Of, By, For: In Search of the Civic Mission of K-12 Schools
Education activist Sam Chaltain wrote about the changing nature of public education and highlighted where the K-12 learning revolution is already underway. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
To Teach the Whole Child, Honor the Whole Teacher
In Chapter 7 of A Year at Mission Hill, we see what it takes to create a truly supportive culture of teachers. Doctoral student Zac Chase considers what it would take for more schools to do the same.
Education
Opinion
Hey Arne: Assess This!
A recent feature on ESPN's SportsCenter made Sam Chaltain write Arne Duncan about an idea for how to improve federal education policy. What did he recommend? See for yourself.
Education
Opinion
Creating the Capacity for Teachers to Design High-Performing Schools
At Mission Hill, we see what's possible when teachers have the freedom and autonomy to make meaningful decisions around the structure and purpose of the school day. What would it take to create more school cultures like this -- and what would teachers create as a result? Kim Farris-Berg has some ideas.
Education
Opinion
What Great Teaching Looks Like - and Requires
In the tiny town of Hartsville, South Carolina, an experiment is underway that could transform American public education -- and reintroduce the nation to a forgotten champion of child development. What are they up to in Hartsville -- and what might the rest of us learn as a result?
Education
Opinion
Like a Family
In what ways should schools mimic the behavior of healthy families? Doctoral student Zac Chase considers the question and shares some of the most helpful research in formulating an answer.
Education
Opinion
To Make Communities Safer, Trust Students
In schools across the country, educators are creating safer learning environments by actively involving students in the creation of a healthy school culture. Kim Farris-Berg shares some of the more illustrative success stories.
Education
Opinion
In Modern School Reform, Is It We the People - Or Me the Individual?
In the latest chapter of A Year at Mission Hill, we see children and adults in repeated states of deliberation. Yet the art of deliberating -- or having long, careful conversations with other members of a community -- has been supplanted in recent years by our love of decisions. Sam Chaltain considers the costs of such a shift.
Education
Opinion
If Students Could Create a School, What Would It Look Like?
With her colleagues, Michelle Healy is spending the 2012-2013 school year crossing the country to identify successful practices from schools of every kind before her team designs and opens its own model public school in New York City. For the Of, By, For blog, she's also sharing some of those stories and how they relate to what she sees in each new episode of the 10-part video series, A Year at Mission Hill.
Education
Opinion
Mission Hill Is What Theory Looks Like in Practice
Which theories of learning and development are informing the teachers we're watching in the 10-part video series, A Year at Mission Hill? Former teacher (and current doctoral candidate) Zac Chase has some thoughts.
Education
Opinion
What's the Learning 401?
There's a movement underway in Rhode Island, one in which people's personal stories about teaching and learning are lighting a clearer path for school reform. What if more communities were willing to follow suit?
Education
Opinion
Give Teachers Autonomy to Arrange Schools So Students Want to Learn
The late educator Jack Frymier often said, "If the kids want to learn, we can't stop 'em. If they don't, we can't make 'em." Yet how often are schools' objectives defined in terms of what the students seek to achieve? What would it look like if we charted a different path to learning and engagement?
Education
Opinion
A Part of Us Is Dying in Chicago
What does the public fight over school closures in Chicago say about the state of our civic discourse -- and where can we look for models of how to make decisions more effectively and collaboratively?
Education
Opinion
Whither on Vouchers?
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of that state's expansive voucher program, widening a central front in the ongoing battle to expand our national experiment in school choice. In the end, is this a good or a bad development for American families? And will it help or hinder our ongoing efforts to guarantee every child a high-quality public education?
Education
Opinion
How Can Schools Meet the Developmental Needs of Children?
In a recurring guest post for the "Of, By, For" blog, educator Zac Chase views the 10-part video series "A Year at Mission Hill" through the lens of what he's studying as a doctoral student at the University of Colorado, and asks: "What would school look like if adults tended to the full developmental needs of children?"