Sara Stevenson: Our “Lord of the Flies” Moment | Diane Ravitch's blog

Sara Stevenson: Our “Lord of the Flies” Moment | Diane Ravitch's blog

Sara Stevenson: Our “Lord of the Flies” Moment

Sara Stevenson was a middle school teacher and librarian in Austin, Texas, for many years. She wrote this post in response to the current crisis, which reminded her of Lord of the Flies.

She begins like this:

Several editorialists have compared recent events to the 1954 classic and bane of high school students for decades, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. As a former high school English teacher, I taught the novel about a group of British school boys, early teens and younger, whose plane wreck lands them on a deserted island with no adult supervision.

Watching the images of the Trump mob assaulting the Capitol, the parallels with the novel stood out sharply, especially images of Jake Angeli, the face-painted “warrior” in a Viking hat, also known as QAnon Shaman.  

In The Lord of the Flies, when the boys first realize there are no adults, they are jubilant. Soon the boys choose CONTINUE READING: Sara Stevenson: Our “Lord of the Flies” Moment | Diane Ravitch's blog

The Riot at the Capitol: Classroom Lessons?* | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Riot at the Capitol: Classroom Lessons?* | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Riot at the Capitol: Classroom Lessons?*

In an earlier post, I pointed out the obvious fact that tax-supported public schools were political institutions. Not in the partisan sense of Republican and Democrat but in serving the community in socializing community values in the next generation including respect for and pride in the nation. When taxpayers want their schools to instill core values in students (e.g., respect for individual, being part of a community, equal treatment) those are political decisions.

In light of January 6, 2020 attack on the Capitol instigated by President Donald Trump and the subsequent riot and destruction that occurred including the loss of five lives, the issue of teaching about this signal event in U.S. history in elementary and secondary classrooms again comes to the attention of teachers and non-teachers.

So should teachers and students deal with the attack upon the Capitol in classroom lessons? Yes, it is controversial and yes, it is highly political in that a Republican President egged on a rally of supporters to march down Pennsylvania Ave. to the Capitol where Democrats CONTINUE READING: The Riot at the Capitol: Classroom Lessons?* | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How Teachers Across the U.S. Explained the 'Traumatic' Capitol Riots to Their Young Students

How Teachers Across the U.S. Explained the 'Traumatic' Capitol Riots to Their Young Students

How Teachers Across the U.S. Explained the 'Traumatic' Capitol Riots to Their Young Students

What I Told My Students About Yesterday’s Attempted Trump Coup | gadflyonthewallblog - https://wp.me/p4QD1W-3r4 via @StevenSinger3

On Wednesday, violent pro-Donald Trump rioters descended on the U.S. Capitol building while lawmakers were working to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win over Trump. At least 5, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed and many were injured.

The next day, teachers across the country grappled with how to explain the deadly event — during which nooses hanged in front of the Capitol building, confederate flags were waved in the halls and the mob ransacked offices — to students of every age, with several sharing resources on social media and turning to fellow educators for ideas.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, posted a Twitter thread with free lesson plans on topics ranging from the foundations of democracy to the nation's history of peaceful transitions of power.

"Students across America are watching," Weingarten wrote. "You don't have to be a civics teacher to know that this moment is going to be very difficult for so many educators across the country."

RELATED: DOJ Announces Federal Charges Against 13 Capitol Rioters as FBI Continues to Investigate

"You can differentiate between peaceful protest and violence," she later advised. "Storming the Capitol and threatening duly elected officials is mob rule not peaceful protest."

Georgia-based teacher Marian Dingle also used Twitter to urge other teachers to take a moment in their classes to acknowledge the events, garnering hundreds of replies and over CONTINUE READING: How Teachers Across the U.S. Explained the 'Traumatic' Capitol Riots to Their Young Students

Marie Corfield: What Really Happened Inside the Capitol

Marie Corfield: What Really Happened Inside the Capitol

What Really Happened Inside the Capitol

Stop what you are doing right now and watch this. THIS is what it was really like inside the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 when traitorous thugs, egged on by the man who's supposed to be the President of the United States, stormed the building and killed a Capitol police officer. They were out for blood, they were out for vengeance, they were trying to overthrow our government. They erected a noose and were looking for Mike Pence to try it out on. They had handcuffs, guns and incendiary devices. They carried Confederate flags and wore clothes emblazoned with Nazi slogans. They attacked members of the press and vandalized their equipment. They spread human feces on the walls inside the building and urinated on it outside. They tried to remove our American flag and replace it with a Trump flag. The broke down doors, smashed windows and completely overwhelmed the Capitol police (some of whom may have aided and abetted them).

They were out for blood. They were after hostages. They were the epitome of an angry, out of control mob. The only things missing were torches and pitchforks. As Chris Hayes says, it's a miracle that the floors of the Capitol weren't covered in blood. It's a miracle CONTINUE READING: Marie Corfield: What Really Happened Inside the Capitol