THE BECOMING RADICAL
EMPATHYEDUCATES!
the becoming radical
A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness
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When Is School Reform Not Enough?
Illustration; Copyright Bob Cahm By Ann Evans de Bernard | Originally Published at Education Week. February 3, 2014 | Published in Print: February 5, 2014, as When Is School Reform Not Reform? My state of Connecticut, like many others across the country, has received much attention lately […]
YESTERDAY
Politics is Local – It Begins with the People!
Former House Speaker Tip O’Neil is famous for coining the axiom, “All politics is local.” It begins with the people. Yes, this is true, but the contrast is also apparent. In recent years, big money flooded into our elections. It changed the dynamic. The will to fight […]
FEB 06
Teflon, Fatalism, and Accountability
By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. February 6, 2014 One legacy of Ronald Reagan’s presidency is his being tagged the Teflon president, as Patricia Schroeder explained: As a young congresswoman, I got the idea of calling President Reagan the “Teflon president” […]
Down With Textbooks
Amy Conn-Gutierrez/AP Photo By David Cutler | The Atlantic. January 31, 2014 When it comes to teaching history, nothing destroys student interest faster and more completely than a heavy reliance on textbooks. During my first three years of teaching high-school history I would see students’ eyes glaze […]
FEB 05
Trayvon’s Birth Date Marked With Possible ‘Stand Your Ground’ Case
Photograph; Sybrina Fulton’s Birthday Homage Tweet to her son Trayvon Martin Our children are dying by our own hand and we sanction their slaughter. Some may say standardized-tests do our young in. But what of the killings? What of the guns and the “ground” on which we […]
FEB 04
Common Core: The Standard That Dares Not Speak Its Name
House K-12 Subcommittee Chairwoman Janet Adkins proposed deleting Common Core from Florida Statutes so all the state’s education standards will be under one name. File photo by John Iarussi By James Call| Originally Published at The Current. January 31, 2014 It’s not as Orwellian as making a […]
FEB 03
What Could Be Wrong With ‘School Choice’?
By Jeff Bryant | Originally Published at Education Opportunity Network. January 28, 2014 at 7:00 pm Everyone loves “choice,” right? In a country where in a single year there are more than 100 new choices for what to use to brush your teeth, it stands to reason […]
FEB 02
Fight Over Effective Teachers Shifts to Courtroom
Some of the students who are suing the State of California over tenure for teachers walked to a news conference this week outside Superior Court in Los Angeles. Monica Almeida/The New York Times By Jennifer Medina | Originally Published at The New York Times. January 31, 2014 […]
FEB 01
SOTU 2014: Orwellian Educational Change under Obama Continues
By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D. | Originally Published at The Becoming Radical. January 29, 2014 Orwellian Educational Change under Obama: Crisis Discourse, Utopian Expectations, and Accountability Failures [pdf] | By Paul L. Thomas, Furman University “It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English […]
C-SPAN: James Baldwin January 15, 1979
C-SPAN: James Baldwin January 15, 1979 In this 1979 speech Mr. Baldwin talked about being a black writer, about the civil rights movement, and other topics.
A Bill Gates Reader: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been
A Bill Gates Reader: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been.
FEB 06
Teflon, Fatalism, and Accountability
One legacy of Ronald Reagan’s presidency is his being tagged the Teflon president, as Patricia Schroeder explained: As a young congresswoman, I got the idea of calling President Reagan the “Teflon president” while fixing eggs for my kids. He had a Teflon coat like the pan. Why was Reagan so blame-free? The answer can be found in the label that did stick to him — “The Great Communicator.” Reagan’s
FEB 04
From Failing to Killing Writing: Computer-Based Grading
In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Bill and Mike discuss Mike’s bankruptcy: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” Someday soon, two teachers of writing will be sitting and discussing the death of teaching writing, and the conversation will sound much the same. Teaching writing came into its own in the 1970s and 1980s with great promise
Toni Morrison, the White Gaze, Race, and Writing
If Charlie Rose or Bill Moyers sat down with Tolstoy, do you imagine they’d ask him if he could write a book and not deal with race? I invite you to view several clips of Toni Morrison, and others, exploring the white gaze, race, and writing. Very illuminating (and reminds me of those people who shout “why is it always about race” when it is—as in the Richard Sherman case).
IEJ Vol 12, No 2 (2013): The local vernaculars of high-stakes testing
International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives Vol 12, No 2 (2013): The local vernaculars of high-stakes testing See Testing capitalism: Perpetuating privilege behind the masks of merit and objectivity PDF P. L. Thomas, EdD
FEB 03
Criticizing KIPP Critics
An early and consistent proponent of Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools, Jay Matthews has joined a rising group of KIPP advocates directly criticizing KIPP critics, offering two arguments: KIPP charter schools are not abusive or excessively authoritarian, and KIPP critics are prone to misleading hyperbole because they fail to visit the KIPP schools they criticize. I have heard these
FEB 02
New Criticism, Close Reading, and Failing Critical Literacy Again
When the Common Core debates drift toward advocacy or critiques of the standards themselves, I have refused, mostly, to engage with that conversation because I believe debating the quality of CC concedes too much. I remain opposed to CC regardless of the quality of the standards because of the following reasons: (1) CC cannot and will not be decoupled from the caustic influence of high-stakes test
SC’s Low Self-Esteem, Florida Addiction, and Education Policy
SC’s Low Self-Esteem, Florida Addiction, and Education Policy.
FEB 01
The Answer Sheet: Justifying Richard Sherman by his GPA at Stanford
Justifying Richard Sherman by his GPA at Stanford
A Critical Truce in the War between Traditionalists and Progressives
Harry Webb has launched A War of Words: “The war is between traditionalists and progressives and it is an old war.” Yes, this is an old war, and what is most frustrating about this battle for me is that, once again, critical perspectives are left out entirely. So let me offer here a brief critical truce to this war between traditionalists and progressives. First, Webb’s post highlights some of the
