Ethical Schools

We speak with Chris Lehmann, founding principal of Science Leadership Academy, inquiry-driven and project-based schools in Philadelphia. The academic model centers inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. Students take English, science, and history as a cohort, allowing for interdisciplinary understanding. Systems and structures ensure there is time for teachers to build relationships with students, and create the basis for the schools to survive beyond the founders. 

Overview

00:00-00:28 Intros

00:32-01:51 Characteristics of Science Leadership Academy

01:51-04:16 Building collaboration among disciplines; looping

04:16-06:55 21st Century citizens

06:55-08:53 Instilling “engagement” as a citizenship quality

08:53-11:37 Integrating employment-related skills into education for citizenship

11:37-14:24 Role of technology

14:24-16:58 “Caring for” vs. “Caring about”

16:58-18:09 Scheduling systemic care

18:09-19:38 Discussing ethics in the classroom

19:38-22:44 Sustainability beyond the founders

22:44-26:01 Recruiting, preparing, supporting teachers

26:01-26:58 Schools should be transformative for teachers as well as students

26:58-30:16 What makes SLA model applicable in both choice and general admission schools

30:16- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Photo facebook.com/scienceleadershipacademy

We speak with Hedy N. Chang of Attendance Works, who describes the long-term impact on student success of chronic absence in all grades.  Framing chronic absence as a truancy issue can increase alienation from school. Distinctions between excused and unexcused absences can unfairly penalize low-income students and students of color. Chronic absence rates may hit 40% this year. Ms. Chang discusses relationship-based strategies for mitigating absenteeism.

Overview

00:00-00:37 Intros
00:37-01:39 Definition of chronic absenteeism
01:39-04:04 How absenteeism has been viewed historically
04:04-06:16 Truancy
06:16-08:57 Reporting and monitoring chronic absences
08:57-14:37 Pandemic absenteeism rates
14:37-19:22 Absenteeism and return to schools in 2021-22
19:22-21:32 Attendance promotion strategies
21:32-25:42 Excused and unexcused absences; biases in classification
25:42-28:33 Impact of chronic absences on graduation
28:33-31:26 Strategies for understanding and overcoming barriers to attendance
31:26-36:41 Team approaches
36:41-40:01 Virtual schools—challenges and possibilities
40:01-42:18 Tiered approach
42:18- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

attendanceworks.org

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

We speak with Denver English teacher and speech/debate coach Anna Steed about the benefits of speech and debate competition. Students acquire critical communication skills and self-confidence; students of color and low-income students can become more comfortable in majority-white, middle-class environments similar to those they may encounter in college. For many students who have challenging home lives, speech and debate opens up worlds of possibility.

Overview

00:00-00:14 Intros

00:14-01:08 Why the speech and debate program started at Anna Steed’s school

01:08-02:17 How Anna Steed became involved

02:17-03:08 How the speech and debate program developed into a team

03:08-04:13 What speech and debate is

04:13-05:06 How students became involved

05:06-14:04 Program Oral Interpretation

14:04-15:20 Impact on measured academic performance

15:20-17:42 Equity; students’ comfort level around more privileged students

17:42-21:40 Speech and debate during the pandemic

21:40-21:53 Impact on students’ ambitions

21:53-26:08 First steps to start a speech and debate program

26:08-28:10 Need for judges

28:10-29:36 Need to give English credit for speech and debate

29:36-30:15 Training for judges

30:15- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Photo by Hart Van Denburg/Colorado Public Radio

We speak with Jackie Broder, director of the Mamakating Environmental Education Center in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The Center abuts the Basha Kill wetland, a vital self-contained ecosystem.  It helps students, families, and community members to connect with the area’s distinct biodiversity and rich history and to develop an emotional connection with nature.

Overview

00:00-00:28 Intros

0028:01:30 Mamakating Environmental Education Center

01:30-02:57 Teaching history

02:57-02:57 Adventure programs

02:57-04:31 Transportation issues with schools

04:31-06:36 Promoting equity and ethics

06:36-07:59 How we talk about history

07:59-09:19 Visit to a Montessori school

09:19-10:31 Children’s impressions and misimpressions about nature

10:31-11:40 Learning about wetlands

11:40-12:49 Developing an emotional connection to nature

12:49-13:33 Connecting with teachers’ curricula

13:33-14:53 Working with teachers; getting buy-in

14:53-16:55 Learning to be “good ancestors”

16:55-18:00 Thinking about/addressing climate change

18:00-18:39 Connections in local communities

18:39-19:33 Nature centers around the country

19:33-20:22 Connection with the Town of Mamakating

20:22-20:48 Family programs at the center

20:48- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

The Mamakating Environmental Education Center (MEEC):

The Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA):

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Photo: mamakating.org

We speak with Dr. Anne Smith, longtime music teacher in Northern Virginia, about accommodating cultural differences. Dr. Smith created an alternate curriculum for students whose traditions don’t allow secular music-making. We discuss the extent to which parents should be able to influence what their students learn. We also talk about why music and art are treated as lesser (“special”) subjects.

Overview

00:00-00:35 Intros

00:35-07:57 A parent asks to opt her daughter out of music

07:57-09:48 Finding a balance in a class with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families

09:48-12:02 Importance of conversation between professionals and families

12:02-14:15 Are parental objections to music different from objections to literature and science?

14:15-16:39 Teachers need to articulate why they are teaching what they are teaching; importance of teaching music

16:39-19:03 Music should be part of everyone’s life—a loss if parents opt out

19:03-20:30 Importance of music foundation before children go on specific tracks

20:30-24:30 Teachers’ responses to Va. governor’s  push for parents to object to aspects of education he doesn’t like

24:30-27:01 “Old Black Joe”

27:01-29:15 Using the arts to educate and promote equity

29:15-32:22 Why schools treat art and music as dispensable

32:22-36:16 Treating the arts seriously as subjects

36:16- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

*Episode originally published on November 3rd, 2022

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.

*Episode originally posted on February 26th, 2020.

Overview

00:00-00:48 Intros

00:49-03:13 “Name game”: the background

03:14-04:58 The “name game”

04:59-05:30 The intervention

05:31-08:41 Student: “Being white means being seen as racist”

08:42-12:13 Racialized identities/racialization of youth

12:14-13:39 Impact of racialization on school community

13:40-16:46 Obstacles to whites grasping the impact of race-related experiences on Black students

16:47-19:03 Administrators’ and faculty members’ responses

19:04-20:37 The blame game

20:38-23:43 White students  who wanted to address the issue

23:44-29:35 The “n-word” and language

29:36-34:08 Applying the lens of ethics

34:09-37:00 Bakhtin, carnival, heteroglossia

37:01-46:30 How can schools respond to racism/racist actions?

46:31-48:05 Parents

48:06-49:30 Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of the episode. 

References

Credits

Photo by Spencer Pierce / Unsplash

Soundtrack by Podington Bear

Today we’re here to invite you to watch our new video podcast series “What Would YOU do?”. Created in partnership with EdEthics of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, each episode includes a dramatization of an ethical dilemma that could be faced by educators along with a discussion of the case facilitated by Harvard professor Meira Levinson. 

We have two episodes available on our website and they are a great resource for PD!

One examines the debate over a form of project-based civics education called Action Civics, in which students research a topic of their choosing and then take action to create change. A parent’s campaign to end the action civics project prompts a high school to examine the purpose of civic education, the rights of young people to influence their community, and the ways that polarized discourse influences schools. 

The second episode explores the challenges of teaching about climate change in a community where a large portion of the residents work in the natural gas industry. A new science teacher is surprised when many of her students and their parents object to her lessons on climate change. How far should the beliefs and values of the local community in which a school is embedded inform curricular and other teaching decisions?

To watch, simply go to our website ethicalschools.org and click on VIDEOS. We hope you like it! 

We speak with Michael Sanchez, executive director of Circle Match (formerly TCAT), a program that helps students in underserved high schools apply to colleges. Circle Match serves low income students, primarily of color, who are the first in their families to apply to college. Participants in turn assist classmates, thus creating a college-going culture and subsequently on-campus support. Circle Match students have been extraordinarily successful in gaining admission to elite colleges and universities.

Overview

00:00-00:43 Intros

00:43-02:14 Michael Sanchez’s own K-12 and college admission experiences

02:14-05:27 How these experiences influenced the concept of Circle Match

05:27-10:34 How Circle Match works

10:34-13:56 The people involved in Circle Match

13:56-15:46 Helping students with culture shock at Ivy league schools

15:46-18:54 Students’ responses to giant differences in wealth, income, expectations

18:54-21:10 Affinity groups of different types

21:10-23:36 Why Circle Match focuses on Ivies and other prestigious schools

23:36-26:21 Working with students who won’t get into Ivies

26:21-28:38 Making connections with other-than-Hispanic communities

28:38-30:22 Next schools to partner with

30:22-33:04 Communication with parents

33:04-34:07 Data on families

34:07-35:45 Admissions success rate

35:45-37:59 Going away to college as an issue for parents

37:59-40:55 Funding

40:55- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

Click here to know more about Circle Match.

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Drs. Katherine Norris and  Kathryn Wiley, colleagues at Howard University’s School of Education, speak about obstacles to recruiting and retaining teachers and increasing diversity. Money matters, but even more, so does ending discrimination. “Racial battle fatigue” is pervasive among Black teachers.

Overview

00:00-00:58 Intros
00:58-02:44 Factors contributing to teacher shortage
02:44-08:15 American Teacher Act: what’s in it and what’s not
08:15-10:56 Adopting the DC social studies standards; overcoming pushback
10:56-13:06 History of curriculum battles, “Color in the Classroom: How American Schools Taught Race,” by Zoe Berkholder
13:06-17:39 Acute shortage of Black teachers
17:39-21:59 Brian Jones’s criticism of Geoffrey Canada around charter schools
21:59-26:13 Derek Black’s analysis of the attack on public education as such; importance of public schools as a necessity for democracy and as a place students have a right to be
26:13-28:05 What is needed to get bills like American Teacher Act expanded and passed
28:05-28:57 Scarcity of Black administrators and their importance
28:57-29:46 Need to end workplace discrimination and the need to support teachers
29:46-30:22 Teaching Profession Playbook as a resource
30:22- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcription of this episode. 

References

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

Drs. Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran, co-authors of “The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy,” talk about co-creating and co-producing school initiatives with parents and community members. “Openness” is a radical departure from legacy closed systems, and begins with “openers,” those committed to ensuring that all stakeholders, especially those traditionally far from power, are full participants. The opening process can start in one classroom, one school, or one district, and can be adapted in other settings.

Overview

00:00-00:39 Intros
00:39-02:08 Definition of an Open System
02:08-09:02 3 phases of shifting a system towards openness
09:02-06:16 An open system leader
06:16-07:21 Linearity and recursion of phases
07:21-11:10 Examples of groups creating open systems
11:10-15:09 Obstacles groups encountered and overcame
15:09-18:44 Contending with organized groups that want to ban books or are racist or homophobic
18:44-21:59 Consensus decision making
21:59-24:57 Surviving founders or key initial participants
24:57-27:01 Conflicts over money or credit
27:01-29:20 Tensions and differential power between those furthest from opportunity and those with technical or institutional power
29:20-31:33 Issues of bringing initiatives to scale
31:33-33:39 Where can educators start?
33:39-36:48 Training and support
36:48- Outro

Transcript

Click here to see the full transcript of this episode. 

References

Click here to know more about the book “The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy”

Soundtrack by Poddington Bear