Isidora Romero, 26, and Jennifer Gutierrez, 26, played the part of Communist, feminist, vegan teachers in a skit performed for their high school students in Santiago, Chile. That is also their role in real life.
By: Daniel Bergerson
Education is Chile’s number one conflict, and the writing is on the wall. For the past ten years in Chile, young people have been leading the fight to restore education as a social right guaranteed by the state rather than a commodity bought and sold on the market. From university buildings to bathroom stalls, popular art connects the collective memory of resistance to the dictatorship with the ongoing student movement.
By: Martha Aguirre
Tomorrow the Chicago Teachers Union will either accept Rahm Emanuel’s contract or go on strike. As a product of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), I am no stranger to massive strikes.
Reflection comes in many forms, including but not limited to classroom stories, free-verse poetry, movement updates, visual art, activist interviews, pedagogical narratives, statistical analyses, learner portraits, flash memoirs, how-to articles, photo essays, open letters, children’s stories, research summaries, lesson plans, and more. If you would like guidance with your reflection, consider these lenses and prompts adapted from The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research.
By: Evan Taylor They don’t wanna see me love you They don’t wanna see me love you They don’t wanna see me love you They don’t wanna see me love you || Kanye West || FML || Black women and girls were grandmasters even before chess was invented They have always sacrificed everything to save…
By: Daniel Bergerson People bring their fights to the community center because they can count on the social workers there. Sahra was fighting to keep her three-bedroom apartment after a Section 8 reform forced her family into one bedroom so that her 70-year-old mother with dementia would not keep her teenage son awake at night.…
By: Evan Taylor Now I can’t pledge allegiance to your flag Cause I can’t find no reconciliation with your past When there was nothing equal for my people in your math You forced us in the ghetto and then you took our dads” –Lupe Fiasco, “Strange Fruition” They schools ain’t teachin us, what we need…
By: Evan Taylor “Here comes the troublemaker…” “You are like a little Mandela…” “You are too militant…” “You definitely are a little edgy [in reference to my fashion]” “Your teaching style is…unorthodox…” “Is that a Hawaiian shirt you are wearing in December…” “You are not raising hell, you are bringing Heaven to humanity…” “Teachers can…
By: Evan Taylor When I was a child I played with action figures with my brother after watching cartoons. We would watch the shows to generate the screenplays for what we would reenact with our action figures. After watching our classic shows such as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men, Spiderman, Batman and many other…
By: Shane Capps I can remember my very first week in the classroom at my school. “How old are you? Do you play basketball? How tall are you?” All innocent questions. All coming from my new students — wondering who this young guy was that would be teaching them through the end of the school year.…
By: Elijah Eiler “Mr. E, when are you going to cut your hair?” A student of mine in seventh grade looked at me, half laughing, half not, not meaning to make a joke but just asking an honest question. “What?” I said, returning his half laugh and pushing my bangs back. “I like my hair.”…
By: Molly Tansey My stomach was butterflies, or not butterflies, something worse. Something much, much worse. Moments away from the first lesson I would ever do with students, I wanted to run away. Feign ill. Magically evaporate. Whatever it took to put the moment off just a little longer. It didn’t help that the lesson…
By: Evan Taylor “…be the teacher you wish you had when you were younger…” – anonymous kid Upon first walking in classroom, you will notice the plethora of Marvel action figures posted on top of a shelf. The majority of the action figures are Spiderman, since he is obviously the one of the greatest superheroes.…
By: Conor Pierson “He’ll never catch up.” Those words were said sixteen years ago by one of my teachers to my father. I was at a very low point in my life, questioning whether I was following the right path. I’ve spent the majority of my life with anxiety and depression and it came to…
By: Molly Tansey Every time I drive home from the University of Georgia to the South Carolina coast, I survey the small, rural towns. Antebellum houses sit next to main streets long abandoned, quickly giving way to farms and empty warehouses. The lack of opportunity is palpable. I used to be able to just appreciate…
Young Teachers Collective 