Lord have mercy. We have seen too much drama in education over the past four years. We were just getting into a position to talk intelligently of equity, systems change, purposeful assessment, and child centered policy. Sadly we were sucked into a vortex of voodoo science, inaccurate use of the term indoctrination, backtracking of policies, and a 1950s acceptance of white-privilege. Covid-19 just pushed us over the edge. Today we are seeing district leaders move, quit, vacate, step down, etc. at what seems like an unusual rate. …
Every store has a sign asking us to wear masks. Not everyone does. Every school has an expectation that parents/families wear masks at drop-off. Not everyone does. Every public health expert is saying, “wear a mask.” Not everyone does. And through it all we are in fact setting an example.
Almost twenty years ago Elliott Eisner wrote about the hidden curriculum, describing it as those habits, beliefs, skills, and aptitudes that are taught implicitly though rules, policies, structures, practices, etc., in our schools. …
Folks it’s election time and school board races are among the most important local votes. But let’s be clear about the promises school board candidates can make. Because your school board is not the Wizard and you don’t live in Oz.
No one group should have full authority in our government and it’s the same way for our schools. In most cases school boards exist to approve budgets and policies. They also evaluate the superintendent.
That my friends, is it.
They do not decide on what standards are taught, what curriculum is established, and more. Further, they don’t decide how…
I know you are so damn tired and this year has crushed you in so many ways. But I also know you love your kids and all of the other kids that wander through your life each day. You are a mom and you notice if they are sad or happy or hungry, regardless if they are your own. They may not be your kids but you are a mom, and that trust from children doesn’t stop with genetics.
If you don’t know this is an election year you may just be living under a rock (that or you are…
When we don’t think about the systems inwhich individuals live we organize without thoughtful, continuous review. We build boxes, we put them in neat rows and towers. But when one box falls, so do the rest. Covid either dented, tore, or broke all of our boxes in education. So now what?
“Reorganization to me is shuffling boxes, moving boxes around. Transformation means that you’re really fundamentally changing the way the organization thinks, the way it responds, the way it leads. It’s a lot more than just playing with boxes.” Louis Gerstner, Jr.
As things in education and elsewhere have been…
It always takes someone to be the facilitator of gathering. Facilitating isn’t for everyone, but gathering is a must. Especially for women. Especially for women who seek change, opportunity, equity, and access. Especially for women in education. Gathering is an opportunity but today it might just be our responsibility.
When we set out to build SheLeadsEdu we did so with one thing in mind: women are better when they are connected to other women. There is no magic place or space to gather, especially during the time of Covid. However, there is a certain magic in gathering, and that magic…
In the past six months we have seen our schools shut down, open as virtual, navigate supply and materials pick up and drop off without contact, reopen, reopen again, deliver lunches without a lunchroom, reschedule, redraft, revote, renew, renegotiate, and so much more. For most teachers, they have zero idea of what tomorrow will hold for their jobs, the expectations of their role, or their ability to interact with their students (albeit face to face or virtually).
Near daily since March I have had the privilege of talking with educators. I’ve heard their frustration, seen their tears, heard their cries…
The year 2020 will be many things. But most of all it may be the year that we all remember as, “the year we got lost.”
There are always points in history when things plummet. When we hit rock bottom and we only have one way to go: up.
In the past six months our country has lived through so much. But more than just living as we typically have, we have experienced living with time to notice.
We noticed how little time we actually have with our kids. We noticed what we really value. We noticed the simple things…
When Covid hit I was just sad for our country that we hadn’t taken any action to keep this thing away. That sad turned into being pissed off. Pissed because we weren’t doing ALL we could, because we were putting economy over human life, and because we looked like complete assholes to the rest of the world. What a cluster.
I care deeply about the intent of public education and am relentless in my mission to ensure access to high quality (meaningful/purposeful) learning experiences for all children.
In the last four months I have seen the fate of our national…
In 2006 we advocated for community wide WiFi access in multiple states. In 2008 we helped launch 1:1 technology in over 22 countries. In 2010 we helped teachers and leaders on six continents understand that technology in education is not about route learning and skill/drill but about depth and production. Too bad all the good didn’t scale. In 2020 we sadly realized that few were really using technology. In fact we saw that most hadn’t even covered the minimal expectations of accessibility. We found ourselves dumbfounded that the hard work had not been universally tended to. …
Jody Britten
fierce mom, constant learner, writer, speaker, researcher, thinker, designer, gadget queen, advocate for learning that matters & public ed, lead with my actions
