Ethical Schools

In light of the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted BIPOC, and BLM uprisings, we’re revisiting Jon’s interview with Jason Warwin of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. COVID-19 has devastated Bro/Sis’s community of Black and Brown youth and their families. And despite the pandemic, Bro/Sis staff and members are joining protests to demand systemic change. We’ll check in with Jason and then listen to the interview from last June.

Overview

00:00-00:26 Intros

00:27-04:15 COVID-19 impact and response

04:16-06:39 #BLM demonstrations

06:40-07:47 Programming for the next few months

07:47-08:01 Transition to reposted interview

08:02-08:45 Intros

08:46-10:32 Ethics as a core comment of Bro/Sis’s work

10:33-11:12 How young people come in contact with BroSis

11:13-15:46 Rites of Passage program

15:47-18:17 Bro/Sis as a transformative experience

18:18-21:03 Staff selection

21:04-24:01 International Study Program

24:02-26:28 International work—Bermuda and Brazil

26:29-34:03 Core elements for replication

34:04-38:37 Understanding dynamics of oppression and its effects

38:38-41:02 Helping young people develop an ethical    compass

41:03-43:08 Young people’s reactions to Trump

43:08-45:37 Relationships with parents/families

45:37-46:50 Outro

Transcription

Click here to see the full transcription of the episode. 

Dr. Sherry Deckman speaks about creating classroom environments that challenge cultural and social hierarchies. Teachers need to be aware of the lenses through which they view the world and their students, especially lenses that center Whiteness. She discusses everyday anti-racism for educators and creating humanizing spaces for all students, as well as the isolation that teacher educators of color often feel.

References

Overview

00:00-00:36 Intros

00:36-03:57 Social justice teacher education

03:57-06:06 How teachers can think about anti-racism education in their own classrooms

06:06-07:32 Cultural responsiveness and “belonging”

07:32-11:45 “Lenses centering whiteness”: what is means and what to do about it

11:45-13:26 Avoiding thinking of groups as monolithic

13:26-16:07 Humanizing spaces

16:07-19:41 Grappling with creating spaces that are humanizing for everyone in teacher ed classes

19:41-24:43 Does social justice teaching just privilege the feelings of white-identified people

24:43-26:31 Desired outcomes from teaching 

26:31-28:19 Duoethnography

28:19-30:54 Recalling and sharing racialized experiences

30:54-31:27 Posting links to Sherry’s articles on Ethical Schools website

31:27-34:40 Safe spaces and brave spaces

34:40-37:35 Addressing the isolation of scholars of color in teacher education

37:35-39:00 Outro

Transcription

Click here to see the full transcription of the episode. 

Richard Miller, who taught in progressive NYC secondary schools for 28 years, talks about teaching students to think like historians, weighing different sources and drawing their conclusions from evidence. The past gives context to the present, and understanding historiography, or how history is interpreted over time, equips students to view current issues from multiple perspectives. 

Overview

00:00-00:33 Intro

00:33-03:18 Why teach history?

03:20-06:04 What do you want students to know when they leave school?

06:04-10:42 Relationship between individual students’ understanding and society

10:42-13:39 How goals for the year affect design of units and activities

13:39-17:02 Advice to a new teacher on goal-setting

17:02-20:27 Historiography and its importance

20:27-22:23 “Hamilton”

22:23-23:24 Historical fiction and films, David Liss’s “The Whiskey Rebellion”

23:24-29:32 Teaching writing as an ethical obligation

29:32-33:17 Reading the NY Times front page

33:17-42:18 Assessment: test, quizzes, project-based assessments

42:18-43:00 Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of the episode. 

Credits

Painting “The Last Moments of John Brown” by Thomas Hovenden

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Misha Thomas, longtime consultant with Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, discusses how schools can develop trauma-informed systems for resolving behavioral conflicts and crises. He explains that schools should prioritize a culture of trust and authenticity, and establish school wide expectations that crises will be explored in context of students’ lived experiences. As an outside consultant, Misha freely shares with clients his observations on systemic issues.

Overview

00:00-00:41 Intros
00:41-01:29 Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools (TCIS) and its objectives
01:29-02:23 Ethics and justice as central to consulting with schools
02:23-07:01 Prophetic/minstrel role of consultant; Misha’s roots in Black Baptist tradition
07:01-12:52 Principles of TCIS; consultant as role model and co-regulator
12:52-15:42 Teaching resilience; connections to race
15:42-17:10 Systemic injustice; role of truth-teller
17:10-12:56 Responding to specific incidents when students or teachers “lose it”
12:56-26:09 Gaining trust and creating a culture of trust
26:09-35:48 TCIS strategies and techniques
35:48-37:21 Integrating academics and social-emotional learning
37:21-41:39 Validating and challenging young people and teachers
41:39-44:51 Consulting and speaking truth to power
44:51-46:00 Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of the episode. 

Jill Herman, founding principal of East Side Community H.S, now at Bank Street College, raises essential questions: To whom should a principal be accountable? How can social emotional learning and academics be integrated? What do we mean by an ethical school?

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Overview

00:00-00:42 Intros

00:43-05:42 How to foster relationships that contribute to an ethical school

05:43-09:57 What is SEL and how can it be incorporated into school culture?

09:58-15:17 Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Framework

15:18-20:52 Defining “culture” and “culturally responsive”

20:53-28:22 Protecting an ethical school within a bureaucracy

28:23-31:57 Principal selection processes

31:58-34:22 Helping principal candidates decide if they really want to be principals

34:23-36:07 Characteristics of good professional development

36:08-37:00 Outro

Transcription

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.

Credits:

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Photo by Robert Stevens on Foursquare