10 Best Education Posts of 2013
It’s been a crazy year in education! If you’re taking time over winter break to reflect on 2013’s highs and lows, here are the education “hits” that have changed my thinking this year:
- Invisible Child by Andrea Elliot, New York Times. Anyone who talks about the achievement gap in this country needs to read this searing profile of a 11-year-old girl cycling in and out of homelessness in New York City. If we are serious about addressing the needs low-income students of color in this country, we need to first understand the conditions in which many of our students are growing up.
- Educating the Educators by Mike Rose, The Answer Sheet, Washington Post. Cutting through the hysterical rhetoric of so much of the conversation in education these days, Rose, a professor at UCLA, sheds light on the meaning of teaching with his thoughtful, wise, complex and compassionate discussion of what it means to become a teacher and who ought to be one. Part One is a re-examination of some of the terms we use to define teaching. Part Two is a discussion of diversity and what we mean when we say “selectivity.
- Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science. It’s Harder by Ryan Fuller, Slate. This post has gone viral for good reason. Fuller, who became a teacher with TFA after several years as an engineer, is in his second year in the classroom. This piece brilliantly unpacks exactly why the job is so challenging.
- Examine Yourself by Camika Royal, youTube. A viral video from TFA’s convocation on the East Coast this year. Whatever you think of TFA, Royal, a veteran teacher, rips into opportunistic newbies who plan to fluff their resumes and get out, reminding them—and us—of why the battle for educational equality matters