Reframing the "Civil Rights Issue of Our Time": A Brief Reflection of WE Annual Convention

On Saturday, November 8, 2014, the Caucus of Working Educators of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers hosted their first annual convention. I attended the opening plenary and the first workshop. It was a positive atmosphere consisting of various stakeholders of public education who wanted to think critically about what is going on in schools in America.

The opening plenary by keynote speaker Dr. Yohuru Williams of Howard University was insightful and energetic. The central message of his speech significantly reframed how I think about education reform today. I will try to summarize some of the key points that contributed to this reframing:

He explained that education is identified by many today to be the "civil rights issue of our time." While it is true that education is a complex and contentious issue, and while it is true that too many children in America are not receiving a a fair or adequate education, it is imprecise to say that "education is the civil rights issue of our time."

It would be more precise to say that "Poverty is the civil rights issue of our time, and poor education is a symptom of this critical civil rights issue."

Education is a hugely important issue that all stakeholders, which is everyone in society, should be invested in trying to make better. Neverthless, when we look at education as the civil rights issue, and we try to solve the ills of our education system from this vantage point, then we are looking at the issue with too narrow a lens. The solutions that derive from this perspective will be incomplete and generally incoherent: like using a band-aid to cure a broken arm. If we do not find ways to solve poverty in our country, whereby poor communities are increasingly concentrated and segregated from the rest of society, then we will not find the "magic lesson plan" to make all our schools better. In addition, within our American context, we cannot forget that there are many children who are being phenomenally well educated in our country.

By reframing the narrative of struggling schools within the appropriate context of an often unequal and unjust society, it will be possible to think more clearly about how all stakeholders in communities play roles in collaborating in the development of better schools and better communities for all students and families. While I believe it is important to take this broader approach to the analysis of struggling schools, this is not meant to fuel ideological bigotry and finger pointing; I simply think it is the appropriate way to approach creative thinking for real solutions to the education problems we face as a nation.

Confucianism and the Purpose of Education

The Analects, Book III
What timeless and universal values exist in Confucianism that can inform teaching and learning in my life and classroom?

Book III of the Analects is believed by some scholars to be among the oldest stratum of all of the books of the Analects (p. 21). As I reread these analects of book III, the motif of good moral character and integrity continued to be emphasized. For example, it was important to know the correct process and methodology for performing ritual acts, but that knowledge only took you so far. What was just as important, was that ritual acts be carried out with proper reverence and sincerity. In book III, analect 12, it states, "Of the saying, 'the word "sacrifice" is like the word "present"; one should sacrifice to a spirit as though that spirit was present,' the Master said, If I am not present at the sacrifice, it is as though there were no sacrifice."

The "presence" mentioned here is the reverent and sincere presence of the soul of the one doing the sacrifice. The same applies to mourning rituals. It is essential that the individual in the process of mourning is in the right attitude and spirit. 

The emphasis on character has renewed an inquiry of mine around the purpose of education in schools. Today, the purpose of schools is to have students meet certain standards that have been agreed upon by the state or country. Students must know how to make inferences from various texts, use equations to solve problems, write essays, understand science, etc. But what do these standards really yield?

What would Confucius say if he saw the standards used to guide and assess the practice in our schools?

He might say, "Yes! Of course these standards and skills you have outlined here are good and useful. I agree that young people can and should learn some of these skills in the process of their upbringing, but they are not the purpose of an education! The purpose of an education is to raise moral men and women of integrity with knowledge of their past to understand and face their present and future."

I am left thinking, "What are the causes and experiences that someone has to become a learned person?" Like any institution or company, how that company defines itself and its purpose for existence has a great effect upon what that institution or company produces, and our defined purpose for our schools does not seem to make much sense. How else could we define the purpose for the existence of schools instead of a list of decontextualized standards?

This makes me think of my time student-teaching in Sweden. In Sweden, I actually experienced a very pragmatic and objective culture, and the education system reflected these traits. Their schooling "made sense" in the sense that each stage of a person's education led to something pretty concrete. At around 16, students made decisions about what kind of school they would enter to progress towards an actual job to participate in society. I saw schools for hair stylists, construction workers, plumbers, and dancers. By 16, students were very much engaged in an education that would have a very concrete impact on their life, and they were engaged. 

Right now, as a high school teacher, I am told to work with students to achieve standards that will make them prepared for college and career readiness. This is how the purpose of my job is defined. What does that mean, "college and career ready"? What kind of college? What kind of career? What would it mean to prepare them for such a broad and undefined future?

What it then seems like I am asked to do is to equip students with a set of discrete skills that they might use someday. Does that mission really make sense? Can't we be doing more with our students right now that could be useful and meaningful to them and to society?

I think what many good teachers come to realize is that the practice of teaching and learning has so much more to do than this transfer of skills and knowledge, as if that is even possible. Authentic teaching and learning deals with the student as a real human being, not a robot. It is our mission to raise and develop students of good moral character and integrity, who can actually do and produce things that make and change our world.  

What would happen if we redefined the way we conceptualize the current paradigm of schools? It takes an ability to step back from the bickering around education policy and consider what really matters and what is actually happening in our schools and society.

Reflection of Teachers Lead Philly Summer Institute

The past three days, I attended an institute with Teachers Lead Philly. We asked ourselves what it meant to be a teacher leader, while positing that teachers are indispensable agents in developing the policy and practice that affects education in our schools. It was a phenomenal opportunity to connect with teachers who believe in Philadelphia education and have the energy and passion to do right by our students, despite our trying times. Each time I have taken opportunities like this one to reflect and develop my professional practice with other teachers, I have been refreshed and re-energized to enter back into my school and my classroom.  Here is a reflection of some of the things I learned about teacher leadership:

We began the institute with the following questions: "What is teacher leadership? What does it look like to be a teacher leader?" We began to unpack and understand this concept in order to frame our work together.

From our shared experiences, we decided that a teacher leader is a lifelong learner who seeks to develop his or her own professional practice while being open to share, collaborate, and learn from others. Teacher leaders never see their professional development as finished because education evolves with our culture. We see the classroom as a complex context, and our relationships with students as incredibly important. Inquiry and reflection are seen as essential elements of our practice because they make growth possible. As teacher leaders, we seek to connect with other teachers in our schools, our district, our nation, and our world.

At the heart of teacher leadership is the development of our own philosophy of education through which we can confidently engage in our practice. Through our own philosophy of education, we are able to think for ourselves and develop out own curriculum rather than being told how to teach and interact with students. Teacher leaders must be intellectuals in their practice, and a goal for us as teacher leaders is to extend this intellectualism, leadership, and belief to all teachers. Every teacher should see him or herself as a leader in their classroom and as a knowledgeable practitioner.

Good leaders everywhere are people who enhance the capacity of leadership and decision making among all of those with whom they work. We developed the concept of "lifting while we climb," so while we make our own journeys of inquiry, reflection, and growth, we model this behavior and invite our colleagues to join us.

As teacher leaders, we make the future of education in our classrooms and schools. We are not passive practitioners along for the ride of policy makers and pundits. Therefore, another important theme of the institute was the hope that this constructive professional agency gave us. While it is a challenging time to be a teacher in Philadelphia, we gave each other hope because we know that our practice, our relationships, and our integrity in our schools do matter to each other and most importantly, our students.

Thank you, Teachers Lead Philly, for this opportunity.

The Barnes Arboretum and Educational Interconnectivity

I recently took a tour of the Barnes Arboretum at the original Merion campus of The Barnes Foundation. I admire Dr. Barnes as an education philosopher even though he is not normally credited with that title. However, he had a lasting relationship with John Dewey, and they often refer to each other as sources of inspiration for their theories on art and education.

The Barnes Arboretum was directed by Mrs. Barnes, and it is clear that she was also influenced by her husband as she developed the land on their twelve acre estate. The Arboretum is beautiful, and follows the educational mission of The Barnes Foundation to promote creativity, objective and critical thinking guided by scientific inquiry, and the importance of relationships. Our guide for the tour took us to plants and trees that were often grouped together by their shared genus. She explained that she liked to refer to these groupings of trees as Mrs. Barnes' ensembles. If you are familiar with the art of the Barnes collection, you know that the art is assembled not in any linear fashion as a traditional museum would have it, but in a collection of paintings, metalwork, and even furniture, which are referred to as ensembles. These ensembles ask the viewers to see the relationship between the art on a given wall, in a given room. In a similar way, the Arboretum invites the same kind of inquiry to explore how and why certain plants and trees are arranged together.

Mrs. Barnes believed that any plant could flourish if it was given the proper conditions to grow. This required research and planning to make the planting decisions that she made. Through this process, she planted trees from all over the world that have prospered on her Pennsylvania estate. She enjoyed every part of her plants and trees to the point that she even payed close attention to their bark. The bark of many trees have unique traits that I had not noticed or appreciated before.

As we were taken around the property, our guide also pointed out the artistic principles of line, light, color, and space that Mrs. Barnes used while designing her gardens that are the same principles used by artists when painting. In the same way an artist paints, a gardener can use these principles to construct the arrangement of his or her plants for an aesthetic effect.

I enjoyed learning about the purposeful approach to designing this arboretum that was guided by educational ideas to create a special place. The theme of relationships arose several times during our tour, and it reinforced the essential understanding of the interconnectivity of everything in our world, which I believe was a central educational insight that Mrs. Barnes, Dr. Barnes, and John Dewey wanted their students to accomplish. In fact, I believe this insterconnectivity is a central concept for sound educational practice in general.

Example of a Barnes Ensemble

This "Monkey Puzzle" Tree was awesome.

Remembering Walter Dean Myers: Strategy for Writing Fiction

Walter Dean Myers passed away this week, and I heard this past interview with him on Here and Now.   He generated tons of writing that connected to his own urban upbringing and was influential as an author and speaker. What stood out to me was the following writing process he goes through constantly to generate stories (you can listen to it at the 2:58 mark):

6-Box Model for Fiction:

1. Establish an interesting character + Establish an interesting problem.
2. Try the obvious things for the character to solve his or her problem.
3. He or she must rethink the problem "because now the character is getting deeper into the problem and as the character rethinks, then the reader rethinks."
4. Growth: You want to see growth within the character. You want to see the character grow in such a way that you could also grow.
5. Have a final attempt in which the character is either successful or not successful, but this final attempt, nevertheless should reflect the growth.
6. Wrapping up loose ends.

He explains that when he takes the time to do all of these things, he is much more likely to finish the book. This model is important for educators to be able to show how writing is a process. It is rare for authors to just sit back and write out an entire novel without thinking about it beforehand. On napkins, on scrap paper, on notebooks with scriibbled ideas that come to us at 3 a.m., these are the ways in which many writers develop their ideas that become the books and literature that we read. 

Confucianism and Modern Education (Part 3): Book II and Filial Piety within the Context of Confucian Governance and Leadership

The Analects of Confucius, Book II
What timeless and universal values exist in Confucianism that can inform teaching and learning in my life and classroom?

Book II of the Analects brought me back to my time living and teaching in South Korea. Confucianism is embedded in the culture there. In Korea, many adults explained to me that while many Koreans may identify as being Buddhist, Christian, or Agnostic, nearly everyone considers themselves to follow Confucianism. As I wrote in an earlier post, this Confucianism should not be considered a religious practice; instead, it can stand for cultural principles, beliefs, and practices that should be honored and practiced in order to maintain harmony in relationships and society.

In Book II, the following themes stood out to me: Governance and Leadership, Lifelong Learning, Filial Piety, and Integrity. Here is a breakdown of where I interpreted these themes:

Governance and Leadership: 1, 3, 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21
Lifelong Learning: 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21
Integrity: 9, 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24
Filial Piety: 5, 6, 7, 8, 20, 24

Analysis of Filial Piety within the Context of Governance and Leadership:

I began this post by pointing out the connection of Korean culture to Confucianism. Four analects in a row (5-8), are direct questions posed to Confucius about the proper treatment of parents. Each of these analects emphasize a deep respect of your parents from deep inside your heart. The treatment of parents cannot just reside in outward practice and deference to them; it must be part of your intrinsic demeanor. For example, II:7 states:

"Tzu-yu asked about the treatment of parents. The Master said, 'Filial sons' nowadays are people who see to it that their parents get enough to eat. But even dogs and horses are cared for to that extent. If there is no feeling of respect, wherein lies the difference?"

 Therefore, adults in a community that are deeply entrenched in Confucianism expect this respect and deference from those who are younger and less experienced than them. The family, to Confucius, is a microcosm for wider society, which is why so much emphasis is placed upon the harmonious practices of a well-functioning family. To illustrate this, I return to I:2:

"Master Yu said, Those who in private life behave well towards their parents and elder brothers, in public life seldom show a disposition to resist the authority of their superiors. And as for such men starting a revolution, no instance of it has ever occurred. It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behavior towards parents and elder brothers is the trunk of Goodness?"

"The trunk" refers to that which is fundamental, as opposed to the twigs, which would be considered smaller tasks in society. Therefore, from this analect, we can see how the cultivation of good moral citizenship begins at home for Confucius. However, in order to fully understand filial piety within this Confucianist context, it is important to also pay close attention to the Master's statements on governance and leadership. If it is so crucial for the younger generation to be pious in respect of their elders, then the elders and leaders of this society must be worthy of this respect. For those in positions of leadership and governance (and I feel strongly that these values and directions can be extended to parents and teachers), they must know how to lead from their foundation of integrity and morality rather than fear and chastisement, as II:3 explains:

"The Master said, Govern the people by regulations, keep order among them by chastisement, and they will flee from you, and lose all self-respect. Govern them by moral force, keep order among them by ritual and they will keep their self respect and come to you of their own accord."

Likewise, in II:20:

"Chi K'ang-tzu asked whether there were any forms of encouragement by which he could induce the common people to be respectful and loyal. The Master said, Approach them with dignity, and they will respect you. Show piety towards your parents and kindness toward your children, and they will be loyal to you. Promote those who are worthy, train those who are incompetent; that is the best form of encouragement."

Confucius has an extremely high standard for adults and leaders to not abuse the respect that is afforded to them from the virtues of filial piety. He disdains those who do not have the values and moral foundation upon which Confucianism is dependent upon. In II:22, it is written:

"The Master said, I do not see what use a man can be put to, whose word cannot be trusted. How can a wagon be made to go if it has no yoke-bar or a carriage, if it has no collar bar?"

As a teacher, there are innumerable potential connections to how I cultivate relationships with my students and run my classroom. A quote from Parker Palmer's The Courage to Teach is fundamentally, "We teach who we are." Regardless of what subject and content we teach in the classroom, our values and moral character shine through in how we balance our responsibilities and treat the children who we teach.

Confucianism and Modern Education (Part 2): Book I and Personal Integrity, Honesty, and Honor

I read through Book I of the Analects, and I am continuing to ask the following question:
What timeless and universal educational values exist within Confucianism that can inform teaching and learning in my life and in my classroom?

As I read and re-read Book I (it only consists of 16 analects or "selected sayings"), I marked which themes I recognized in each analect. Here are the themes* that I recognized and the analects that I felt expressed each theme:

Personal Integrity, Honesty, Honor: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16
Modesty, Humility: 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16
Filial Piety: 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13
**Learning and Education: 1, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15
Maintenance of Harmony, Tradition, or Ritual: 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15
Friendship: 1, 4, 6, 8, 14
Reflection: 1, 4, 14, 15
Focusing on the "Trunk": 1, 6, 15
Punctuality: 5, 14
Affection and Benevolence: 5

*There is clearly much overlap between the different themes and different interpretations possible; therefore, they are not mutually exclusive. However, this process may still be helpful in identifying trending themes and ideas.
**I believe that "Learning and Education" is omnipresent since the purpose of these analects is for learning. However, I noted in which analects learning and education was directly referenced.

Analysis of Personal Integrity, Honesty, Honor:
(To identify which analect I am referring to, I will write I:2, which would refer to Book I, Analect 2.)

In Book I, personal integrity, honesty, and honor, while possibly being the broadest theme, was certainly the most identifiable. Nearly every analect reflected the importance of integrity, honesty, or honor. These values were crucial for all social relationships, including family and friends, business relationships and transactions, and for governing and leadership positions. These values represent the foundation upon which good character and behavior must be built. For example, I:4 states:

"Master Tseng said, Every day I examine myself on these three points: in acting on behalf of others, have I always been loyal to their interests? In intercourse with my friends, have I always been true to my word? Have I failed to repeat the precepts that have been handed down to me?"

Likewise in I:5:

"The Master said, A country of a thousand war-chariots cannot be administered unless the ruler attends strictly to business, punctually observes his promises, is economical in expenditure, shows affection towards his subjects in general, and uses the labor of the peasantry only at the proper times of the year."

• In contrast, a "bad ruler" would be listening to music or hunting when they should be attending to business, and the ruler would use the peasantry to build vain and ostentatious monuments or buildings.

Finally, in I:8:

"The Master said, If a gentleman is frivolous, he will lose the respect of his inferiors and lack firm ground upon which to build up his education. First and foremost, he must learn to be faithful to his superiors, to keep promises, to refuse the friendship of all who are not like him. And if he finds that he has made a mistake, then he must not be afraid of admitting the fact and amending his ways."

(pp. 84-85)

These three analects in particular express the emphasis on the superior and even enlightened character expected for those taking this "Way" to be a true gentleman or lady. These analects describe traits that ask us to be fully considerate, honorable, and responsible in our social relationships and dealings with other people. In order to live up to these standards, it's important to be diligent, alert, and hard working to continually attend to our business and friendships. In addition, we should never take improper advantage of a situation or a position of power in which we find ourselves. 

As a teacher within the system of modern education, I am not sure how often these values are taught or considered in classrooms. There is an emphasis on learning discrete skills, but it seems equally important for us to be considering the "type" of people we are attempting to equip these skills with. What values and standards of character do they have? These types of discussions do occur in my English class when we discuss literature that we read collectively but perhaps there ought to be more space and time devoted for the more direct inquiry into integrity, honesty, and honor in our family, social, and business relationships as timeless and universal values. When we only set standards for academic skills, are we considering the types of human beings we are cultivating? Shouldn't that matter in our society?

Confucianism and Modern Education (Part 1)

In an earlier post, I wrote about Confucius and the influence he has had on my teaching and learning. I have returned to The Analects of Confucius by Arthur Waley to delve a bit deeper into why Confucius is renowned as a great teacher and learner. The question I have brought to my reading is:
What timeless and universal educational values exist within Confucianism that can inform teaching and learning in my life and in my classroom?
First off, I would point out that from my reading, it seems appropriate to reference Confucianism rather than directly referencing Confucius since he was most likely not even around when these Analects took written form. Confucius can certainly be credited with inspiring a tradition of educational and cultural philosophy, which many disciples and followers have taken up to ultimately create these Analects. (Arthur Waley warns, however, that a couple of the books in the Analects have been, in his opinion, carelessly assembled within this text, but they do not represent authentic Confucius thought. Therefore, I will be paying most attention to the books within the Analects that are suggested to be the most Confucian.)

With those caveats, I'll turn back to my question. I believe that there are timeless and universal values within education practice that do not need to be lost in a world of constant reform and innovation.

Confucius' philosophy is directed at teaching the proper "Way" for which noble gentlemen and ladies should follow to be superior in character and behavior (p. 34-35). (I am taking the liberty of modernizing his philosophy to be inclusive of women.) Therefore, it is important from the outset to recognize that a primary (if not the) "instructional goal" of Confucianism was in the development of moral character his students to have the integrity, work ethic, and sincerity that ancient rulers have mastered before them. To achieve a harmonious society, this cultural legacy must be honored. Those who can honor and live by the "Way" can contribute to a more harmonious society; those who do not would be considered a small or common person. While Confucius most likely educated wealthy noblemen during his era, his philosophy is not limited to any one class. Anyone who would follow his teachings would merit the identification of the "chun-tzu" as opposed to a common person (p. 34).

The "Chun-Tzu" is a term for noble gentleman or lady who maintains superior character and behavior in his or her life. As far as I can understand from this point of my reading, the purpose of the Analects and the education associated with it is to develop this "Chun-Tzu" cultural identity within those who study it.

This point is interesting to me because in modern schools, I am not aware of many explicit standards or educational expectations that students be taught values of integrity or good moral character. They are penalized if they do not have it, but we do not have standards to teach and explain integrity in the same way as I have standards to teach and explain how to write an essay. In addition, we live in a post-modern society with so many different views on what is and is not "moral" that this may be more difficult to do today. When I think of where my students learn their moral character, it seems to only explicitly come from their parents or their religion if they have one. Moral development in my classroom comes implicitly through the process of learning together in a shared space. Despite our post-modern society and moral relativism, I believe that it may still be possible to inquire into these values that Confucius wants us to consider. As far as I know, integrity, respect, and kindness in social interaction seem universal enough to at least explore and inquire into more explicitly in a classroom setting.

Next, I will be diving into the actual Analects themselves to expound on how they could inform education practice both in and out of the classroom.

Video Killed the Radio Star and "The Medium is the Message"

I happened to turn on AXS TV during halftime of a World Cup game, and they had program featuring the creative exploits of Duran Duran. A lead singer of the band immediately made statement that connected with literacy and the constant inquiry educators often have around new mediums for expression, especially in this age of constant technological advancement. He said of about music videos (and I'm paraphrasing):
"There was a new medium available, and you had to get involved or else you ended up being left behind."
As new mediums for expression develop, it's crucial for literacy specialists in particular and educators in general to consider ways in which it can be used to express ideas and communicate, while maintaining a balance of these new mediums with traditional mediums and skills that students should know. For example, I would like to do more to explore twitter, instagram, and the vine as means for expression, but I also want my students to be able to write academic essays with thesis statements and organized support. When it comes to language capabilities, I always try to emphasize dynamism and complexity with my students. I believe they can and should be able to master multiple forms of communication. New mediums, however, tend to be a lot of fun and a way for more students to access a more sophisticated understanding of literacy, since that is where many of them are already expressing themselves.

This seems like an appropriate place to mention Marshall McLuhan and his famous thesis, "The medium is the message."

Why Write?

On Studio 360 Tuesday night, I listened to author Neil Gaiman talk about his success as a writer. Towards the end of his interview, he spoke about writing in a way that intrigued me and resonated with me. He said of writing:
"That is my sane place. That is the stuff that fixes me. That when I feel broken and tired, when I'm hurt, when I'm upset, going away and writing is my way of putting the world in order." 
Writing plays a similar role in my own life. Through writing, I discover, I clarify, I sort through stuff. I am able to explore ideas and decisions that I have and need to make. I'll write on anything available, which may be a scrap of paper or an old envelope.

As a writing teacher, I'm often thinking about writing for what purpose? There are so many academic standards to meet and academic writing goals to accomplish, but what about writing for self and sanity? What about writing to simply explore our thoughts? What about writing to construct worlds and characters?

I found comfort in Gaiman's explanation of this particular purpose of writing in his life. It's what I do, and I was reassured by the fact that other people have discovered this important purpose for writing. Hopefully, I can find more ways to model these writing purposes with my students.

Teaching Writing in a Project-Based Environment

Designing curriculum around project-based assessment while figuring out how to teach literacy skills (or any academic skills) is challenging. As I reflect on the units and projects that I developed and taught this year, I realize that in many cases the writing was something that was attached to projects, instead of the writing being an authentic and essential part of the project itself. For example, the students would be asked to create a piece of art or an artifact in response to some text, and then they would need to write about what they have created. What I would like to do moving forward is to design projects where the writing involved is an essential part of the generation of the product. In this way, I wouldn't always be teaching the formal academic writing skills from introduction, evidence paragraphs, and conclusion, but I would still be teaching the crucial understanding of writing as a purposeful endeavor within a particular context. I still recognize how important it is for students to learn and build their skills with formal academic writing assignments, and when I assign them, I would like to focus my instruction on that writing as a project. I believe these writing assignments, when taught appropriately, can be considered projects. You can see evidence of this through the depth of good writing instruction in many sources, and I would recommend Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen. By focusing the teaching and learning of my classroom towards specific projects, instead of different assignments layered on top of each other, I believe we all learn more.

The Need to Express

Everyone needs to find a way to express themselves. Whether it is through music, sport, art, singing, or some other medium, it is crucial. Through whatever medium we find, we access a way of expressing ourselves, naming our world, and in this process, constructing a sense of self. Through any form of expression that we become passionate about, it is possible to learn and reflect upon life lessons. It is important and useful for anyone to learn "academic and professional" mainstream means to express ourselves, but it must be at least equally as important to find our unique voices that allow us to name our worlds and construct our identities.

Art of Stepping In and Out

"I cannot control others. I can only control myself." I have that posted on a post-it note next to my desk.  This is a crucial reminder for me as a teacher trying to educate my students everyday because, in reality, I cannot control them or what they are thinking and valuing in my classroom. The best I can do is to set up the conditions, environment, and experiences in which they can learn for themselves. Today, I set up two dialogue circles with about 15 students in each circle. I prompted them to talk about several key questions that arise in 1984. It was difficult to distinguish the moments when my input and direction was needed and when it was better to step out. However, it seemed that the more I stepped out, the more opportunity there was for them to learn, but there were also moments when I needed to prop up a disoriented conversation. I believe that this is part of the art of teaching: knowing when, how, and if to add insight to a learning process to stimulate further learning, perhaps with a question or some slight guidance.

Confucius: Inquiry, Reflection, and Joy

Within the theme of life-long learning as June teaching begins, I cannot resist quoting Confucius' first Analect. He asks:

"The Master said, To learn and at due times to repeat what one has learned, is that not after all a pleasure?"

I have also heard it translated: 

"To learn and to regularly review what one has learned, isn't that after all a great pleasure?"

When I heard this translation of his first Analect, I knew I liked Confucius. His teaching is grounded in inquiry, reflection, and joy. He recognizes the value and the privilege to learn and reflect upon what we have learned. How do we invite this type of wonder and joy in the learning process into our classrooms? How do we maintain this love of learning within ourselves? Why do so many people fall into periods of ennui when there is so much to learn in this world? These questions remind me of Thoreau's famous line, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." The world is too amazing for this to happen, and yet it does.

Sunday Evening Teacher Anxiety

I don't think I am alone in feeling anxiety before a week of teaching begins. Teaching requires all of your intellectual, emotional, and even physical energy to do well, and it can seem daunting that you are about to engage in another week of this work. I've found that in the face of this anxiety, one of the best things to do is to find a way to be productive in preparation for the week. I can put myself in a position to be excited for the week rather than anxious about the week if I plan well. Here is what I came up with as a clear explanation of my final benchmark project that I will be leading with this week. The planning relates to this earlier post about clear expectations for projects.

Honoring Context in Translating Confucius

Arthur Waley translated and annotated The Analects of Confucius. This is a book that I have kept around since college. I've lived in South Korea, which derives much of its culture from "Confucianism," and I have taken a few trips to China, where I've had tours and lectures on Confucius thought. Nearly everything I have learned about Confucius as a learner and educator has inspired me as a learner and educator. He is referred to as a "resilient idealist." In an imperfect world, he walked the uphill path everyday towards idealism and peace, and he felt that this walk was worthwhile. Some common misconceptions of Confucius is that he is some kind of god, which many Westerners may assume when they visit Confucius Temples in China and see grand sculptures and paintings of him in places called temples. While there may be some who consider him to be a god or prophet, it is better to see him as a great scholar and learner.

In this translation of The Analects of Confucius by Arthur Waley, I first have to comment on his complete loyalty to context for interpreting and expressing these "Selected Sayings." In his introduction, Waley takes great pains to contextualize key terms, vocabulary, and phrases. I admire his discipline in his translation process. As an English teacher, I appreciate how significant the context in which a word is placed impacts its meaning. Waley writes:

"Thought grows out of environment. Ideally speaking the translator of such a book as the Analects ought to furnish a complete analysis of early Chinese society, of the processes of which were at work within it and of the outside forces to which it reacted. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the period is far too incomplete for any such synthesis to be possible. The literary documents are scanty and of uncertain date; scientific archaeology in China has suffered constant setbacks and is still in its infancy. All that I have attempted in the following pages is to arrange such information as is accessible under a series of disconnected headings, in a convenient order, but without pretense of unity or logical sequence" (p. 13).

I admire the intellectual humility that Waley presents in this introduction to his translation. It reveals the disciplined attention to detail that he spends on each word in his translation. He is acutely aware that words are historical and that their historicity affects their meaning. To understand the Analects, the appropriate process is to first understand the sayings as they were intended to have meaning within the historical context to which they were responding to. Then, we would analyze how these meanings could be reconstructed to make meaning in a modern context. I believe this is the process of translation that occurs any time we try to interpret the meaning of something in a new context. Just in this case, we are attempting to interpret some ideas uttered over 2000 years ago. (This is the same struggle with comprehending Shakespeare. So much of his meaning and wit is highly contextualized. It is necessary to understand the context before the wealth of meaning can be realized.)

This turned into a tangent on translation and context. Posts on the content of Confucius' Analects will have to occur another time.

Project-Based Assessment: Importance of Clear Expectations

Project-based learning is complex because you are asking students to create something authentic and unique in nature that represents actual learning that should have occurred during the unit of instruction leading up to the project. This year, which was my first year at a school with a total emphasis on project-based assessment, I have realized that I teach better and the students have better results when I have a complete understanding and relatively concrete expectation of what I want them to create. This means that I need to be able to conceptualize what I am asking them to conceptualize, and I need to be able to create what I am asking them to create. I need to have a clear understanding of how the content and exercises from my unit should contribute to the creation of their project. When I have established these expectations, it is completely possible for students to go beyond those expectations to create things that never thought of, but it is my responsibility as the teacher to establish a clear standard to meet and how to meet that standard.

In a more traditional classroom, tests are concrete assessments of learning. In a way, written tests simplify teaching and learning because it is a clear product towards which you are preparing students to be able to complete on their own. It is comparatively simple to conceptualize the answers to specific questions on a test and deliver straightforward instruction and examples to prepare students to answer them independently.

Project-based assessment requires a more creative vision of what a learning process and product should be. It is still crucial, however, that I am clear with what my expectations are so that I can clearly answer questions and direct students towards successful projects. If I lack that vision, then projects come in that also lack real vision and purpose. They may be creative and interesting in production but lack the depth and nuance of disciplined and applied knowledge to support them.

Tinker and Free Speech in Schools

Tinker v. Des Moines set in motion a debate around the First Amendment that we explored at the Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia today. Should students be allowed to walk around school wearing "I 'heart' boobies" bracelets? Can a student hold up a sign stating, "Bong hits 4 Jesus" during a school sponsored event off campus? These were the questions that stemmed from the Tinker case of 1969. In 1969, Mary Beth Tinker, went to school wearing a black armband representing her protest of the Vietnam War. She was told to remove the armband and was suspended from school. The family filed a lawsuit, arguing that her First Amendment rights were violated, and ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the family. The opinion included a famous line, "It can hardly be argued that either student or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."

Our English class had participated in the ACE program this year, which included monthly visits from local lawyers and judges. Today was the concluding event, and it was fun to see students put in the position to think critically and express their views. A piece of advice from one of our hosts to any future lawyers was, "It does not matter whether you are right or wrong; what matters is that you are able to express a cogent case for your position." This makes a lot of sense to me as an English teacher because matters are rarely every black or white, and I expect my students to think critically everyday to see multiple perspectives on any issue. We sat in a beautiful courtroom, and Nine students even dressed up in robes to act as official court justices to hear the case that other students made to them.

As a teacher, I know that just the opportunity to get out of the school building and experience city was refreshing. It was a reminder of why we are in school to begin with: to prepare students for life beyond school. Opportunities for students to get outside of the bubble of their school are important. It makes their education more tangible, and they get to ss how adults, other than their teachers, socialize and work. If we are educating students to prepare them to life, how can we find more authentic ways to open the world up for them? A bigger question would be, what is the role of school in society?

Passion and Fatigue in Teaching and Learning

Any good teacher would tell you the importance of being excited about the content and learning experiences that you are orchestrating in your classroom. You want to be excited to learn along with your students and show them the passion that you have for learning in general and your subject in particular. Great teachers are life-long learners.

Some barriers to maintaining this passion is that school is compulsory and teaching is a job that does not always provide the ideal environment for teachers to develop. Within a context of a compulsory education system (that often lacks support and adequate leadership) with an emphasis on meeting discrete standards while working with adolescents who are in the process of figuring out who they are, it can be difficult to maintain and model a passion for learning for 181 days out of 181 days. Within any professional field, it is important to find ways to rejuvenate. Books, like Thrive, are being written on this very topic.

Over my spring break, I talked with a couple adult friends of mine about their experiences in school. They said that their best teachers the ones who were excited about teaching and learning almost everyday. I love to learn, so how do I maintain this value of learning in my classroom everyday when I am also only human?

This is a relevant question to be asking at the end of May when everyone in a school has some fatigue. I still want to emphasize that learning is an ongoing, life-long process that will not shut down after a few weeks. This passion for learning speaks to the importance of teachers being intellectuals and writers of their own curriculum given the context in which they work. Teaching really needs to be a fun and engaging job. What does it say about the profession when teachers get burned out and stop teaching?

Coaching and Teaching: Lessons from Athletics (#1)

As I reflect on my experiences as an adolescent, I've realized that some of my most formative moments have come from the sports I played. Some of the most important and inspirational lessons I have learned and shape who I am today come from coaches and the experience of participating on a team. As I watch sports and competition today, I love seeing those athletes and coaches whose passion for the process of winning and greatness is palpable. The great ones who sustain their greatness love the process of training, learning, and competing.

Recently, the last 23 members of the US Men's National Team have been announced. On ESPN, there has been a documentary of their process to select the final team. When athletes make it to this level, they want to represent their country, so the competition is fierce. Here are some of the lessons that stood out:

• Sacrificing your individuality for something greater than yourself. 
• When the players needed to push themselves during conditioning, they thought of their family, their teammates, their nation. These things pushed them to another level.
• The importance of competition.
• Coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has infused a high degree of competition in the camp, whereby nobody can feel comfortable with their spot on the final roster. Everyone needs to feel pushed to compete at the highest level. In this competitive environment, the team has the best chance for success.
• This is an interesting type of competition because all of these athletes at the camp are pulling for each other, but at the same time, they need the competitive instinct to try to be better than their peer. 
• "It's not about yesterday and what you did. It's about today and how you deliver tomorrow." - Jurgen Klinsmann
• "You go through rough times, but those rough times are what set you up for something greater." - Jozy Altidore

These values and ethics that can be learned from the process of competing in athletics are invaluable life lessons, and there are direct connections to teaching and learning. We want students to learn to collaborate towards a shared goal. We want students to strive to be great. We want students to find their strengths and maximize them, and identify their weaknesses and improve them. We want students to have healthy and fair experiences with competition where they learn to win or lose with honor and respect. We want students to be able to pick themselves up after a defeat, learn from their mistakes, and push on to continued growth. I cannot list all of the valuable lessons embedded in athletics, but for athletes, having this competitive space with a passionate coach can be priceless.

Here is a link that gives more information about the Inside US Soccer Series. And, here is a video introducing the series:

Teaching Reading and 1984

We are approaching the end of out first year of SLA Beeber’s existence. Currently, we are reading 1984 by George Orwell. During my spring break, I read 1984 for the first time and was blown away. This is Orwell’s social manifesto, his critical statement on how the history of the world could turn if we are not careful. I enjoyed the book, but as I was reading it, I realized that many of the connections that I was making to it came from my knowledge and learning experiences around politics and society, which I know I did not have as high school student. Therefore, how to engage 15-16 year old freshmen in a book like this in May, I realized, was going to be a challenging task. This is an essential question posed to every teacher as he or she writes his or her curriculum. It is an art to design learning experiences that are engaging not for us, but for students sitting in out classroom who have to be there at a particular time. This of course, is very different from the natural process of reading in my everyday life whereby I pick up a book, read at my own pace, and have occasional discussions about the book with my friends, family, and colleagues. I need to be thinking from the perspective of my students.

Pedagogical Decisions:

One of the crucial pedagogical decisions I made was to allow my students to read the book at their own pace. We had four weeks left in the school year, and I felt strongly that if I plopped 1984 in front of them and insisted that they read 75 pages per week, then I would effectively be sending the majority of my students to sparknotes to read summaries and analyses to participate in classroom discussions and complete the projects and assignments related to the book. In class, therefore, I was explicit about the type of reading experience that I wanted them to have with the book. I explicitly stated that school in general, and English teachers in particular, often turn students off from reading, rather than offering experiences would encourage them to enjoy books and become lifelong readers. I told them that by giving them the opportunity to read at their own pace, I was encouraging them to enjoy reading the book, instead of having an “anxiety-induced reading experience,” and to practice the reading skills that I have emphasized this year: 1) that reading is a thinking process of inquiry, inferences, and reflection 2) that good readers re-read when they do not comprehend (they see it as their responsibility for understanding the text). I told them that I did not want them flocking to sparknotes to make meaning of the text, unless they were totally lost and needed the assistance. This gave students the space to focus on re-reading, rather than feeling the pressure to plow through the text. I believe that re-reading and focusing on self-monitoring of their comprehension is an authentic reading skill that they will hopefully take with them from this class and this unit in particular.

Student Response:

One student read the entire book in the first weekend. This student is already a voracious and inquisitive reader, so I feel strongly that I set her up to knock it out of the park, in terms of reading and enjoying the book. If I had required everyone to read the first 75 pages in the first week, would she have still read the entire book? Or, would she have just read the book as an assignment to meet the expectations of the school task?

Another student came to me and said that she read the first 23 pages twice and still did not understand what was going on. I was proud of this because it showed that she was self-monitoring and using the reading skills we had talked about this year, which emphasized comprehension. She still needed assistance with decoding the book and connecting to it.

Many other students are reading the book as varying levels of engagement. Some students are struggling with the book and find it boring. Some students say the book it “popping,” which is a positive review. I class, a student asked, “How do I read a book that I don’t like?” I was initially taken aback by the question. It is a good question because there are times in the academic and professional world where we are expected to read things that we may not initially find enjoyable. My response was that you need to find a way to enjoy what you are reading. I read quickest and with the highest level of comprehension when I enjoy what I am reading.

However, this still does not answer her question because now we need to figure out how do we psyche ourselves into enjoying something that we do not initially enjoy? I ultimately realized that we tend to enjoy reading things that we can connect to or of which we see the broader relevance to society and world events. Therefore, the essential task is around always assuming that there is social value and personal lessons in nearly all literature and art, and being patient enough and alert enough to find the ways in which I can relate to what I am reading or see the ways in which the book relates to broader events and experiences of the world.

Therefore, if we can approach everything that we read and seek to learn about with a degree of intellectual curiosity and wonder, we are more likely to enjoy and comprehend what we are reading.

Still Wondering:

I am still wondering about the rigor and expectations of this pedagogical decision. Is there value in the “higher” expectation that students read 75 pages per week? Am I lowering my standard by allowing students to reading at their own pace?