the Community
Opinion
Education Is a Civic Question
In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and hard work of "we the people," young as well as old, at the center of creating a 21st-century education system.
Education
Opinion
Hiatus in Bridging Differences
Dear colleagues and friends,
We're taking a break for several weeks, in preparation for the American Education Research Association Conference and the John Dewey Society (this year I'm doing the Dewey lecture on the topic
We're taking a break for several weeks, in preparation for the American Education Research Association Conference and the John Dewey Society (this year I'm doing the Dewey lecture on the topic
Families & the Community
Opinion
Who Makes Democratic Change?
We need a model of making school changes based on citizens first, not government first. There are many precedents.
Families & the Community
Opinion
Is Less Governance Always Better for Students?
Conservatives are partially right to advocate for less government, says Deborah Meier.
School & District Management
Opinion
Empowering Students: When the Last Become First
In learning civic skills and taking public action through the citizen politics approach, students, often on the margins, change expectations and challenge school cultures. They also illustrate the power of "a different kind of politics" beyond the Manichean mindset.
Teaching
Opinion
Our Democracy Is Weak Now, Let's Fight for It in Schools
The forms of democracy are weak now. Students, families, and teachers should fight for it, argues Deborah Meier.
Social Studies
Opinion
Repairers of the Breach
In a time of civic unravelling especially along partisan lines, how can we add a strong emphasis (and assessment dimension) on "civic repair" to every issue and organizing effort?
Education
Opinion
School Choice That Might Work
Deborah Meier imagines conditions under which school choice could produce innovation that would influence traditional public schools.
School & District Management
Opinion
Democratic School Communities in Unexpected Places
If we want to build a broad, majority coalition for democratic educational reform with a strong emphasis on communities, we need to look in places that are not part of the conventional progressive horizon.
Families & the Community
Opinion
The Importance of Community: Connecting Schools and Neighborhoods
Now, more than ever, young people must see themselves and their communities as the makers of history, writes Deborah Meier.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Schools and the Freedom Struggle in an Orwellian World
In the age of the smart machine and Big Data, educators are called to find common ground across partisan divides in the fight for freedom against the looming dangers of an Orwellian world. The old idea of schools and colleges as social centers, or civic sites, is a resource.
Social Studies
Opinion
School Choice Trade-Offs
There are educational benefits to choice, but it also divides people who otherwise would be allies, says Deborah Meier.
Social Studies
Opinion
Choice as a Catalyst Starts with Public Relationships
In a world where "informational" has replaced "relational" in education as well as everywhere else, we begin a democratic awakening by recalling and promoting public relationships.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Can School Choice Return to Its Progressive Roots?
Can the charter movement offer progressive alternatives to traditional public schools, as it once did? Deborah Meier considers.
