Independent Ideas Blog

Spend enough time in a middle school, and you’ll hear it all the time: “I didn’t do it.” “It wasn’t me.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sometimes, it’s about a missing homework assignment. Other times, it’s a broken rule, a class disruption, or something more serious. While it might seem like a child is lying straight to your face, I’ve come to believe there is a different explanation.

I remember clearly the phone call I received from a parent about my grade 6-12 school. “I see you are offering spring tours for applicants eligible for admission next year.

Much of my 30-year career as a social justice educator has focused on encouraging students and colleagues to look beyond the actions of bigoted groups and individuals and to focus instead on the ways systemic inequality is embedded in society. So it’s come as a bit of a surprise to me that one of the things I’m doing in my work now is to encourage––implore really––my students and colleagues to directly examine the actions of bigoted groups and people.

With the presidential election approaching, many schools are considering how to meaningfully discuss civic engagement and create programming for students. While civics may have only been taught in upper school government classes in the past, it can and should be taught at all grade levels. And teaching civics should take place not only in the classroom, but through experiential learning.

Most educators know that helping adolescents build social emotional-learning (SEL) skills is an essential component of their growth and development. What often becomes a challenge, however, is how to go about teaching those skills in a meaningful way—and in ways that integrate easily into the daily lives of students and the classroom.

Tracking the trends in an ever-evolving education landscape is a job in and of itself, and for school leaders who are in the thick of managing the challenges and opportunities these trends present, it’s even harder. But understanding what’s happening now and what’s on the horizon is critical to designing schools for the future.

The nature of the work I do every day centers on building environmental literacy—the understanding and skills a person needs to recognize their relationship to the natural world and make informed decisions about how they impact the environment—in our students. I’ve spent the last two years working with a cohort of teachers from around the country building a framework for teaching climate change and climate justice. But my time and professional energy wasn’t always focused on the environment.

At North Country School (NY), a junior boarding school for fourth through ninth graders, students don’t have access to cellphones––in or out of the classroom. On the first day of school, all the students turn in their phones to school administrators, and they don’t see them again until they depart for break. We developed and implemented this policy in the early 2000s—as soon as technology became an expectation of the educational experience.

When I was a child, I remember being fascinated by the images on U.S. currency. I especially liked the mysterious ones—the all-seeing eye, the great seal of the U.S., the pictures of presidents, and the phrase e pluribus unum (out of many, one). These 13 letters appear on the great seal, reflective of the 13 colonies which became one republic founded on the principles of liberty and justice.

Each year, just before the school year begins, I go through a “nesting” period around my home. By methodically cleaning out closets and drawers, I am psychologically preparing for the new school year—it’s a ritual rooted in the hope that by having a more organized home, I will set the table for a smoother school year.