Horatio Alger Jr., the “rags-to-riches” storywriter in the mid 1800s, was well known for writing books with a common theme: a young boy with good morals who “picked himself up by his bootstraps” was able to make a name for himself. These stories provided hope to the disjointed masses whose…

Progressive education is in a time of “radical imagination.” Alex Khasnabish & Max Haiven, who coined the term, write, We are compelled to dedicate our imaginations to daydreams of individualized escape: lonely hopes of winning the lottery to evade our debts, or idle fantasies of revenge visited upon those who…

“Education is not memorization. It is the activation of the imagination and a path towards liberation.” — Dr. Christopher Emdin Throughout the course of history, perhaps at the intersection of imagination and design, human beings developed ideologies and adopted behaviors that evolved into the world we live in today. The…

Almost 80% of teachers in public K12 schools are white. Nearly 50% of students are not. Despite state and district initiatives to hire more minority teachers, there is still a predominantly homogeneous teacher workforce. Why? At first, the response is to double down on recruiting measures: get more university students…

As a school counselor, throughout my career, I have been asked to develop behavior plans for students for subjective concerns such as “defiance, disruption, or disrespect” [the 3 D’s]. A kindergartner who can’t sit still. A 9-year-old who calls out in class. A 16-year old who won’t “do their work”…

Jacob Huckle explains how pedagogical translanguaging — tapping into students’ complete language repertoires as resources for learning — is a humanizing act that can change the narrative about multilingual learners and counter dehumanizing language policies and practices prevalent in many schools. Dehumanizing language policies and practices

This update showcases our progress on our Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Subject, a project in creating an actionable cross-disciplinary, holistic course. As detailed last month in our Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Subject (IDS) update, we are creating a curriculum that features lessons, hands-on learning, and pedagogical understanding to create an interdisciplinary course: one that…

In creating an organization for lasting change, it’s vitally important we revisit the values in which we promote a human-centered education. Over the last 2 years as a nonprofit, our practices and thoughts haven’t strayed much from the core philosophy — but certain language and explicit practices have been absent…

On Feb 25th, 2022, I resigned from my position as a social studies teacher at Ankeny High School, a position I have held since 2012, effective at the end of this year. I will not be returning to the classroom this fall. This is not a story I have told…