Teacher Stories

The explosion of fake news, "hoaxes," and social media make it increasingly difficult for students to tell the difference between fact and fiction. And today's students, like the rest of us, can easily fall victim to "motivated reasoning" -- the tendency to believe what they want to believe, not what the evidence points to.

The educators in this episode discuss the challenges this poses for educators and for our democracy. They also recommend pedagogical strategies that invite students to share their views, without recrimination, about controversial topics and that help students develop opinions based on reasons and evidence.

Panelists include:

* Wayne Journell, Associate Professor of Secondary Social Studies Education, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

* Jennifer Hauver, Associate Professor of Education, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia

* Victor Rios, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Panelists on this episode argue that inadequate and inequitable funding of our public schools pose a dire threat to American democracy. That's because students in under-resourced schools, those who tend to be poor and people of color, are less able to participate in the democratic process. Panelist Derek Black, author of Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and The Assault on American Democracy, claims the assault by those who want to dismantle public education is not intended merely to maintain the status quo, but "to make the status quo even less equitable than it already is." Panelists offers their unique perspectives on the problem and the steps school districts, states, and the federal government can take to solve it. 

The full panel includes:

* Derek Black, Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law

* Preston Green, Professor of Educational Leadership and Law, University of Connecticut

* Joshua Starr, Chief Executive Officer, PDK International 

* Sanaa Kahloon, Student, Harvard University

Geoff Prentiss attributes much of his success as an architect to his "enigmatic" college professor of design, Leslie Laskey, with whom he stayed connected for nearly 50 years. "Frightening" is how Prentiss described his first class with Laskey, but he was intimidating because "he wanted you to be open to things you didn't know."

"He was a great teacher," Prentiss says, "because he focused on the the big picture, which is about awareness and perception and moving the creative ball forward...and you and how well you were doing it."

Laskey died two months before this recording at the age of 99. Reflecting on the loss, Prentiss says, "His presence, that teacher, that person who was so strong and manipulative in his own way, charming, caring in how own way, he'll never go away...The important think is, 'How do I carry that forward in my life?'"

In June 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill (HB 3979) that restricts what teachers can do in public school classrooms. 

Teachers can no longer be required to participate in training about race or sex stereotyping.

Teachers can longer promote the idea that racism or sexism in America is, or has ever been, systemic. 

It requires teachers who discuss current events to “explore the topic from contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.” 

It prohibits schools from giving academic credit for student’s “political activism, lobbying, or efforts to persuade members of the legislature or executive branch at the federal, state, or local level to take specific actions by direct communication.”

These guests join host Ken Futernick in a conversation about the effects this law (and similar ones in other states) will have on student learning and democracy:

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent, Dallas Independent School District

Mary Gonzalez, Representative of the Texas State Legislature, representing House District 12

Lakeisha Patterson, 3rd grade teacher, Deepwater Elementary School near Houston

Three civic education experts -- Joseph Kahne, Alejandra Frausto, and Eve Vankley express their concerns about the current state of American democracy and explain how real-world civic engagement in schools prepares young people, regardless of their political orientation, to work together in finding the common good and to participate meaningfully in democratic life. 

They also address efforts by some public officials to limit civic engagement and recommend ways that educators and policy makers can strengthen and expand civics engagement in our schools. 

Additional resources for educators are available at www.ed4democracy.org.

This episode is part of our series on what schools can do to help save our democracy. Guests include Dr. Marvin W. Berkowitz, McDonnell Professor of Character Education at the Center for Character Education and Citizenship at the University of Missouri at St. Louis; and Dr. Kashina Bell, Deputy Superintendent for the School District of University City in St. Louis, Missouri. Both talk about character education -- what it looks like, how it's done, and why it's vital to our democracy.

"I think the concept of the common good as a concept is an endangered species in democracies," Dr. Berkowitz says. "Every educator affects kids' character. And we want them to do it intentionally and positively and effectively...There is no moral future without moral children and there's no democratic future without democratic children. Education is a critical piece of that."

Speaking about her former role as a school principal, Dr. Bell says, "I inherited a school that was really forgotten about...The teachers didn't want to be there. The kids didn't want to be there...We began the process of bringing our system back to health...We began establishing some values...We rooted ourselves in a common language to define our collective and individual responsibility to one another as well as to the community." In addition to boosting academic achievement, Bell says, "...our kids were no longer running away from the school. They really wanted to be in school and they began to thrive."

Bruce Stewart is a life-long educator who dedicated his career to social justice and high-quality education for all. As a history teacher and guidance counselor at Walter Hines Page Senior High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, he led the effort to desegregate the school 1963. Stewart became a Quaker educator and later served as Head of School at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. from 1998 to 2009. 

In this episode, Jennifer Futernick, a former student of Stewart, surprises Bruce with a tribute to the profound impact he had on her life and countless others.

David Berliner, one of this country's preeminent education scholars, tells the story of a teacher named Jennifer, whose classroom he visited many years ago. "I like visiting classrooms," Berliner says, "in part because they are so difficult to understand. It is an enormous intellectual challenge to make sense of teachers and students with curriculum materials in a classroom setting...[Observing teachers] is a bit like trying to study what comes out the end of a funnel–without much confidence that you know all about what went into the funnel. It’s hard to figure out the ingredients—the stuff that makes a classroom hum or fail."  

The day Berliner observed Jennifer, he became frustrated with her treatment of a student, but he ended up giving her a hug after realizing he had jumped to the wrong conclusions. After speaking with Jennifer, he said, "I learned a lesson about the importance of understanding the intentions, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of the persons you intend to study...A lack of understanding, or a misunderstanding of another person’s intentions, can lead a social scientist to make dangerously flawed inferences about that person’s behavior."

Important lessons for anyone (e.g., policy makers, coaches, administrators, parents) who want to understand what goes on in classrooms and the choices teachers make to help their students learn.

Peter Boykin, a history teacher in Detroit, Michigan, recounts the amazing story of his great-great grandfather named Johnson Chestnut Whittaker who was born into slavery in 1858 and was the subject of a book and TV movie titled, Assault at West Point. Whittaker would later become a teacher and a principal, which inspired Boykin to become an educator himself over a century later. 

Takia Maxxwell, one of Boykin's former students, also pays tribute to her former teacher, describing the impact he's had on her life. This story begins over 150 years ago (and perhaps well before that) and reminds us that Johnson Whittaker's impact (like so many teachers) lives on for generations.

Three of America's finest teachers -- Justin Johnson from Illinois, Eric Hale from Texas, and Juliana Urtubey from Nevada -- were selected to represent their respective states as Teachers of the Year, in part because of their extraordinary influence as teacher leaders. Each one is also a policy fellow for Teach Plus, an organization that empowers teachers to take on leadership roles with education policy and practice. Teach Plus President and CEO, Roberto Rodriguez, also joins the conversation about teacher leadership and how it strengthens school systems and improves outcomes for students.  

Each teacher also offers a recommendation on what can be done to ensure that schools systems, like the ones they work in, have the capacity to provide equitable, high quality education to all students.