Title IX redux. The conservative interpretation of Title IX instituted during the Trump administration has received a more liberal update in a proposal from the Biden administration. Most of the news is celebratory, including this take of one woman’s experience before and after Title IX. Read about the myriad problems and successes during the past 50 years of implementation. Or get the view of Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s education secretary, whose policies were just reversed. The addition of transgender protections adds a whole new layer that promises plenty of debate.
Who’s in for transforming our schools?! Keeping school buildings closed for so long during the pandemic has turned out to be a tragedy for many students. But in the early days — not yet knowing the details of the coronavirus, seeing the mounting death toll, and worrying about students and teachers getting sick and dying — it was the only move that seemed to make sense in a compassionate world. Two professors from Harvard and Yale break down all the consequences of wholesale remote schooling and say we need an equally momentous fix (without defining it). Two other experts discuss a policy paper that breaks down how to transform education with a participatory method that includes purpose, pedagogy and position. This international view also includes breaking down dogma. And this audio take is about an education future that would include advertising.
Living in a constant world of slings and arrows. A piece this week about Michael Reed, a Black English teacher in California, and the racism he contends with every single day at school is heartbreaking and horrifying. I can’t begin to imagine the endless grinding down he endures day after day, but I am in absolute awe of his character and determination. This? On top of everything else all teachers have to contend with? I’d have crumbled long ago. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mr. Reed.
An enduring student-teacher relationship built on a love for words. What a blessing to have one of the most inspirational and influential people from your adolescence still in your life when you’re an adult and for the teacher to thrive in the friendship as well. Reminds me of the moment singer Adele, in the middle of a concert, burst into tears when her favorite English teacher was in the audience and reunited with her on stage.
