Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:

Nancy Flanagan is an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich, and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. She is National Board-certified, and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network. She welcomes feedback on her sharp-eyed perspectives on the inconsistencies and inspirations, the incomprehensible, immoral and imaginative, in American education. She is a digital organizer for IDEA(Institute for Democratic Education in America). You can follow her on Twitter @nancyflanagan.




I Heart Social Studies

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 6 days ago
As a nation, we still have no clue, let alone consensus, about the purpose of public education. Is it building democratic equality? Job training? Credential collecting?

Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 2 weeks ago
Something important is lost when kids assume that mom will always play backstop to any academic negligence.

Is Your School Mascot Insulting Someone?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 3 weeks ago
When it comes to school mascots, however--and the ongoing lawsuit-based drive to rid high schools of their Native American/Tribal/American Indian mascots and nicknames--I find myself wondering if this battle isn't the elevation of form over substance.

First World Education Problems, Part III: Say Nice things about Detroit

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 3 weeks ago
What to do about a city like Detroit? What's the best way to serve the children there, who deserve the same free, first-rate democratic education that children all over this country are receiving?

First World Education Problems in Detroit (Part II, Catherine Ferguson Academy)

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 4 weeks ago
What are the ultimate outcomes of scrapping publicly funded education in favor of relying on luck, connections and philanthropy?

First World Education Problems in Detroit (Part I)

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 4 weeks ago
We're all products of our expectations. And some of those expectations just might be first world problems.

What Three Things Bother You Most about the Common Core?

Nancy Flanagan at Teacher in a Strange Land - 1 month ago
What are your three most salient ideas about the Common Core? Are they criticisms? Can you put them into shovel-ready bullet points, for the limited attention span of your average legislator?