TGIF: Teaching and Organizing for Social Justice

Our recent TGIF:

  Teaching and Organizing for Social Justice
  Friday, January 27th

Outside as well as inside the classroom, educators and their allies are trying to make the world a better place. We heard about a number of ongoing projects that offer hope and possibilities for involvement. 

Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference Planning Committee

On the surface the Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference is a finely choreographed flow of conversations and connections. Underneath, it is parallel streams of details: workshop schedules, program printing, lunch logistics, t-shirts sales, tabling set-up, coffee brewing, facilitator support, evaluation gathering.  In October, we will host the 5th annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference in Portland. We need your help to make it a success.   Elizabeth Schlessman

Social Justice and Early Childhood Education

Geared toward early childhood/primary teachers (pre-K through 3rd), childcare workers, parents and anyone with a stake in the education of young children, this workgroup will focus on ways to teach 3 to 9-year olds with an orientation toward social justice. We'll collectively select topics and our discussions will involve sharing experiences as well as engagement with readings. Initial readings will be drawn from Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves and Rethinking Early Childhood Education. Depending on the particular interests of the group, themes might include: developmentally appropriate ways to help children understand/explore race, gender, class, ability and family structure; creating an anti-bias learning community; protecting a place for imaginative play in this era of testing; advocating for early childhood workers; working with and standing by families, etc. We hope that the intensive study and reflection will culminate in a group action that shares our learning with a broader audience and deepens our commitment to this work. Facilitated by Emily Crum (bilingual kindergarten teacher at Alder Elementary) and Laura Czarniecki (preschool teacher at Tulip Tree Preschool).

Oregon Save Our Schools

Oregon Save Our Schools, a grassroots public education activist group uniting parents, educators, and students, is working to keep education public. We are a chapter of Save Our Schools, the group that organized the national march in D.C. last summer, and an affiliate of Parents Across America. In Oregon we focus on educating and fighting corporate education reforms, and are currently looking at the Oregon Education Investment Board's role as they now work on the NCLB waiver and push new legislation. Our guiding principles are: equitable funding for all public school communities; an end to high stakes testing used for the purpose of student, teacher, and school evaluation; teacher, family and community leadership in forming public education policies; and curriculum developed for and by local school communities. A growing activism group, we welcome others concerned about corporate education reform to join our efforts. Susan Barrett

Social Equality Educators

Modeled after the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) that has transformed the Chicago Teachers Union, Social Equality Educators (SEE) is a new rank-and-file organization of educators inside the National Education Association. The first chapter of SEE formed in Seattle in 2009 and there is now an effort underway to start a Portland-area chapter. SEE seeks to transform education in terms that empower students, teachers, and the communities that our public schools serve.  As members of the NEA we understand that the union has a vital role to play in creating an equitable education system.  As educators, we understand the importance of using culturally relevant and holistic curriculum to empower our students. We come together to fight the corporate reform of our schools and to organize for a socially just education system. For more information visit: http://seattlesee.org  Adam Sanchez

“Earth in Crisis” Curriculum Workgroup

Most of what is worth teaching about cannot be found in textbooks. The “Earth in Crisis” Curriculum Workgroup was organized to provide a place for teachers to discuss, develop, and test out curriculum about things that matter in the world. We've been especially focused on environmental justice issues--climate change, water, “extreme energy”--but have met recently to talk about ways to teach the Occupy movement, and we'll be meeting soon to “workshop” curriculum on the financial meltdown. This is a group where we figure out the details of what it means to teach for social justice.   Tim Swinehart and Bill Bigelow