Challenging Assumptions About Educating 'Those Children'
Deborah Meier—visionary teacher and founder of successful small schools in New York City and Boston—and Pedro Noguera—author and director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education—debate issues relevant to schools, teachers, and students.
Dear Deborah,
Thanks for the updates from Belgium. I knew things must be hard there given the prolonged recession, but I am glad to hear that people are thinking broadly about how to address the roots of the economic crisis which lie in the unsustainable development path we are presently on, a path premised on an insatiable consumption of our natural resources and control of the world's wealth by the 1 percent.
I'm actually on my way to Barbados this weekend for a conference on youth development. Barbados is an interesting place to study education and youth development because many of its social indicators—adult literacy, life expectancy, health, etc.—rival those of wealthy nations. This is quite significant because Barbados is a relatively poor nation, largely dependent on tourism for its economic survival. In many ways, Barbados has made a greater commitment to social equity than the United States even though it does not have the resources to support a social-welfare system for its people. I also like to point out to people that Barbados is also a place where children don't believe that race determines academic ability or that because many children are poor they
Thanks for the updates from Belgium. I knew things must be hard there given the prolonged recession, but I am glad to hear that people are thinking broadly about how to address the roots of the economic crisis which lie in the unsustainable development path we are presently on, a path premised on an insatiable consumption of our natural resources and control of the world's wealth by the 1 percent.
I'm actually on my way to Barbados this weekend for a conference on youth development. Barbados is an interesting place to study education and youth development because many of its social indicators—adult literacy, life expectancy, health, etc.—rival those of wealthy nations. This is quite significant because Barbados is a relatively poor nation, largely dependent on tourism for its economic survival. In many ways, Barbados has made a greater commitment to social equity than the United States even though it does not have the resources to support a social-welfare system for its people. I also like to point out to people that Barbados is also a place where children don't believe that race determines academic ability or that because many children are poor they