(Note: The end of this current school year marks a historic moment in our country’s educational history. The abrupt move to remote learning was a shock to our individual and collective systems. It’s not clear what follows, but I thought it was important to capture one small corner of that gigantic sea change before we move on. I’ve invited Kimberly Folkening, the teacher on whose classroom my...
This past week was arguably one of the most consequential periods in recent American history. The lows brought us to the brink of an authoritarian takeover and the highs felt like a new vision of racial healing, finally after centuries of destructive racism. I’m aware that mountains of analyses and accounts have been written about these events already, but I felt a need to document my own...
“It’s all about relationships!” The students in our teacher education program at the University of Chicago heard that pronouncement from me and the other staff members ad nauseum. Far more significant than the language arts or math curriculum you adopt and the approach to discipline you are drawn to, is the quality of relationships you are able to develop with your students. These relationships...
No field trips, no senior proms or formal dances, no Kente commencements or graduation ceremonies. Welcome to May 2020, and the world turned upside-down for everyone, and in quite particular ways for students and schools. These rituals and experiences will surely return one day, but for young people on the verge of taking the next steps forward in their lives, the loss is level, and the...
Note: Recently, a friend introduced me to an article by a prominent social scientist about “leading from the middle,” a style which, she argued, was best suited for the operation of contemporary complex institutions. The term was new to me, but it propelled me back into my own past musings about leadership styles which had, until now, gone nameless. Although my focus was specifically on school...