Ethical Schools

Overview

00:00-00:46 Intros

00:46-02:36 Student Press Law Center

02:36-05:08 Sara’s experience of censorship

05:08-06:10 Self-censorship

06:10-10:03 Pressures on students and advisors

10:03-10:39 Yearbooks

10:39-15:01 Constitutional rights of student journalists

15:01-17:03 New Voices laws

17:03-18:45 Hew SPLC and New Voices Student Leaders work to pass laws

18:45-20:35 Support for and opposition to New Voices laws

20:35-23:51 Divisive content laws and student press freedom

23:51-25:42 How students and advisors find out about New Voices laws

25:42-26:42 New Voices and red states/blue states

26:42-28:33 Resources

28:33-30:34 New Voices laws and types of schools: public, private, colleges

30:34- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Student Press Freedom website

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

We speak with Melissa Svigelj-Smith, graduate fellow at University of California at Santa Cruz, about her experience teaching high school students awaiting case outcomes at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. Meaningful communication with students’ schools about records and students’ social emotional needs was often very difficult. Ms. Svigelj-Smith talks about the ethical dilemma of wanting to advocate for improved resources for students without wanting more money to go into a system that kids should not be in in the first place.  And in many cases, in Cleveland and throughout the country, prosecutors charge children as adults depriving them of any access whatsoever to educational resources.

Overview

00:00-00:45 Intros

00:45-04:01 Young people at the juvenile detention center

04:01-05:30 Structure of the educational program

05:30-07:51 School of One

07:51-11:51 Communication with high schools about student needs

11:51-13:40 Offering social emotional support within the detention center

13:40-14:37 Cultural responsiveness; effects of Ohio’s high-stakes testing

14:37-16:24 Interactions with students’ families

16:24-17:02 Transitions back to high schools

17:02-17:47 Mentorship

17:47-22:00 Ethical issues

22:00-25:13 Ending adjudication of young people to adult jails

25:13- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

We speak with students Eugenia Bamfo, Alexandra Rouvinetis, and Mukilan Muthukumar, members of the NYC Youth Agenda. Using citywide student survey data, Youth Agenda teams aggregated young people’s needs to make recommendations to policymakers in five areas — housing security, food justice, mental health support, economic mobility, and leadership and civic engagement. Among the findings: large numbers of students are unaware of existing youth programs, many don’t trust the “trusted adults” in their schools, and Department of Education “student voice” efforts are tremendously understaffed.

Overview 

00:00-01:16 Intros

01:16-03:19 NYC Youth Agenda and its key points

03:19-08:19 Leadership and civic opportunity—issues and recommendations

08:19-12:01 Housing

12:01-13:34 Food insecurity

13:34-14:12 Mutual aid societies

14:12-18:34 Mental health

18:34-19:49 Economic mobility

19:49-21:50 Organizational support from adult groups

21:50-22:49 Policies for schools

22:49-27:28 Policy breakfast and meetings with elected officials and policy makers

27:28-30:15 Funding for proposals

30:15-31:06 Coordination with other youth organizations

31:06-32:07 How listeners can be supportive

32:07- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

We speak with Dr. Brian Jones, director of the New York Public Library’s Center for Educators and Schools, which provides all sorts of free resources to teachers and school administrators. Public schools, for all their flaws, are centers of power and potential for teachers and parents. As a historian, Dr. Jones draws parallels between Booker T.  Washington and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone. In the aftermath of civil rights struggles, both accommodated the powerful and opposed collective efforts for systemic change. 

Overview 

00:00-00:47 Intros

00:47-03:55 Corporate school reforms vs. unions

03:55-09:04 Corporate reforms: who wins, who loses; public schools as a place where everyone is entitled to services 

09:04-11:57 School choice and neighborhoods; collective vs. individual change

11:57-19:38 Democratic and Republican support for charters and choice

19:38-23:07 Complicated history of schools and neighborhoods

23:07-24:41 Historical Black leadership in fight for public schools

24:41-30:21 Efforts to separate racial justice from economic justice

30:21-41:47 Booker T. Washington and Geoffrey Canada

41:47-45:46 Implementation of progressive steps: keeping the redistributive potential

45:46-50:51 Jean Anyon

50:51- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Image: www.nysna.org

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 classes while giving students the tools to pass the NYS Regents exams. Dr. Singer was Dr. Muriel’s professor in college, and Dr. Muriel was Mr. Belen-Morales’ high school teacher and college professor in turn. Now all three are at Hofstra University.

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

We speak with Swarthmore’s Dr. Edwin Mayorga, who explains how abolitionist classrooms and schools create “freedom as a place” in contrast to racial capitalism. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to center joy and healing. We also discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Schools, as “localized nodes of political power,” should adopt democratic processes that cultivate voice, participation, and collaboration.

Overview

00:00-00:50 Intros

00:50-02:30 Abolitionist education

02:30-04:50 “Freedom as a place”

04:50-08:10 Critical racial ethnic studies; the Sankofa bird

08:10-15:30 Decolonizing education; relationships in the process between colonized and colonizer

15:30-22:30 Intersections of race and class

22:30-26:30 Racial capitalism’s impact in the classroom

26:30-33:30 Kensington Health Sciences Academy (KHSA)

33:30-36:25 Teacher as lead inquirer

36:25-38:30 Moving at the speed of trust

38:30-40:20 Modeling trustworthiness for students

40:20-43:00 How did KHSA become a school focused on trust?

43:00-46:15 Making the shift from a more traditional to a more liberatory school

46:15-49:40  Sustainability after school founder(s) leave

49:40-53:05 Relationships of capital to schools: Now and a century ago

53:05-56:15 Education sovereignty

56:15-59:35 Community land trusts as models for schools

59:35-01:03 Balancing autonomy with accountability

01:03-01:06:20 Humans’ relationships with other animals: Moving away from anthropocentrism

01:06:20-01:10:30 Where the joy is

01:10:30-01:15:55 Takeaways: joys, hope, healing, radical possibilities

01:15:55-01:17 Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Image: swarthmore.edu

We speak with Dr. Elizabeth J. Meyer of the University of Colorado about ensuring that K-12 schools are welcoming and safe for students with non-normative gender identities and expressions. Dr. Meyer found that these students thrive in schools that center student-directed learning and interdisciplinary exploration as opposed to schools that replicate society’s toxic hierarchies. Generally, students are much more comfortable talking about issues related to gender diversity than their teachers or parents.

Overview

00:00-00:40 Intros

00:40-02:23 Title IX coordinators and their challenges

02:23-03:32 Equity directors and their challenges

03:32-05:55 Equity directors: race, class, and gender and sexuality

05:55-07:05 Race as entry point to conversations about other marginalized groups

07:05-08:38 “Gender-creative”—what it means and why use it

08:38:11:01 Impact of school structures on creating comfortable environments

11:01-12:08 Schools as gender-policed spaces

12:08-13:59 Student-led gender audit

13:59-16:29 Transgender students and sports

16:29-17:46 Students are generally more comfortable in conversations about gender and sexual diversity than adults

17:46-19:04 Texas governor’s ban on gender-affirming health care

19:04-22:00 Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill

22:00-23:11 Teacher ed and leadership ed programs

23:11-24:42 How principals can become proactive before a crisis

24:42-26:28 Book banning and “curriculum transparency” bills

26:28-27:04 Life and death situations—“Why aren’t we talking about this in our school?”

27:04-28:05 Comparisons with other countries

28:05- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Click here to go to Dr. Elizabeth Meyer’s website. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Sherry Johnson, tribal education director for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, an Oceti Sakowin treaty tribe, talks about the efforts to have South Dakota’s students learn about Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota history and culture. South Dakota’s right wing governor and her appointees have rejected state standards that include critical thinking and accurate state history, sparking strong resistance.

Overview

00:00-01:57 Intros, Oceti Sakowin

01:57-05:52 South Dakota social studies standards development process

05:52-14:14 What happened during the development process and after the proposed standards were submitted; erasure of Natives from the standards; strong protests

14:14-15:50 Removal of critical thinking; mention of “culture” forbidden

15:50-17:07 Political context

17:07-20:01 Denial of opportunity to teach true history

20:01-21:07 Effects of protests

21:07-22:50 Resistance to mandating Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings as part of standards

22:50-25:18 Transfer of the Office of Indian Education from Department of Education to Office of Tribal Affairs and its impact

25:18-30:06 Tribal schools and relationships between tribal schools and non-tribal schools

30:06-30:53 How Wounded Knee is taught in public schools

30:53-31:33 Teacher preparation programs and Oceti Sakowin history

31:33-35:34 Significance of what’s happening in South Dakota

35:34-36:03 How people outside of South Dakota can be supportive 

36:03- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led to ethical civic engagement. Rafel explains how the experience emboldened her to ask questions and “speak [her] mind.” The project, which got national attention, cut against Ohio’s high-stakes test orientation; many teachers are afraid to do project-based learning because Ohio doesn’t have tenure and bases 40% of teacher evaluation on student test scores. The teachers discuss how to meet standards through project-based learning. This interview is just a joy to listen to!

Overview

00:00-00:42 Intro

00:42-02:23 Assignment

02:23-07:01 Projects

07:01-08:08 Student reactions to doing original research

08:08-13:47 “Colored graves” cemetery project

13:47-17:44 Project’s impact on students

17:44-19:50 Effect on understanding North Olmstead and its history

19:50-21:18 Students’ realization of their ability to make change

21:18-23:01 George Floyd’s death and BLM demonstrations

23:01-25:14 Relationships among teachers/students

25:14-27:47 Teachers and students learning together

27:47-29:35 Integrating language arts and social studies in practice

29:35-32:06 Meeting the ELA standards

32:06-36:04 Smooth and effective collaborative teaching 

36:04-42:12 Inquiry learning and Ohio’s test-driven system

42:12-43:45 Students’ identifying as readers

43:45-50:27 Dewey on schools’ role in preparing students for democratic citizenship

50:27-55:31 Professional networking: Facing History and Ourselves; Landmark workshops/seminars

55:31-55:49 Rafel as immigrant student

55:49-56:47 Outro

Transcription

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

We speak with Brittany McBride, Associate Director, Sexuality Education at Advocates for Youth, who partners with schools to provide the complete sex education that all students deserve. Though parents, students, and teachers largely agree on sex ed’s importance, few  teachers (other than health teachers and PE coaches) have any formal training, and many parents haven’t had sex ed themselves.

Overview

00:00-00:26 Intros

00:26-00:56 Advocates for Youth

00:56-01:57 National Sex Education Standards; why they matter

01:57-02:36 How the Standards were developed

02:36-03:38 Key elements of the Standards

03:38-04:08 Teacher autonomy

04:08-06:00 Range of state standards across the country

06;00-07:47 Relationship between state and national standards

07:47-09:02 Adaptation guide

09:02-10:21 Helping teachers become comfortable teaching sex ed

10:21-13:37 Virtual Professional Development; what it is, how to access it

13:37-14:31 Advocates for Youth’s capacity

14:31-15:59 Pre-service training on sex ed: who gets it and who doesn’t

15:59-18:22 Teachers asked to teach sex ed without advance preparation

18:22-21:46 Resistance to/support for sex ed

21:46-23:49 How parents can support/defend sex ed

23:49-26:03 Many parents say they haven’t had sex ed themselves; resources

26:03-28:42 Facts and values. parent involvement

28:423-30:00 Teaching/learning about consent and impact of actions on others; decision-making

30:00- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear