Foundations of Education

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Teaching is a calling driven by intrinsic passion to shape students' futures through strong relationships, content mastery, and continuous reflective practice, not by monetary reward.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What teaching involves daily: managing diverse student needs, collaborating with specialists, balancing instruction with administrative duties, and building relationships across elementary, secondary, bilingual, and special education settings.
• Teacher knowledge framework: effective teaching requires three interconnected forms of knowledge—content knowledge (what to teach), pedagogical content knowledge (how students learn it), and curricular knowledge (materials and perspectives to use).
• Reflective practice as lifelong learning: teachers must reflect both in-action (adjusting during lessons) and on-action (analyzing afterward) to improve, moving from individual growth to societal change.
• Common confusion—intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation: intrinsic factors (giving back, creating justice) come from within; extrinsic factors (salary, external rewards) come from outside; both can coexist, but intrinsic passion sustains teaching.
• Diversity gap: 80% of U.S. public school teachers are White, while only 46% of students are White; this mismatch has historical roots (post-Brown v. Board discrimination) and ongoing hiring/retention disparities.

👨‍🏫 A day in the life of teachers

📚 Elementary teacher's day

• Starts at 7 AM greeting students at breakfast, then manages 25 students through multiple content areas (English, math, science, social studies) plus social-emotional learning.
• Coordinates with specialists (reading, occupational therapy, speech pathology, instructional coach, principal) who drop in throughout the day.
• Lunch and recess involve supervising students, opening packets, handling lunch changes, and squeezing in personal breaks.
• After dismissal at 2:30 PM, monitors student safety, attends faculty meetings, debriefs with coaches, and prepares next day's materials.
• Why it matters: the role is non-stop multitasking—teaching content is only one piece; relationship-building, coordination, and logistics fill every moment.

🌍 Bilingual immersion teacher's day

• Teaches 90% in Spanish, 10% in English (90/10 model) to native Spanish speakers and students of other languages.
• Arrives early to plan units and prepare materials (too exhausted after a day with kindergarteners to plan later).
• Greets families in Spanish at breakfast, builds relationships through stories and follow-up questions.
• Uses games (riddles, jokes) during transitions; students lead activities with a classroom puppet (Susanita).
• Goal: students become bilingual (speak two languages), biliterate (read/write in two), and bicultural (appreciate own and classmates' cultures).
• Don't confuse: immersion is not just translation—it integrates language development with all content areas.

🏫 Secondary (high school) teacher's day

• Arrives an hour early (7:15 AM) to copy materials, check emails, write daily goals on the board.
• Teaches three 75-minute blocks (9th grade honors, two 10th grade general English) on alternating A/B days.
• Uses daily writing fluency journals (5 minutes), mini-lessons (figurative language), literature circles, and review games.
• "Bear Block" between classes: students retake tests, make up work, or read; lunch involves journalism club students working on stories.
• Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting: reviews common assessments with grade-level team, discusses classroom management strategies for new teachers.
• After 3:15 PM dismissal, writes sub plans, prepares for district training, sends parent emails/texts (reaches out early and often, starting with successes).
• Why it matters: secondary teaching involves juggling multiple courses, tracking systems, and constant parent communication; the excerpt emphasizes that early positive contact makes later difficult conversations easier.

🧩 Special education teacher's day

• Arrives early for quiet time to complete IEP (Individualized Education Plan) paperwork, review student data, adjust instruction.
• Morning bus duty doubles as informal IEP check-ins: assesses needs, reminds students of goals, takes notes in data binder (e.g., a third grader with autism reports feeling like "a category 3 hurricane," so teacher arranges quiet time in computer lab).
• Serves 18 students across four grade levels through co-teaching (supplements general ed teacher's content knowledge with specialized strategies) and pull-out intensive intervention (research-based programs targeting IEP skills).
• Data collection is ongoing and individualized; data binder is always present.
• Participates in eligibility meetings: reassures parents that an educational label (e.g., intellectual disability) does not change who their child is or will be; emphasizes partnership and strengths-based planning.
• Don't confuse: special education is not a separate track—it involves both inclusive co-teaching and targeted intervention, with constant data-driven adjustment.

📊 Who teaches in the U.S.

📈 Demographics (2020–21)

• Total: 3.8 million full- and part-time public school teachers (1.9 million elementary, 1.9 million secondary).
• Credentials: 90% hold regular/standard/advanced certificates; 51% hold master's degrees.
• Salary: average base salary $61,600 (varies by state/district, often set by "steps and lanes"—years of experience and education level).
• Gender: 77% female, 23% male.
• Race/ethnicity: 80% White, 9% Hispanic, 6% Black, 2% Asian, 2% two or more races, <1% American Indian/Alaska Native, <0.5% Pacific Islander.
• Student comparison: only 46% of students are White, 28% Hispanic—teachers are overwhelmingly White while students are increasingly diverse.

🚧 Why the diversity gap persists

• Historical roots: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) mandated integration, but from 1964–1972, 31.8% of Black teachers in 781 southern districts left the profession—some pushed out, some migrated north, some entered lower-skill jobs; districts hired White teachers (often new or untrained) to replace them.
• Ongoing discrimination: a study in one large district found that 70% of applicants were White and 77% of them received job offers, while 13% of applicants were Black and only 6% received offers—despite equal qualifications.
• Retention gap: between 2011–12 and 2012–13, 15% of White teachers left jobs vs. 22% of Black teachers and 21% of Hispanic teachers.
• Geographic ties: ~60% of teachers choose to teach near their home or university; they feel belonging in familiar communities.
• "Grow Your Own" initiatives: some districts now recruit community members (students of color, bus drivers, education assistants, parents) and offer scholarships/pathways to teaching credentials to bridge the gap.
• Why it matters: research shows teachers of color benefit all students, not just students of color; the lack of diversity perpetuates inequality.

💡 What great teachers do differently

❤️ Relationships and belief

• The excerpt references Rita Pierson's TED Talk: all students can learn; a teacher can lift students to heights they never thought possible.
• Key insight: teaching content is only one aspect—creating an emotionally caring and educationally supportive environment is crucial for engagement.
• Teachers cannot shy away from teaching "complex human beings."
• Activity prompt: think of a teacher who made a difference—what did they do or say? How does this inform the kind of teacher you hope to be?

🌱 Student assets and prior knowledge

• Students bring knowledge from parents, extended family, church, community leaders—their "first teachers."
• They learn values, habits, customs, and work in these spaces before entering school.
• Effective teachers: recognize this knowledge as student assets, not deficits.
• Don't confuse: students from diverse backgrounds are not "blank slates"—they arrive with rich funds of knowledge that teachers must honor.

🧠 Teacher knowledge framework

📖 Content knowledge

Understand the standards required to be taught through a culturally responsive lens.

• Teachers must know what to teach (standards) and adapt it to the multicultural population they serve.
• Why it matters: content knowledge alone is insufficient—it must be filtered through awareness of students' cultural contexts.

🎯 Pedagogical content knowledge

Understand the difficulties students might encounter as they learn a new topic.

• Requires assessing developmental appropriateness in relation to students.
• Teachers must develop close relationships to learn students' backgrounds, motivations, and learning styles.
• Example: knowing that fractions are hard for 3rd graders is pedagogical content knowledge; knowing why (e.g., part-whole reasoning is abstract) and how to address it (e.g., visual models) is the application.

📚 Curricular knowledge

Knowledge of curricular materials to teach particular topics and ideas.

• Teachers identify and evaluate different perspectives in subject matter.
• Goal: avoid teaching stereotypes or implicit biases printed in some textbooks.
• Example: when teaching history, a teacher with curricular knowledge selects sources that include multiple viewpoints, not just dominant narratives.

🧭 Philosophy of teaching

• In addition to the three knowledge types, teachers need a research-based philosophy: learning conditions, goals, and strategies.
• This philosophy guides curricular choices, classroom community strategies, and relationship-building.
• Why it matters: a coherent philosophy prevents random decision-making and grounds practice in evidence.

🔄 Reflective practice and lifelong learning

🪞 What reflection means

• John Dewey (1938): reflective practice promotes consideration of why things are as they are and how to direct actions through careful planning; we learn from reflecting on experience, not solely from experience.
• Donald Schön (1987): two processes—
  • Reflection-in-action: observe, reflect, and rapidly adjust teaching in the moment.
  • Reflection-on-action: look back afterward to adapt future lessons.
• Frankfurt school (1929): move from individual growth to societal change; "critical" theory seeks human emancipation and liberation.
• Synthesis: both individual and societal lenses are beneficial—teachers reflect on personal practice and its impact on students, then consider how their work contributes to a more just society.

🛠️ How to reflect

Five general categories:

1. Reflecting on your own practice (e.g., taking notes after a lesson on what went well and what needs adjusting).
2. Talking and collaborating with colleagues.
3. Participating in professional associations.
4. Attending professional development workshops and conferences.
5. Reading professional literature.

Example: after a lesson, a teacher writes "students struggled with the word problem setup—need more visual scaffolding tomorrow" (reflection-on-action); during the lesson, the teacher notices confusion and adds a diagram on the board (reflection-in-action).

🤝 Mentoring

• Some U.S. states (California, New York, Hawaii, Kansas, Pennsylvania) require mentoring programs for first-year teachers.
• A mentor supports and guides new teachers through challenges, questions, and joys.
• Why it matters: strong mentor-mentee programs increase connection to the school community and reduce isolation.

🌟 Lifelong learning

• Teachers engage in professional development to meet student needs, respond to research, and integrate new approaches.
• Examples: attending conferences, mentoring (as mentee or mentor), joining professional organizations, conducting research.
• Dylan Wiliam's point (referenced in excerpt): teaching is a repeated process of plan, reflect, adjust—becoming a master teacher takes continuous effort.

🎯 Why teach?

💪 Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation

Motivation type	Definition	Examples from excerpt
Intrinsic	Internal factors, from within	"Give back" to students, help inform next generation, create a more just society, pursue passions
Extrinsic	External factors, rewards	Monetary compensation, other external rewards

• Don't confuse: both can coexist; the excerpt does not say extrinsic motivation is bad, but intrinsic passion is what sustains teaching (since salary is "hardly adequate considering all that they give").

🔥 Teaching as a calling

• The excerpt concludes: "Choosing to be a teacher is not a monetary pursuit… Becoming a teacher is often considered a calling."
• Why: "It is something inside them. It is a drive, a force, a passion, a desire to engage with their students in order to watch them succeed."
• Teachers love to learn and hope to encourage "that fundamental human process of discovery and growth in others."
• Final note: teaching improves lives and creates a more just society—this is the core purpose.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The history of US education is inseparable from the nation's history of slavery, racism, and systems of oppression that shaped schools to reflect and perpetuate social inequalities while also serving as sites of resistance and reform.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Slavery as foundation: The economic and political systems built on slavery fundamentally shaped American education, creating segregated and unequal schooling that persisted long after emancipation.
• Education as control vs. liberation: Schools have served dual purposes—assimilating and controlling populations (Indigenous peoples, enslaved people, immigrants) while also representing hope for freedom and empowerment through literacy and knowledge.
• Federal vs. local control tensions: Ongoing conflicts between centralized government oversight and local/state control have defined educational policy, from common schools through modern standards-based reform.
• Exclusion and resistance: Women, African Americans, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, and people with disabilities were systematically excluded from educational opportunities, yet consistently fought for access and created their own educational systems.
• Common confusion: Many believe slavery "ended" in the 19th century and that schools became equal after desegregation, but Jim Crow laws, segregation, and systemic inequities persisted for generations and continue today in different forms.

🏛️ Colonial foundations and early exclusions

🏛️ Puritan Massachusetts and compulsory education

The first compulsory education laws emerged in Puritan Massachusetts:

• Act of 1642: Required parents and masters to educate children in Puritan religion and commonwealth laws.
• Law of 1647 (Old Deluder Satan Act): Towns with 50+ families had to hire a schoolmaster for basic literacy.
• Purpose: Religious salvation and moral training, not universal education.

Educational texts like primers combined literacy skills with Christian virtues—faith, obedience, hard work, fear of death.

Don't confuse: These early "schools" were not public education as we know it—they were religiously motivated, locally controlled, and primarily served white Protestant families.

📚 Different colonial approaches

Education varied dramatically by region and social class:

Region	Approach	Who was served
New England	Dame schools, Latin grammar schools	Middle-class and wealthy white boys
Mid-Atlantic & South	Private, family responsibility	Wealthy landowners only
Enslaved populations	Illegal and punished	Systematically denied

Example: Latin grammar schools (like Boston's, 1635) prepared wealthy boys for Harvard and leadership positions in church and state.

⛓️ Slavery and denied education

Enslaved people were legally prohibited from learning to read and write:

• Southern states passed criminal statutes with severe penalties (fines, corporal punishment) for teaching enslaved people.
• Literacy was seen as dangerous to white control.
• Despite these laws, enslaved people created covert methods of communication (e.g., coded spirituals) and some risked everything to learn in secret schools.

Why this matters: The deliberate denial of education to enslaved people was a tool of oppression that had intergenerational consequences, creating wealth and opportunity gaps that persist today.

🇺🇸 Post-Revolution: Competing visions

🇺🇸 Federalist vision (Hamilton, Washington, Adams)

Federalists supported mass schooling for nationalistic purposes:

• Goal: Preserve order, morality, and national character.
• Opposed tax-supported schooling (viewed as unnecessary when elites rule).
• Noah Webster advocated education to teach "submission to superiors and laws" and develop law-abiding citizens with Federalist attachments.

Webster's spellers aimed to create a literate, nationalistic character—useful, virtuous citizens loyal to Federalist America.

🗽 Anti-Federalist vision (Jefferson)

Anti-Federalists feared concentrated power and preferred local control:

• Thomas Jefferson proposed tiered schooling in Virginia: three years of tax-supported primary school for all white children, with limited advancement opportunities for poor children.
• Emphasized local control over education decisions.
• Excluded religion from core curriculum (unlike Puritan schools).
• His proposals were rejected as too radical by aristocratic peers.

Don't confuse: Jefferson's "democratic" vision still excluded women, enslaved people, and most poor children—it was radical only within the context of aristocratic Virginia.

📖 Common school movement and feminization

📖 Horace Mann and common schools (1830s-1840s)

Horace Mann led the common school movement:

Common schools: Elementary schools where all students—not just wealthy boys—could attend for free, supported by taxes.

• Radical in offering free, tax-supported schooling.
• Conservative curriculum: honesty, punctuality, obedience to authority, hard work, respect for law and private property.
• Spread from New England westward.

Why it matters: Common schools represented a shift toward viewing education as a public responsibility, though they still served assimilationist and social control purposes.

👩‍🏫 Normal schools and feminization of teaching

Mann created normal schools (teacher training institutions) to prepare teachers:

• First normal school: Lexington, Massachusetts (1839).
• Catherine Beecher became a prominent teacher educator, making it acceptable for women to leave home to teach.
• Women were hired increasingly because they could be paid less than men.
• Teaching became framed as a "missionary calling" rather than a profession, justifying lower pay and fewer advancement opportunities.

Long-term impact: The feminization of teaching established patterns of lower pay and limited career advancement that persist today.

⚔️ Conflicts in the common school movement

The movement faced multiple conflicts:

Protestant vs. Catholic: Common schools used Protestant Bible texts, offending Catholic immigrants. This led to:

• Creation of separate Catholic parochial schools.
• Greater (theoretical) acceptance of church-state separation, though Protestant bias continued for over a century.

Southern resistance: Southern planters had no interest in educating poor whites or enslaved people, viewing education as a private family responsibility and class privilege.

⚖️ Post-Civil War and Reconstruction

⚖️ Jim Crow segregation

After the Civil War, Southern states were required to provide free public schooling to rejoin the Union, but they created loopholes:

Jim Crow: The White Supremacy system that separated and controlled Black citizens in all areas of civic, political, economic, legal, and social life.

• Separate, segregated schools were created.
• Black schools received substantially lower funding than white schools.
• This institutionalized racism had long-lasting consequences for African American communities.

Don't confuse: The end of slavery did not mean the end of oppression—Jim Crow laws created formal barriers that lasted another 100+ years.

📚 African American educational initiatives

African Americans took primary responsibility for their own education:

• Formerly enslaved people knew the connection between knowledge and freedom.
• They created their own one-room schoolhouses with limited resources.
• By 1866 in Georgia, African Americans partially financed 96 of 123 evening schools and owned 57 school buildings.
• Many Northern missionaries were "astonished" to discover these self-organized educational efforts.

🏭 Industrial schools debate

Two African American leaders had different perspectives on industrial schools:

Leader	Background	Vision
Booker T. Washington	Born enslaved (1856), attended Hampton Institute	Supported vocational training; "Atlanta Compromise" accepted social separation in exchange for economic opportunity
W.E.B. Du Bois	Born free (1868), first Black Ph.D. from Harvard	Opposed Washington's approach as "submission and silence"; advocated for full civil and political equality

Context matters: Washington feared white backlash would destroy progress; Du Bois, from a Northern background, could envision greater possibilities for Black advancement.

🏫 Native American boarding schools

The federal government created over 400 boarding schools across 37 states:

• Purpose (stated): Educate Indigenous children for economic opportunities.
• Purpose (actual): Cultural genocide—destroy native culture and assimilate children into mainstream American culture.
• Methods: Destroyed native clothing, cut hair, renamed children with Protestant Bible names, prohibited native languages.
• Carlisle School (Pennsylvania, 1879) was the first and most famous.

Cultural imperialism: The belief that white Protestant culture was superior to other cultures, justifying harsh assimilation practices.

Recent revelations: In 2021, unmarked graves of children were discovered at multiple boarding schools in Canada and the US, revealing the deadly consequences of these institutions and prompting federal investigations into intergenerational trauma.

🏛️ Brown v. Board and desegregation

🏛️ Separate but equal overturned

Key legal milestones:

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Established "separate-but-equal" doctrine, allowing segregation as long as facilities were theoretically equal.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Unanimously overturned Plessy, concluding:

• "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children."
• "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

Brown II (1955): Ordered desegregation with "all deliberate speed"—vague language that enabled state resistance and chaos.

⚠️ Unintended consequences of desegregation

Integration occurred on white terms:

• Thousands of Black teachers and administrators were fired.
• Black schools were closed.
• Black students were integrated into white schools with white teachers teaching all-white curriculum.
• This created "cultural dissonance" and new forms of harm.

Don't confuse: Desegregation was legally mandated but practically resisted—many schools today are more segregated than in the 1970s due to residential patterns and district boundaries.

🚌 Busing and continued segregation

Busing: Transporting children across neighborhoods to increase racial diversity in schools.

Milliken v. Bradley (1974): Supreme Court ruled schools were not responsible for desegregation across district lines unless their policies explicitly caused segregation.

• This halted effective integration because de facto segregation (based on housing patterns) couldn't be addressed without crossing district boundaries.
• Nixon's compromise: give urban schools more resources instead of integrating with suburbs.

Long-term impact: This decision ensured continued segregation and inequality, as suburban schools remained physically, financially, and politically independent from urban schools.

📊 Modern era: Standards and accountability

📊 A Nation at Risk (1983)

Reagan's commission released this report claiming American schools were failing:

• Declared students "never excelled" in international comparisons.
• Blamed "systematic weaknesses" and lack of teacher talent.
• However: Many claims were uncorroborated or misleading, serving a political agenda to discredit public schools.

Impact: Justified top-down, punitive approaches to school reform and inspired "systemic reform" emphasizing accountability through standardized testing.

📝 No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001)

NCLB brought the federal government as a regulator into public education:

Key provisions:

• Annual standardized tests in math and reading (grades 3-12).
• Schools labeled as "succeeding" or "failing" based on test scores.
• Punitive measures for low-performing schools.
• Requirements for "highly qualified" teachers.

Intended goals (progressive support):

• Address inequities and low expectations in schools serving students of color and low-income families.
• Increase accountability and transparency for parents.

Unintended consequences:

• "Teaching to the test" with narrow, uniform curricula.
• Punitive measures harmed students, teachers, and administrators.
• Standardized tests are culturally biased, limiting understanding of diverse students' true strengths.
• Assumption that uniformity can compel learning ignores complexity of learning and cultural differences.

🔄 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015)

ESSA reauthorized ESEA/NCLB with some changes:

• Maintains accountability through annual assessments.
• Emphasizes equity for disadvantaged students.
• Allows more local innovation and evidence-based interventions.
• Continues tying federal funds to standardized assessments.

Current reality: Federal government now controls public schools more than ever before through funding tied to mandates, representing a shift from local to national responsibility.

🎓 Expanding access for marginalized groups

🎓 Multiple civil rights victories

Following the African American Civil Rights Movement, other groups fought for educational access:

Mexican and Asian Americans: Filed early segregation cases (Lemon Grove, 1931; Mendez v. Westminster, 1947).

Women: Title IX (1972) prohibited sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, including athletics.

English Language Learners: Lau v. Nichols (1974) required schools to respond effectively to language needs—students who don't understand English are "effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education."

Students with disabilities:

• PARC v. Pennsylvania (1972) guaranteed rights to free public education.
• Rehabilitation Act (1973) guaranteed civil rights and accommodations.
• Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975) required services in "least restrictive settings."

Least restrictive setting: Students with special needs should be in the same classrooms with other students as much as possible with minimal restrictions.

🔍 Critical perspectives on education

🔍 Purpose of education debate

Two competing views persist:

Conservative/assimilationist: Education should transmit and preserve existing values, customs, ideologies, and social order—prepare obedient, productive citizens.

Progressive/reconstructionist: Education should develop critical thinking and empower students to examine and improve society—create active, questioning citizens.

🧠 Michael Apple on ideology in curriculum

Schools control not only people but also meaning—they preserve and distribute "legitimate knowledge" that society deems necessary.

Key insight: The ability to make one's knowledge into "knowledge for all" is related to a group's power in the larger political and economic arena.

• Power and culture are interconnected with economic relations.
• Schools tend to perpetuate systems of oppression by determining what counts as legitimate knowledge.

What societies want vs. need: Societies ideally want obedient citizens who follow rules, but this leads to stagnation—societies need people who examine, question, and fight to change society.

📖 Teaching hard history

Educators face challenges teaching about slavery and racism:

• Why it's hard: Comprehending inhumanity, discussing violence, teaching white supremacy ideology, learning about those who abided it.
• Why it's necessary: Can't move beyond racism without taking account of race; ignoring this history prevents national healing and growth.

Recommended approaches:

• Begin with affirmation and validation of students' feelings and prior knowledge.
• Use "co-processing" to scaffold learning through discomfort.
• Include moral, emotional, intellectual, and relational perspectives (e.g., Singleton's "Courageous Conversations").
• Center voices of enslaved people through primary sources when possible.

Don't confuse: Teaching this history is not "shaming" the nation—it's necessary for understanding how past systems of oppression persist today and how educators can disrupt them.

🌟 Key takeaways

🌟 Persistent patterns

Throughout US educational history, several patterns persist:

• Conflict over control: Federal vs. state vs. local authority continues to shape policy.
• Assimilation vs. pluralism: Schools have primarily served to assimilate diverse populations into a narrow definition of "American," though resistance and alternative visions have always existed.
• Inequality by design: Educational inequities are not accidents—they were created and maintained through specific laws, policies, and practices.
• Education as contested terrain: Schools remain sites of moral, economic, political, religious, and social conflict.

💡 Understanding context

Critical insight: Teaching is never "innocent of ideology"—the context of education is political and tends to preserve institutional values of compliance, conformity, efficiency, standardization, and competition.

Moving forward: Solving achievement gaps requires addressing broader structural issues that institutionalize and perpetuate poverty and inequality, not just reforming schools in isolation.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Educational philosophies shape how teachers define knowledge, design curriculum, and structure classroom power, yet the dominant US system rests on a narrow Eurocentric foundation that has historically excluded the perspectives of marginalized thinkers and non-Western ways of knowing.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Four mainstream philosophies: Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism, and Social Reconstructionism/Critical Pedagogy differ in what should be taught, how it should be taught, and who holds authority in the classroom.
• Eurocentrism in US education: The foundational theorists and philosophies of the US system privilege European-based civilization and exclude Indigenous, African, Latin American, and other non-Western educational traditions.
• Critical and liberatory responses: Social Reconstructionism and Critical Pedagogy emerged to challenge oppression, center marginalized voices, and empower students to critique and transform society.
• Common confusion: Essentialism vs. Perennialism—both are teacher-centered and value traditional content, but Essentialism focuses on skills for productivity while Perennialism focuses on universal truths and individual development.
• Neglected thinkers: Educators like W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and Latin American philosophers offer essential frameworks (e.g., double consciousness, critical pedagogy, mestizaje) that are often absent from mainstream teacher training.

🏛️ The Four Mainstream Educational Philosophies

📚 Essentialism

Essentialism: a belief that a core set of essential skills must be taught to all students, emphasizing traditional academic disciplines, objective facts, and preparation for productive membership in society.

• What it values: back-to-basics rigor, reading, writing, computing, clear logical thinking about the real world.
• Classroom structure: teacher-centered; lecture and teacher demonstrations dominate.
• Goal: develop prescribed skills and a common culture; students learn to work hard and respect authority.
• Example: A classroom where the teacher delivers a lecture on grammar rules, students take notes, and homework drills reinforce the day's lesson.

🎓 Perennialism

Perennialism: advocates seeking, teaching, and learning universal truths that span across historical time periods and have everlasting importance in solving human problems.

• What it values: timeless truths, liberal arts curricula (English, foreign languages, math, natural sciences, fine arts, philosophy), individual development over skill training.
• Classroom structure: may be teacher-centered but also uses student-centered activities like Socratic Seminar to encourage students to think, rationalize, and develop their own ideas.
• Don't confuse with Essentialism: both are traditional, but Perennialism focuses on universal truths and well-rounded individuals rather than skills for productivity.
• Example: Students read classic texts and engage in a Socratic Seminar, questioning and debating the meaning of justice across different historical contexts.

🌱 Progressivism

Progressivism: focuses on experiential learning and developing the whole child; students learn by doing rather than being lectured to.

• What it values: real-world problem solving, integrated curriculum (not siloed disciplines), pragmatic ontology, student interests and shared authority.
• Classroom structure: student-centered; cooperative/collaborative groups, project-based learning, expeditionary learning, problem-based learning, service-learning.
• Contrast with Essentialism and Perennialism: Progressivism rejects teacher-centered lecture in favor of hands-on, student-driven inquiry.
• Example: Students identify a local environmental issue, research it in teams, interview community members, and propose solutions to the city council.

✊ Social Reconstructionism and Critical Pedagogy

Social Reconstructionism: founded as a response to World War II and the Holocaust to prepare students to make a better world through instilling liberatory values and addressing social reform.

Critical Pedagogy: the application of critical theory to education; teaching and learning are inherently political, and knowledge and language are not neutral.

• What it values: emancipation of marginalized groups, critical consciousness (conscientização), social/environmental/economic justice, political action.
• Classroom structure: student-centered, de-centers the teacher, focuses on social critique and political action.
• Goal: students develop the ability to interrogate oppression, question cultural assumptions, and take constructive action for social change.
• Example: Students analyze media representations of immigration, identify stereotypes and power dynamics, and create counter-narratives through documentary or art projects.
• Don't confuse with Progressivism: both are student-centered, but Social Reconstructionism/Critical Pedagogy explicitly centers political consciousness and social justice, not just experiential learning.

🌍 Eurocentrism and Excluded Perspectives

🔍 What Eurocentrism means in education

Eurocentrism: a worldview that is centered on or privileges European-based civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-European-based civilizations.

• The US education system is not rooted in Aztec, Mayan, Muslim, Hindu, Yoruba, or other non-European philosophies.
• The foundational theorists are a narrow sample shaped by colonialism, imperialism, US exceptionalism, and the legacy of slavery.
• Why it matters: this narrow foundation limits educators' ability to meet the needs of all students and perpetuates inequalities.

🧠 Ways of knowing

• The excerpt emphasizes that there are many ways of knowing and acquiring knowledge beyond the dominant system.
• Example: Starting the school day when the sun reaches a certain point on the horizon (rather than a fixed clock time) teaches students a different relationship to time, responsibility, and the natural world.
• Cultural practices: Navajo childbirth practices and Indigenous land stewardship (referenced in the excerpt) represent knowledge systems sustained outside mainstream schools.
• Don't confuse: "ways of knowing" is not about adding multicultural content to the existing system; it is about recognizing fundamentally different epistemologies (theories of knowledge).

🧑🏿‍🏫 Neglected Thinkers: African American Educators

📖 W.E.B. Du Bois

• Background: first African American to earn a PhD from Harvard; co-founder of the NAACP; sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist.
• Key work: The Souls of Black Folk (1903) declared "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line."
• Core concept—Double consciousness:

  Double consciousness: the internal conflict experienced by subordinated or colonized groups in an oppressive society; originally, the psychological challenge African Americans faced of "always looking at oneself through the eyes" of a racist white society.

  • Du Bois described the challenge of being both American and Black, a "unique identity which had been a handicap in the past, but could be a strength in the future."
  • The concept has been expanded to other situations: women in patriarchal societies, LGBTQ2S+ people in homophobic/transphobic societies.
• Why it matters: double consciousness illuminates the experiences of oppressed people and provides a framework for understanding dynamics of gender, colonialism, xenophobia, and more.

📚 Carter G. Woodson

• Background: second African American (after Du Bois) to earn a PhD from Harvard; the only person whose parents were enslaved to obtain a PhD; taught at Howard and West Virginia State.
• Key contributions: founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; promoted Negro History Week (forerunner of Black History Month).
• Philosophy: believed education and increasing social/professional contacts between Black and white people could reduce racism; sought to engage Black civic leaders, teachers, clergy, women's groups, and fraternal associations in studying African-American history.
• Goal: "scientific study" of "neglected aspects of Negro life and history" and training a new generation in historical research.

🪝 bell hooks

• Background: US educational theorist and social activist (note: hooks intentionally does not capitalize her name, a political and ideological stance).
• Key work: Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom.
• Core argument: a teacher's use of control over students dulls enthusiasm, teaches obedience to authority, and prevents critical thinking.
• Pedagogy: an interplay of anti-colonial, critical, and feminist pedagogies based on freedom; builds a bridge between critical thinking and real-life situations.
• Practice: teachers and students should interrogate cultural assumptions supported by oppression.

🔥 Henry Giroux

• Background: foundational critical theorist in the US and Canada; pioneering work in critical pedagogy in K-12 and higher education.
• Core argument: supports students developing a consciousness of freedom, connecting knowledge to power, and taking constructive action.
• Recent work: examines how people are pitted against each other through class, race, and other differences that don't embrace white nationalism.

🌎 Neglected Thinkers: Latin American Educators

🇧🇷 Paulo Freire

• Background: Brazilian philosopher and educator; one of the most influential thinkers behind Social Reconstructionism.
• Key work: Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), a fundamental text of the critical pedagogy movement.
• Core critique—Banking model of education:

  Banking model: views students as empty vessels to be filled by the teacher's expertise, like a teacher putting "coins" of information into students' "piggy banks."

  • Freire rejected this model as oppressive.
• Alternative—Problem-posing education: recognizes the prior knowledge everyone has and can share with others; students and teachers co-create knowledge.
• Goal: develop conscientização (critical consciousness) so students can name and transform oppressive realities.
• Context: Freire's work strengthened political movements of the oppressed in Latin America; his years in exile included work in Chile, the US, Nicaragua, and elsewhere.

🇨🇱 Gabriela Mistral

• Background: Chilean poet, diplomat, pedagogue; first Ibero-American woman and second Latin American person to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1945).
• Philosophy: hybrid between Catholic (but not conservative) beliefs and liberal traits; promoted pedagogy based on the child, with Christian roots, attentive to rural and indigenous contexts.
• Work in Mexico: invited by Vasconcelos; fulfilled her potential as a teacher promoting child-centered pedagogy in rural and indigenous areas.
• Why she matters: her words and poetry generated conflicts with conservative sectors but made visible the impact of teaching, intellectual, and poetic practice.

🇦🇷 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

• Background: Argentine politician, writer, teacher, journalist, statesman; governor of San Juan (1862–1864), president of Argentina (1868–1874).
• Philosophy: questioned the best educational system for all students in Latin America; investigated Massachusetts (decentralized, society-driven) vs. Prussia (centralized, state-managed).
• Conclusion: believed students had a better option to succeed and learn independently under a centralized, state-managed system (Prussian model) rather than a decentralized system that instilled the habits of each local state.
• Legacy: laid the programmatic foundations of a national educational system in Argentina; contributed to the Law of Common Education of Buenos Aires (1875) and the National Law of Common Education (1884).

🇺🇾 Jesualdo Sosa

• Background: Uruguayan teacher, writer, pedagogue, journalist.
• Philosophy: combined a critique of the traditional school and the capitalist system with a proposal promoting children's autonomy, creativity, expression, work training, and community activities.
• Key work: Vida de un maestro (Life of a Teacher), which expanded worldwide despite censorship attempts by dictatorial governments.
• Legacy: a time of maturation, systematization, and recognition; called to collaborate in different parts of Latin America.

🇻🇪 Simón Rodríguez

• Background: Venezuelan hero, educator, politician; tutor of Simón Bolívar and Andrés Bello.
• Philosophy: favored equality in education as a right for all citizens; believed equality started in educational practices.
• Legacy: recognized as a great precursor of American pedagogical thought, a fighter for Latin American emancipation and public education for all as a form of social progress.
• Sacrifice: gave up all his belongings for his ideals.

🇲🇽 José Vasconcelos

• Background: Mexican lawyer, politician, writer, educator, philosopher; part of the revolutionary movement led by Francisco Madero.
• Role: Secretary of Education of the Federal Government (1921–1924); short but intense tenure.
• Contributions: promoted high culture, rural literacy missions, and muralism as ways of recovering Latin American roots (with support from Gabriela Mistral).
• Key work: The Cosmic Race, which argued in favor of mestizaje (the biological and cultural encounter between different ethnic groups, giving birth to new families and genotypes).
• Controversy: his work was not aligned with the thinking of the time.

🇵🇪 José Carlos Mariátegui

• Background: Peruvian writer, journalist, political thinker; known as El Amauta; one of the main scholars of Socialism in Latin America.
• Philosophy: "The revolution is not only the fight for bread, but also the conquest of beauty."
• Development: grew as a journalist at La Razón, became involved in workers' struggles and reformist ideals; during exile in Europe, was nurtured by Marxist ideas and Italian workers' struggles.
• Core concept—Autochthonous socialism: juxtaposition of Marxist theory, Latin Americanism, and indigenism, with strong emphasis on gender equality and depatriarchalizing educational practices.
• Key work: Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality (1928); criticized the liberal model of education (which placed the problem of indigenous people in education) and the lack of recognition of indigenous people as subjects of right.
• Legacy: founded the Peruvian Socialist Party (1928); his ideas were present in the editorial offering Amauta.

🇨🇺 José Martí

• Background: Cuban writer, politician, democratic republican, thinker, journalist, philosopher, poet; creator of the Cuban Revolutionary Party; organizer of the War of 95 (Cuban War of Independence).
• Philosophy: strongly involved in struggles against Spanish colonization and US interference in the Caribbean; claimed Bolivarian principles.
• Four themes: decolonization of Latin American knowledge, formation of good people and the role of love in pedagogy, the special place of creative work, and recovery of Latin American identity.
• Legacy: founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892 (during exile) as a tool for Cuban independence; died on the battlefield.

🇨🇺 Jorge J.E. Gracia

• Background: born in Cuba (1942); Cuban refugee in the USA; studied at Universidad de La Habana and Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro before moving to the US.
• Education: degree in philosophy from Wheaton College (1965), master's from University of Chicago (1966), licentiate in medieval studies from Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies (1970), PhD in medieval philosophy from University of Toronto (1971).
• Research areas: metaphysics, ethnic and racial issues, philosophy of religion, medieval and Latin American philosophy.
• Notable contribution: edited Philosophical Analysis in Latin America (1984), the first work of its kind published in English by a philosopher.
• Leadership: founding chair of the American Philosophical Association's Committee for Hispanics in Philosophy; president of multiple societies.
• Career: SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Chair at SUNY Buffalo (1971–2020).

🇬🇹 Héctor-Neri Castañeda

• Background: Guatemalan American philosopher; emigrated to the US in 1948 as a refugee; earned bachelor's, master's, and PhD from University of Minnesota.
• Career: studied at Oxford, worked at Duke and Wayne State (where he founded the philosophical journal Noûs, still in production); became Mahlon Powell Professor of philosophy and first dean of Latino affairs at Indiana University (1969).
• Key contributions:
  • Developed guise theory: applies to the analysis of thought, language, and the structure of the world through abstract objects.
  • Discovered the concept of the quasi-indexical (or quasi-indicator): a linguistic expression in which a person referencing another can shift from context to context (like 'you' referring to different people in different contexts).
• Recognition: Guggenheim Fellowship, grants from NEH, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NSF; Presidential Medal of Honor from Guatemala (1991).

🧩 Developing a Personal Philosophy of Education

🪞 Self-reflection and assessment

• The excerpt includes an activity: complete an Educational Philosophies Self Assessment and Scoring Guide.
• Guiding questions:
  • What does being a teacher mean to you?
  • What are the skills effective teachers have?
  • What should be taught? How should it be taught?
  • What is knowledge?
  • Why is it important to establish trusting relationships between students, teachers, and the community?
• Purpose: whether you are aware or not, answering these questions means you have begun writing philosophical statements about education and being a teacher.

📖 The "apprenticeship of observation"

• Dan Lortie (1975) coined this term in Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study.
• What it means: many people who pursue teaching think they already know what it entails because they have spent at least 13 years observing teachers as students.
• The problem: this one-dimensional perspective can contribute to a simplistic idea of the role of teachers and the purpose of schooling.
• Don't confuse: seeing teachers work is not the same as understanding the full complexity of teaching (planning, assessment, relationship-building, systemic constraints, etc.).

🌐 Incorporating diverse perspectives

• Activity—"The Danger of a Single Story": watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk.
• Steps:
  1. Select a mainstream-culture based "single story" about education and analyze how an ideology or stereotype is perpetuated.
  2. Explore the story's origins, functions, and impact on education.
  3. Examine alternative stories told by the survivors of the single story.
  4. Propose ways to change the story in your teaching and in the educational system in general.
• Why it matters: education is not neutral; it is political, ideological, and shaped by who has social, economic, and legal power.

⚖️ The Political Nature of Education

🏛️ Education as a social institution

Social institution: a pattern of behaviors and social arrangements that have evolved to meet the needs of society.

• How those needs are defined in official conversations depends on who has the social, economic, and legal power to do the defining.
• The current US system was derived from a system explicitly designed to reproduce wealth and privilege for societal elites.
• Result: the foundational theorists represent a narrow range of perspectives; many educational approaches, perspectives, and philosophies have been neglected.

🔄 Ideology and the status quo

• According to Britzman (quoted by Kelle, 1996): "the context of teaching is political, it is an ideological context that privileges the interests, values, and practices necessary to maintain the status quo."
• Teaching is "not innocent of ideology"; the context of education tends to preserve "institutional values of compliance to authority, social conformity, efficiency, standardization, competition, and the objectification of knowledge."
• Implication: contemporary debates over public education reflect our deepest ideological differences; the nation's perception of schooling often "shifts from panacea to scapegoat" (Tyack & Cuban, 1995).

🌱 Liberatory thinking

Liberatory thinking: the re-imagining of one's assumptions and beliefs about others and their capabilities by interrupting internal beliefs that undermine productive relationships and actions.

• Goes beyond simply changing mindsets to creating concrete opportunities for others to experience liberation.
• Covers for and centers underrepresented and marginalized people.
• Pushes people to interrogate their own multiple identities in relation to others and to think about the consequences of actions, especially for students of critical need.
• Explores how mindsets can impede or ignite progress in the classroom, school, and district.
• (Definition from Chicago Public Schools Equity Framework.)

📊 Comparison Table: Four Mainstream Philosophies

Philosophy	What should be taught	How it should be taught	Classroom structure	Goal
Essentialism	Core essential skills; traditional academic disciplines; objective facts	Lecture, teacher demonstrations	Teacher-centered	Prepare productive members of society; develop common culture
Perennialism	Universal truths; liberal arts (English, foreign languages, math, sciences, fine arts, philosophy)	Teacher-centered but also Socratic Seminar and student discussion	May be teacher-centered or student-centered	Develop well-rounded individuals; help humans solve problems across time
Progressivism	Real-world problems; integrated curriculum; experiential learning	Project-based, problem-based, service-learning; cooperative groups	Student-centered	Develop the whole child; students learn by doing
Social Reconstructionism / Critical Pedagogy	Social, environmental, economic justice; social critique; political action	Student-centered; focus on critical consciousness and political action	De-centers the teacher; student-centered	Emancipate marginalized groups; prepare students to make a better world

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Building positive relationships and understanding student diversity—including cultural backgrounds, learning styles, trauma histories, and bilingualism—is essential for creating safe, effective learning environments where all students can succeed.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Student diversity is multidimensional: includes ethnicity, language, culture, religion, learning styles, motivation, trauma history, and socioeconomic factors.
• Autobiographical narratives reveal four key dimensions: sociocultural, linguistic, academic, and cognitive aspects help teachers understand and build on student strengths.
• Bilingualism as an asset: the term "emergent bilingual" values students' existing language competencies rather than framing them as deficient.
• Trauma affects learning: childhood trauma impacts brain function, emotional regulation, and academic performance; trauma-informed practices prioritize safety and relationships over punishment.
• Common confusion: growth mindset vs. fixed mindset—believing abilities can develop through effort (growth) versus believing abilities are innate and unchangeable (fixed).

🎓 Understanding Student Diversity

🌍 What diversity encompasses

Diversity: "the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different."

• Includes race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, socioeconomic status, and immigration status.
• Every student brings unique talents, skills, and challenges to the classroom.
• Teachers must understand their own cultural beliefs and biases before they can effectively understand students.

🌐 Culture and multicultural classrooms

Culture: the values, clothing, religion, holidays, traditions, language, music, literature, beliefs, and expectations that make one community distinct from another.

• Everyone comes from their own unique cultural experience, including both teachers and students.
• Teachers who learn about students' backgrounds feel more capable and efficient in their work.
• Don't confuse: culture is not just about ethnicity—it encompasses many interconnected elements of identity and experience.

📝 Autobiographical Narratives as a Tool

📖 What autobiographical narratives are

• A key tool from Biography-Driven Instruction (BDI) that helps teachers understand core aspects of each student.
• Teachers should create their own autobiographical narratives first to understand the process.
• Design varies by student age, needs, and language proficiency; parents/caregivers may contribute information.

🧩 Four dimensions to gather

The excerpt identifies four critical dimensions:

Dimension	Key Questions	Purpose
Sociocultural (SC)	Where born/raised? Who is caregiver? Important people? Jobs/hobbies?	Understand family structure and community context
Linguistic (LG)	First/second language? Language strengths/weaknesses?	Identify language assets and needs
Academic (AC)	School history? Programs? Sports? Likes/dislikes about school?	Build on prior academic experiences
Cognitive (COG)	Learning style? Learning strengths? Study struggles?	Adapt instruction to how students learn best

🔧 Applying narrative insights

Teachers can use information from autobiographical narratives to:

• Invite family members to share cultural expertise or professional knowledge.
• Have students use their first language to support English acquisition.
• Incorporate multiple learning styles into lessons.
• Provide specific interventions for areas where students struggle.
• Capitalize on student strengths by making them classroom models.

Example: If a narrative reveals a student lived in another country, the teacher might ask them to share information about that place, validating their experience and enriching the class.

🗣️ Bilingualism and Language Learning

📊 Historical context in the U.S.

• Bilingual education existed in the 1800s: Ohio (1839), Louisiana (1847), New Mexico Territory (1850) authorized bilingual instruction.
• By 1900, about 600,000 students (4% of elementary students) received instruction in German.
• World War I era: fears about loyalty led most states to enact English-only laws, dismantling bilingual education by the mid-1920s.
• 1968 Bilingual Education Act and 1974 Lau v. Nichols case restored support for bilingual approaches.

🌟 Terminology shift: ELL to emergent bilingual

• English Language Learner (ELL): traditional term used by state/federal agencies; focuses on what students are learning.
• Emergent bilingual: newer term that values students' existing language proficiencies and celebrates their developing bilingualism.
• The shift reframes bilingualism as an asset rather than a deficit.

Funds of knowledge: the language competencies and cultural knowledge students already possess.

Don't confuse: "emergent bilingual" doesn't mean students lack skills—it recognizes they are becoming proficient in an additional language while maintaining their first language.

📈 Current demographics

According to 2019 data, bilingual students constituted:

• 14.8% in cities
• 10.0% in suburban areas
• 7.0% in towns
• 4.4% in rural areas

Approximately 20% of the U.S. population is bilingual; top languages spoken at home (besides English): Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic.

💪 Motivation and Mindset

🎯 What drives student motivation

Motivation: "an internal state that activates, guides and sustains behavior."

• Includes cultural background, developmental level, beliefs about the value of learning, and belief in one's ability to succeed.
• The excerpt challenges the notion of "unmotivated students," suggesting instead that curriculum and instruction may be unmotivating.
• Teachers should include diverse perspectives and people of color when designing curriculum.

🧠 Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset

Growth mindset (Carol Dweck):

• Belief that abilities can be developed through effort.
• Effort and self-efficacy lead to increased learning ability.
• Students ask for help and respond well to feedback.
• Teachers focus on mastering material and view mistakes as learning opportunities.

Fixed mindset:

• Belief that some people naturally have more ability and nothing can change that.
• Views effort as opposite to ability ("Smart people don't have to study").
• Students less likely to try hard or ask for help.
• Teachers focus on test performance and competition.

Example: A growth-mindset teacher says, "We're going to practice over and over. That's how you get good. You'll make mistakes—that's how you learn." A fixed-mindset teacher says, "This test will determine your math abilities."

⚠️ Critical perspective on growth mindset

Dr. J. Luke Wood critiques growth mindset as incomplete:

• It doesn't explicitly acknowledge how racist and classist systems can inhibit success regardless of effort.
• Students of color, especially boys, need to hear messages about both their effort and ability.
• Teachers should praise both effort and ability, not just effort alone.

🎨 Learning Styles and Differentiation

🧩 Multiple approaches to learning

Everyone learns differently through various combinations of senses and preferences. The excerpt presents three frameworks:

Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory (8 types):

• Verbal, Logical, Visual, Kinesthetic, Rhythmic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist

VARK Approach (sensory focus):

• Visual, Aural, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic

Equity Framework (Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad):

• Identity development
• Skill development
• Intellectual development
• Criticality

🔄 Differentiated instruction

Differentiated instruction: "ensuring that what a student learns, how he or she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he or she has learned is a match for that student's readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning."

• Teachers need a large toolkit of strategies to accommodate diverse learning needs.
• Observation and strong relationships help teachers understand how each student learns best.
• No "one size fits all" approach works for all students.

🌍 Cultural Values and Learning

🤝 Collectivistic vs. individualistic cultures

Zaretta Hammond's research identifies key differences:

Individualistic	Collectivistic
Focus on independence and individual achievement	Focus on interdependence and group success
Self-reliance; take care of yourself to get ahead	Rely on collective wisdom; group members help each other
Learning through individual study and reading	Learning through group interaction and dialogue
Individual contributions and status important	Group dynamics and harmony important
Competitive	Collaborative
Technical/analytical	Relational

• U.S. culture tends toward individualism; many Latin American cultures emphasize collectivism.
• Teachers must understand and respect different cultural values when motivating students.
• Don't confuse: what motivates students in one culture may not work in another.

🏔️ Maslow's Hierarchy applied to culture

• Different cultures may prioritize different needs at the top of the hierarchy.
• U.S. culture (rule-oriented) may prioritize safety.
• Latin American cultures (nurturing) may prioritize social needs.
• Teachers must understand cultural values to effectively support student motivation.

🧠 Childhood Trauma and Its Effects

💔 What constitutes trauma

Trauma: "an emotional response to an intense event that threatens or causes harm. This harm can be physical or emotional, real or perceived."

Potential causes include:

• Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
• Neglect
• Effects of poverty
• Separation from loved ones
• Bullying
• Witnessing domestic or community violence
• Accidents or natural disasters
• Unpredictable behavior due to addiction or mental illness

Key principle: trauma is subjective—what overwhelms one student may not affect another the same way due to differences in resilience and support systems.

🧠 How trauma affects the brain

The excerpt uses a "house" metaphor:

Upstairs brain (Prefrontal Cortex):

• Controls planning, impulse control, executive functioning, organization
• The academic skills teachers expect

Downstairs brain (Limbic system/Amygdala):

• Involved in fight-or-flight response
• Takes over during traumatic or highly stressful events

When trauma occurs:

• The upstairs brain "shuts down"
• Executive functioning becomes inoperable
• The body enters survival mode
• Small stress doses can be beneficial, but high levels are "poisonous"

📚 Impact on learning and classroom behavior

Students who have experienced trauma may exhibit:

• Difficulty regulating emotions
• Impaired cognitive functions
• Trouble organizing material sequentially
• Problems with transitions
• Difficulty problem-solving
• Self-protective behaviors
• Easy frustration
• Inconsistent moods
• Overreactions to everyday challenges
• Negative outbursts or aggression
• Frequent physical complaints (stomach aches, headaches)
• Inappropriate social interactions
• Trouble with focus, organization, self-regulation
• Falling behind with classwork

Statistics: By age 16, approximately 2 out of 3 children experience a traumatic event; at least 1 in 7 experience abuse or neglect (likely underreported).

🛡️ Trauma-Informed Practice

🏥 What trauma-informed care means

Trauma-Informed Care: understanding a patient's (or student's) complete situation and life history to inform decision-making.

Components (Substance Abuse for Mental Health Administration):

• Creating a safe environment
• Supporting and teaching emotional regulation
• Building relationships and connectedness

✅ What works: trauma-informed strategies

Key principles:

1. Students are not trying to push your buttons—behavior is a subconscious effort to self-protect.
2. Change thinking from "What's wrong with this student?" to "What has this student been through?"
3. Understand trigger points (events, things, experiences that cause strong reactions).
4. Prioritize relationships before content.
5. Create physical, psychological, and social safety.

Ten tips from Dr. Caelan Soma:

1. They're not trying to push your buttons
2. They worry about what happens next
3. How the child feels matters, not how you feel about the situation
4. Trauma doesn't always involve violence
5. You don't need to know the trauma cause to help
6. They need to feel good at something and have positive influence
7. Direct connection exists between stress and learning
8. Self-regulation is a challenge
9. Ask kids directly what would help them
10. Be supportive outside your classroom too

❌ What doesn't work

Punishment is counterproductive:

• Disruptive behavior isn't willful disobedience—it's subconscious self-protection.
• Students' brains are screaming "Flight! Flee! Freeze!"
• Punishment not only doesn't work, it's highly detrimental.
• Respond in ways that help students feel connected and safe first, then revisit consequences.

Don't confuse: trauma-informed practice with being permissive—it's about understanding behavior before responding, not eliminating accountability.

🌈 Cultural responsiveness in trauma-informed teaching

Teachers must recognize cultural and racial biases when working with marginalized students:

Historical trauma example (Native American students):

• Forced assimilation into federal boarding schools was traumatic.
• Isolation from families created generational trauma.
• Suicide rates for Native Americans ages 15-24 are nearly four times higher than white counterparts.
• Teachers must integrate "cultural traditions of valuing reciprocal relationships with all living things."
• Focus on assets students bring rather than only on traumatic experiences.

The excerpt emphasizes: trauma-informed care must be culturally responsive, focusing on community assets and cultural values.

🤝 Building Relationships with Students

💙 Why relationships matter

• For trauma-affected children, strong connections are vital for building resilience.
• "Relationships have to come before content" for students who have experienced trauma.
• The more teachers know and understand students, the better equipped students are to face learning challenges.
• Many students are not listened to at home—feeling heard and valued makes a significant difference.

🔟 Ten ways to build relationships

1. Greet each student daily with hello and goodbye
2. Use letters and questionnaires to learn about students
3. Get parent input when possible
4. Appeal to students' interests
5. Speak to students with respect
6. Attend after-school activities
7. Share appropriate aspects of your own world
8. Give students a voice
9. Be authentic ("be real")
10. Trust that they will all do great things

👂 The importance of listening

• Always remember to listen actively.
• Many students are not listened to at home due to distractions.
• Help students feel heard and valued.
• This can make "all the difference in the world."

🎯 Conclusion and Core Principles

The excerpt emphasizes that effective teaching requires:

Knowledge foundation:

• Understanding yourself first (your own autobiography, biases, cultural background)
• Learning about child development
• Mastering differentiated instruction techniques

Relationship foundation:

• Caring about forging strong teacher-student relationships
• Creating positive environments with mutual respect
• Prioritizing safety and connection

Cultural responsiveness:

• Honoring diverse languages, cultures, and learning styles
• Viewing bilingualism and cultural differences as assets
• Understanding how structural inequalities affect students

Trauma awareness:

• Recognizing signs of trauma
• Implementing trauma-informed practices
• Avoiding punishment-based responses to trauma-driven behavior

The excerpt concludes: "What you cannot be taught is to care about forging these relationships in the first place. That must already be a part of who you are."

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Creating a welcoming, empathy-driven classroom environment requires intentional decisions about physical space, atmosphere, and humanizing management strategies that build trust and belonging for all students, rather than relying on punitive systems that shame or isolate.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Classroom environment vs. management: The term "classroom management" implies a power dynamic; instead, educators should focus on creating a welcoming environment that enhances student strengths through physical setup, overall atmosphere, and community agreements.
• Trauma and racial trauma: Students carry invisible backpacks of experiences including Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), bullying, and racial trauma that affect their ability to learn; educators must recognize these impacts and create trauma-informed spaces.
• Empathy vs. sympathy: Empathy involves recognizing and feeling students' emotions while maintaining high expectations; sympathy can lead to lowered expectations and does not build genuine connections.
• Common confusion—family involvement vs. engagement: Involvement is school-oriented (doing things "to" or "for" families), while engagement is family-oriented (working "with" families as partners); engagement builds stronger partnerships.
• Practices to avoid vs. embrace: Avoid punitive, shaming practices like clip charts, public humiliation, and group punishment; instead, use routines, morning meetings, individual contracts, and restorative justice approaches.

🏫 Understanding Classroom Environment Elements

🏗️ Physical setup

The physical arrangement of the classroom is a foundational element that educators can directly control.

• Organization and accessibility: Where students keep belongings, how they access materials, and whether learning resources (manipulatives, books, notebooks) are easily accessible and organized.
• Spatial arrangement: Desk and table arrangements must allow all students to see the teacher, classmates, and board; spaces should accommodate whole-group, small-group, and individual learning.
• Inclusive design: Students with disabilities must be able to access materials and move around easily; emergent bilinguals must understand where to find resources.
• Example: A classroom with clearly labeled bins for supplies in multiple languages, flexible seating arrangements, and wide pathways for wheelchair access.

🌡️ Overall atmosphere

The emotional climate of the classroom significantly impacts student learning and belonging.

• Warm vs. cold: Does the classroom feel structured, warm, and welcoming, or cold, sterile, and depersonalized?
• Cultural reflection: Do students see themselves in the environment? Does it reflect their cultures, values, and traditions?
• Teacher interactions: Does the teacher interact positively to build trust, or yell and talk down to students?
• Sense of home: Do students feel this is a "home" for their learning, or do they count down hours until they can leave?
• The bell hooks quote at the chapter opening emphasizes that teaching "in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students" is essential for deep learning.

📜 Community agreements

Agreements establish how the classroom community functions together.

• Co-created expectations: Has the teacher created community agreements with students (not imposed on them)?
• Clear learning expectations: Are there clear expectations for how students should learn and respect their own and others' learning?
• Equitable application: Are agreements for all students, or do some groups receive more attention, rewards, or consequences for similar behaviors?
• Communication systems: Is there a system so educators, students, and families know the agreements and how students are performing?
• According to Canter, an assertive teacher "clearly and firmly expresses their needs" with positive expectations, meaning what they say, so students know limits and view the teacher as fair and respected.

🌳 Hammond's Culture Tree

Understanding culture at multiple levels helps educators build trust and avoid mislabeling cultural differences as misbehavior.

Level	Description	Examples
Surface level (leaves)	Cultural aspects you can see	Food, dress, music
Shallow culture (trunk)	Less explicit cultural aspects	Concepts of time, personal space, eye contact norms
Deep culture (roots)	Collective unconscious beliefs and norms	Concepts of fairness, concepts of self, spirituality

• Why it matters: An educator from a culture where eye contact shows respect might mislabel a student avoiding eye contact as disrespectful, when that student's culture views avoiding eye contact as respectful.
• Educator responsibility: Learn about different cultures, acknowledge differences in the classroom, and share your own culture and experiences to help students feel welcome and develop belonging.

💔 Trauma and Its Impact on Learning

🎒 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Students carry invisible backpacks filled with life experiences—some light and safe, others heavy with trauma.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Childhood exposure to abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that may lead to increased social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties as well as decreased academic performance.

• Types of ACEs: Single-episode traumas (house fire, car accident) or complex developmental traumas (ongoing physical, sexual, emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; household dysfunction).
• Household dysfunction (most common): Divorce/separation, alcohol/substance abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence, incarceration.
• Physical neglect: Failure to meet basic needs (food, shelter, safe/clean environment, medical/dental care)—though families without resources may experience these issues beyond their control.
• Emotional neglect: Failure to meet or recognize a child's emotional needs.
• Impact: Traditional interventions may not work long-term; students need consistent development of healthy relationships with staff and trauma-informed classrooms.
• Mandatory reporting: In Oregon, teachers are legally obligated to report signs of abuse or neglect to Child Protective Services, even outside school; failure can result in job loss.

🎭 Racial trauma

Racial trauma is often overlooked in discussions of classroom trauma.

• Gholdy Muhammad states that educators discuss emotional trauma and childhood trauma but talk less about racial trauma's effects on students of color.
• How it manifests: When teachers hold deficit thinking about students who share certain racial or identity characteristics, this thinking enters classrooms and causes trauma.
• Consequences: Students may feel they don't belong, feel worthless or "not good enough"; academics and engagement suffer; this can follow them throughout life and disrupt their joy.
• Educator responsibility: Self-reflect on biases, name them, work to disrupt deficit thinking, and dismantle systems of oppression in institutions.
• Don't confuse: Racial trauma is distinct from other forms of trauma because it stems specifically from racism, biases, and deficit thinking about students' racial or cultural identities.

🚫 Bullying in the classroom

Bullying is a form of trauma that occurs within the school setting.

Bullying: Aggressive behavior that includes (1) an imbalance of power and (2) repetition of behavior.

Three types of bullying:

Type	Description	Examples
Verbal	Saying mean things	Teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, threatening harm
Social/Relational	Hurting reputation or relationships	Leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors, public embarrassment
Physical	Hurting body or possessions	Kicking, hitting, spitting, tripping, pushing, taking/breaking things, rude hand gestures

• Statistics: In 2017, about 20% of students ages 12–18 reported being bullied at school; 42% indicated bullying related to physical appearance (30%), race (10%), gender (8%), disability (7%), ethnicity (7%), religion (5%), or sexual orientation (4%).
• Cyberbullying: Bullying via electronic technology (mean texts/emails, rumors on social media, embarrassing pictures/videos/websites/fake profiles).
• Why cyberbullying is harder to control: Happens 24/7, reaches students when alone, can be posted anonymously, distributed quickly to wide audiences, difficult to trace source, hard to delete after posting.
• Consequences: Students who are bullied are more likely to use drugs/alcohol, skip school, be unwilling to attend school, receive poor grades, have lower self-esteem, have more health problems, and in the most devastating cases, commit suicide.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families and Community Partnerships

🤝 Family involvement vs. family engagement

These terms are often used interchangeably but represent distinct approaches.

Family involvement (school-oriented):

• School holds expectations for family participation and tells families what to do.
• School does things "to" or "for" families; families respond.
• Example: School sends out conference schedule; families are expected to come at appointed times; teacher reports how student is performing while family passively accepts information.

Family engagement (family-oriented):

• Working "with" families: sharing responsibility and working together to support children's learning.

• Example: Teachers work with families to find communication methods that work for them (in-person meetings, phone calls during work breaks, FaceTime); teachers ask families what they've seen at home, their celebrations, goals, or concerns.

• Why engagement is better: Families are partners, not passive recipients; engagement builds stronger relationships and honors families' knowledge of their children.

• Cultural considerations: Different cultures have different norms for family involvement in education; some cultures believe educators are trained experts and leave learning to schools as a sign of respect; others believe families and teachers are co-educators. Don't judge based on your own cultural background.

🏘️ Redefining "family"

Traditional views of family are too narrow and exclude many students' realities.

• Inclusive definition: Families might consist of same-sex parents, single parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, step-parents, adopted parents, foster parents, older siblings, and more.
• Language matters: Use "family" instead of "parents" to be more inclusive.
• Community as family: Communities can be part of families; schools can engage with community "families" creatively (e.g., community grandmas who come to tell stories and listen to students).

🚧 Interrupting stereotypes about families

Single stories about families—especially families of color—can lead to harmful stereotypes.

Common stereotype #1: Families don't come to school because they don't care.

• Reality: Many possible reasons families don't come to school.
• Edwards (2016): Families of color may have had unpleasant experiences in schools themselves; schools were traumatic places, and they cannot bring themselves to enter buildings again.

Common stereotype #2: Families have nothing to offer their children or school.

• Reality: Families are children's first teachers; before school, children learned their family's language and culture by being immersed in them; children learn families' and communities' ways of knowing and being through interaction.
• Reframing: Shift from family involvement (school dictates needs) to family engagement (collaboration); move from deficit orientation to strengths-based perspective.
• Families have resources to offer; schools should note community resources and extend invitations for meaningful work.

💬 Communication Strategies

🗣️ Communicating with students

Teaching is fundamentally about communication—listening, speaking, reading, presenting, and writing.

• Why communication matters: Teachers must communicate well to instruct, advise, and mentor students; collaborate with colleagues; update administrators; and respond to parents via calls, visits, or emails.
• Complexity of classroom communication: Teachers interact with students, other teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, parents, and community members daily; first-year teachers are often surprised by the variety of communication forms required.

🤝 Building trust through communication

Trusting relationships ensure students feel belonging and are eager to communicate their thinking, learning, and needs.

• According to Aguilar (2017), building trust is difficult: whoever intends to build trust needs five positive or neutral interactions with another person to build and maintain trust.
• Power of positive interactions: Teachers need to understand the power of trusting relationships and positive interactions with students.
• Brené Brown's perspective on trust emphasizes being respectful, friendly, diplomatic, a good listener, and able to build rapport—all requiring good communication skills.

🌍 Culturally sensitive communication

Teachers need to learn about students to understand their communication styles.

• Nonverbal communication: Some students express themselves through actions.
• Verbal communication: Others express needs using words.
• Managing different styles: Learn about functions/purposes of communication; balance talk related to content, procedures, and controlling behavior; understand nonverbal communication supplements and sometimes contradicts verbal communication; recognize unwritten expectations (structure of participation).
• Freire (2000): "Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication."

📞 Communicating with families and caregivers

Teachers are responsible for keeping families informed and involved.

• Purpose: Communication enriches families' understanding of how learning happens in their child's classroom and what their child is doing; this allows families to support learning more confidently.
• Culturally responsive strategies: Use practices from "Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education: Family and Community Engagement" to communicate in culturally responsive ways.
• Contribution to classroom environment: Family communication contributes indirectly to a positive learning environment.

✅ Building a Positive Classroom Environment

💚 Empathy vs. sympathy

Empathy is essential for building connections and protective factors for students.

Empathy: The ability to recognize and feel the emotions of others.

Key differences:

Empathy	Sympathy
Recognizes emotions and maintains high expectations	Feels sorry and may lower expectations
Builds connections	Does not build connections
Shows belief in students	Does not show belief in students

Example statements:

Empathy	Sympathy
"I can see you are frustrated right now. How can I help you?"	"I'm sorry you're frustrated, but you need to get back to work."
"Wow, you had a really hard morning. When I have a hard morning, sometimes I need a few minutes before I'm ready to work. Would you like some time before you get started?"	"Wow, what a horrible morning. You don't have to do this assignment."
"I noticed you aren't with your friends like usual. Is there anything you want to talk about?"	"Why weren't you with your friends today?"
"Can you tell me how you are feeling right now?"	"What's wrong?"

• Why empathy matters: Interacting from sympathy can lead to expecting less of students who experience difficult lives; empathy maintains high expectations while validating emotions.
• Bob Sornson (2014): "By helping children learn empathy, we raise the odds they will have strong positive social relationships, truly care for others, and be able to set appropriate limits in their own lives without using angry behaviors or words."

❌ Practices to avoid

Traditional classroom management practices can interfere with healthy teacher-student connections and trigger students' fear responses.

Don't: Clip charts and card-flipping systems

• Based on "stoplight model" (green = on-task, yellow = warning, red = repeated infraction).
• Why harmful: Punitive and shaming; publicly visible to entire class and visitors; students must move clips/flip cards in front of peers after verbal reprimands; can activate fight, flight, or freeze response; students no longer feel safe.

Don't: Public humiliation/shaming

• Never acceptable to yell at students, especially publicly.
• Why harmful: Adds to shame students may already experience; visible punishments (name on board, standing in corner, not joining group on carpet) are humiliating.
• Note: Sometimes students need space to decompress and regulate emotions—this can be done without public humiliation.

Don't: Isolation

• Sending students out of room or to calm-down space as punitive response to emotions.
• Why harmful: Can activate fear response; adults experience a range of emotions throughout the day, and students do too; if classrooms aren't based on empathy, isolation exacerbates the situation.
• Better approach: Empathetic response validates feelings and may set limits/consequences if safety is a concern.

Don't: Group punishment

• Applying consequences to all students when one or a few demonstrate off-task behavior.
• Examples: "If anyone talks during snack time, no one gets to go outside for recess"; "If any student shouts out, no one gets added game time."
• Why harmful: Not realistic or reasonable; students who struggle with self-regulation become scapegoats for "ruining it" for everyone; leads to resentment and exclusion from peer group.

Don't: Assign laps at recess

• Common consequence for misbehavior or noncompliance (e.g., not completing homework).
• Why harmful: (1) Associates exercise with punishment, reducing likelihood students will maintain healthy behaviors; (2) Takes away unstructured break time from students who often need it most (those needing constant redirection for socializing or movement).

Don't: Be a negative role model

• Example: Teacher grabs something from student out of frustration; later, student grabs something from peer and receives consequence; student feels "it isn't fair."
• Why harmful: Models inappropriate behavior then punishes student for using the modeled behavior.
• Better approach: Acknowledge your behavior and repair the relationship: "Joey, I'm sorry. Earlier I grabbed something from your hands. When you did the same thing to Raúl, I gave you a consequence. I need help remembering to do the right thing sometimes too. Do you think you could help me?" This models that adults make mistakes and how to recover and repair.

✅ Strategies to create a welcoming environment

Replace punitive practices with those that build emotional intelligence and community.

Do: Know your students

• Positive relationships that affirm membership in classroom community are foundational.
• How: Beginning-of-year "getting to know you" surveys; sit with students during lunch; chat during breaks/recess; ask families for tips; attend sporting events, performances, and activities students invite you to.
• Use information equitably: Work personalized references into instruction for all students equally.
• Professional boundaries: Your job is not to be a student's friend; you are the professional adult. Age matters (kindergarten birthday party invitation vs. high school birthday party invitation).

Do: Establish positive relationships with families

• From the beginning of the school year, reach out in various ways (phone calls, notes, learning management system messages).
• Provide specific positive feedback: Show families you know their child as an individual.
• "Surprise" notes home: Highlight positive achievements for families to celebrate; send for all children and track to ensure equity.
• Investing time up front: Building positive relationships early means you'll have a partnership when issues arise later.
• Remember the common goal: Educators and families both want what's best for children; sometimes they have different perspectives on how to reach that outcome.

Do: Routines

• Humans feel safe when they know what to expect; routines help students know what to expect.
• Examples: Posted schedule with times and activities; special greetings; expectations for arrival/departure; procedures for accessing materials.
• Why they work: Predictable routines create feelings of safety and security; students can reasonably expect what's coming next.
• Handling changes: Prepare students repeatedly, ahead of time, for any changes in routine; this facilitates trust and prevents dysregulation related to change.

Do: Morning meetings

• Daily routine that builds empathy and community.
• Format: Classroom community gatherings (on carpet or at desks) including academic and social-emotional activities.
• Activities: Special morning greetings with peers; teacher discusses plans for the day; students openly express how they feel; gives students a voice and helps them feel valued.
• Secondary level adaptation: Allot a few minutes at beginning of each class for brief check-in; ask non-threatening questions or provide opportunity for students to share on rotating basis.
• Why it matters: Secondary students undergo significant developmental changes and also need opportunity to be heard and have a sense of belonging.

Do: Classroom responsibilities

• Provide students with ownership of classroom environment.
• Elementary examples: Line leader, caboose, paper passer, "librarians" (maintaining/organizing books), "S.I.C." (student in charge—takes over when teacher works with small group; students ask them for bathroom permission).
• Secondary examples: Teacher's assistant for the day (running errands to front office).
• Important: Rotate responsibilities among students so no favoritism is interpreted.

Do: Individual contracts

• Some students need more specific structures and rules than the whole class needs.
• Instead of: "One-size-fits-all" behavioral management system that doesn't meet all students' needs.
• Format: Specific, observable goals with clear time parameters and straightforward, tangible outcomes.
• Example: Dr. Wells's kindergarten student struggling with self-regulation who loved Angry Birds; she created an Angry Birds behavior chart for this student only; target behavior was listening and following directions the first time given; started with 1 out of 10 directions in one hour to experience success; gradually increased challenge (5 out of 10 in an hour, then 5 out of 10 for whole morning); reward was playing Angry Birds on tablet for five minutes.
• Keep it private: Don't tape chart to board for entire class to see; use clipboard and discretely mark; privately confer with student out of earshot of peers.
• Important considerations: Know students' needs and interests; pick one area for growth at a time; contracts take time, patience, and consistency; won't fix everything immediately.

Do: Teach social/emotional skills and mindfulness

• Implementation of social-emotional learning activities assists development of self-regulation and conflict resolution skills.
• Regulation space: A place in classroom where students can go when they need a break or need to regulate emotions; must be taught repeatedly to whole class.
• What to include: Sensory items (stress balls, fidget sticks, putty); self-regulation tools (social stories, coloring pages, deep breathing tools, visual reminders for how to use the area).
• Normalizing use: Removes stigma or punishment associated with experiencing strong emotions; makes regulation skills a positive experience.
• Role modeling: Educators should model use of regulation skills throughout the day. Example: "Class, I am feeling frustrated right now. I can feel myself starting to get warm and my heart is going faster. I'm going to use Figure 8 Breathing to calm down."

⚖️ Restorative Justice and Conflict Resolution

🔄 What is restorative justice

Restorative Justice: A system of addressing behaviors which focuses on learning through reconciliation with the classroom community.

• When students misbehave persistently and disruptively, educators need strategies that are more active and assertive and lead to conflict resolution—the reduction of disagreements that persist over time.
• Two parts: (1) Identifying precisely what "the" problem is; (2) Reminding student of classroom expectations and rules without apology or harshness, but with simple clarity and assertiveness.
• Benefits: Clarification and assertion can reduce conflicts between teacher and individual student and provide a model for other students to consider when they have disagreements.

🔍 Step 1: Clarify and identify the problem

Classrooms are emotional places, which can cause trouble if negative feelings interfere with understanding what went wrong.

• Allow calm down: Let all involved calm down first.
• Let each share: If issue is between two students, let each share their side; if issue involves you and a student, let student state their view, then you share yours.
• Why it matters: Diagnosing the conflict accurately is necessary to resolve it.

👂 Step 2: Active and empathetic listening

Active Listening: Attending carefully to all aspects of what a student says and attempting to understand or empathize with it as fully as possible, even if you don't agree.

• How to do it: Ask lots of questions to continually check understanding; encourage student to elaborate or expand on remarks; paraphrase and summarize what student said to check your perceptions.
• What to avoid: Don't move too fast toward "solving" the problem with advice, instructions, or scolding; responding too soon can shut down communication prematurely and leave you with inaccurate impression of the problem's source.
• When to use: For most conflicts involving two students, skip to Step 4 after this step.

💬 Step 3: Assertive discipline and "I" messages

Once you've listened well enough to understand the student's point of view, frame responses in terms of how the behavior affects you as a teacher.

Features of effective responses:

• Assertive: Neither passive/apologetic nor unnecessarily hostile/aggressive. Example: "Joe, you are talking while I'm explaining something" (not "Joe, do you think you could be quiet now?" or "Joe, be quiet!").
• I-messages vs. you-messages: I-messages focus on how problem behavior affects teacher's ability to teach and how it makes teacher feel; you-messages focus on evaluating the mistake or problem the student created.
  • I-message: "Your talking is making it hard for me to remember what I'm trying to say."
  • You-message: "Your talking is rude."
• Encourage ethical thinking: Encourage student to think about effects of actions on others. Instead of "When you cut in line ahead of other kids, that was not fair to them," try "How do you think the other kids feel when you cut in line ahead of them?"

🤝 Step 4: Negotiating a solution

When conflict persists over time and develops complications, negotiation is often better than simply announcing or dictating a resolution.

Negotiation: Systematically discussing options and compromising on one if possible.

Steps for negotiation:

1. Decide what the problem is: Involves a lot of active listening.
2. Brainstorm possible solutions, then consider effectiveness: Include students in this step; otherwise, you're imposing a solution, not negotiating.
3. Choose a solution, if possible by consensus: Complete agreement may not be possible, but strive for it. Voting may be democratic but can allow individuals to "announce" differences and maintain conflict if feelings are running high.
4. Pay attention to how well the solution works: Things may not work out as hoped; you may need to renegotiate later.

• Why negotiation matters: Requires time and effort, but usually less than continuing to cope with the original problem; results can be beneficial to everyone.
• Examples of persistent problems: Student repeatedly late for class; two students persist in speaking rudely to each other; student fails to complete homework time after time.

🎯 Critical Considerations

🏛️ Race and classroom management

While we like to think classrooms are fair and equitable, the reality is often different.

• Teachers of all races are more likely to punish Black students (Smith, 2015).
• Black girls are seven times more likely to be suspended than White girls (Finley, 2017).
• School-to-prison pipeline: Getting in trouble at school can be an entry point into the juvenile detention system.
• Educator responsibility: Be aware of these statistics and trends to proactively support all students' success within the classroom and beyond; reflect on your own biases.

🌈 Inclusive practice

As you develop getting-to-know-you surveys or beginning-of-the-year activities, ensure all students can answer questions.

• Avoid privilege-based questions: Don't ask questions related to vacations or material items that may be impacted by privilege.
• Why it matters: Creates a truly welcoming environment where all students feel they belong, regardless of their family's economic situation.

📝 Conclusion

Before students can learn, they must first feel safe, supported, and valued.

Key takeaways:

• Intentional decisions: Creating empathy-driven classroom environments involves intentional decisions about physical arrangement, affirming atmosphere, and humanizing management strategies while avoiding humiliation or shame.
• Community stakeholders: Partner with school social workers, family members, and community members to access additional resources for student success.
• Awareness of uncontrollable elements: ACEs are common with varying impacts on social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning; understanding students' unique histories is important, but so is uncovering what makes them resilient; adverse experiences don't mean students can't learn and grow—they need positive adult connections even more.
• Elements to include: Routines, morning meetings, developing individual relationships with students.
• Elements to avoid: Clip charts, card-flipping systems, group punishment, public humiliation.
• Foundation for success: Building and modeling empathy fosters reciprocal relationships where students feel educators' genuine care and concern; intentionally creating a humanizing classroom environment lays the foundation for students to learn and grow.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Pedagogy encompasses diverse teaching strategies ranging from teacher-centered to student-centered approaches, and effective teaching requires understanding multiple ways of knowing, addressing both dominant and counter narratives, and creating conditions that support all learners in developing higher-order thinking skills.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What pedagogy means: the philosophy of teaching and learning, including the strategies teachers use to support learning.
• Multiple ways of knowing: knowledge includes acquaintance (direct experience), declarative (facts), and procedural (how-to), with schools focusing mainly on the latter two.
• Dominant vs counter narratives: the dominant narrative reflects mainstream political/economic structures, while counter narratives highlight alternative perspectives often excluded from standard curricula.
• Common confusion: teacher-centered vs student-centered—direct instruction (teacher-led) vs active learning (student-driven inquiry and collaboration); effective teaching often blends both approaches.
• Why it matters: pedagogical choices affect whether students become dependent or independent learners, with implications for equity and student empowerment.

📚 Ways of knowing and types of knowledge

📚 Three types of knowledge

The excerpt describes three general types of knowledge in Western education:

Knowledge by acquaintance: developed through direct awareness and interaction with the world.

Declarative (factual) knowledge: knowing facts—capitals, dog breeds, scientists' names.

Procedural knowledge: knowing how to do something—ice skating, making cookies, writing.

• Schools focus mostly on declarative and procedural knowledge.
• Example: A teacher education student may memorize principles of culturally responsive teaching (declarative) but lack understanding of how to apply them in a classroom (procedural).

🔄 How declarative and procedural interact

• Procedural knowledge is not always more complex; it can be simple (brushing teeth) or automated through repetition (driving, reading).
• Most learning combines both types: you know elements of a persuasive essay (declarative) and apply them creatively based on audience (procedural).
• Don't confuse: declarative knowledge can be challenging when unfamiliar, while procedural knowledge may become automatic and require less conscious effort.

🧠 Bloom's Taxonomy connection

• Bloom's analysis contrasted lower-level learning (knowledge, comprehension—emphasizing facts) with higher-order learning (application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation—emphasizing how knowledge is used).
• This taxonomy is frequently referenced in US education and addressed later in assessment contexts.

🎯 Pedagogical approaches: teacher-centered vs student-centered

🎯 Direct instruction

Direct instruction: instructional approaches that are structured, sequenced, and led by teachers; presentation of academic content by teachers through lecture or demonstration.

Basic techniques include:

• Establishing clear learning objectives
• Organizing and sequencing lessons purposefully
• Reviewing instructions and modeling processes
• Providing clear explanations and illustrations
• Asking questions to check understanding

Important note: Teachers rarely use only direct instruction—diverse strategies are frequently blended. Negative perceptions likely result from overreliance rather than inherent problems with the approach.

🎯 Active learning (Socratic method)

• Originally formulated by Greek philosopher Socrates (399 BCE): instructor asks questions to understand students' viewpoints.
• Radical because it placed learning more in students' hands.
• As active learners, students ask questions, converse about topics, and interact with material.
• All students reflect on prompts, work in pairs/small groups, and interact with material.

🎯 Drill and practice

• Small tasks repeated for mastery: spelling, vocabulary, multiplication tables.
• Focuses on declarative knowledge through repetition.
• Considered outdated by today's standards; often deemed ineffective.
• The excerpt quotes Bartoli: "Having to spend long periods of time on repetitive tasks is a sign that learning is not taking place."

🎯 Lecture

• Convenient and efficient; no student interruptions.
• Teacher can relate material to other topics, define terms, connect to students' interests.
• Limitation: places students in passive role; students are "having knowledge poured into their brains."
• Topics often not remembered well because students don't actively create meaning.
• Lecturer usually doesn't know if students understand (no feedback).

🎯 Question and answer

• Allows application of knowledge and student participation.
• Teachers invite brief responses incorporating prior knowledge and interpretation.
• Indicates whether students understand material.
• Motivates students to listen and assesses learning depth.
• Can involve both teacher-to-student and student-to-teacher questions.

🎯 Discussion

• Teacher shifts to leading exchange of ideas about a specific topic.
• Students gain voice; may present their own research.
• Students have some control over the discussion's direction.
• Equity consideration: teachers need strategies to ensure all students contribute and all voices are heard.
• Students must listen to classmates to consider multiple perspectives and sometimes revise their thinking.

Example—Socratic seminar: formal discussion based on text where leader asks open-ended questions; students support ideas with evidence and respond to peers' ideas.

🎯 Think aloud

Think aloud: making the invisible visible—students verbalize their reasoning so teachers and peers can follow their thinking.

• Commonly used for math problem-solving or challenging reading passages.
• Teachers model thinking aloud to demonstrate approaching difficult problems.
• Teachers verbalize questions and wonderings to show problem-solving is not simple or linear.
• Students' outward verbalization can direct future problem-solving.
• Allows teachers to informally assess understanding depth and identify misconceptions.

🔍 Inquiry-based and collaborative approaches

🔍 Inquiry learning

Inquiry-based learning: students investigate to answer questions about a particular topic.

• Questions should be open-ended to allow space for hypothesizing and inquiring.
• Benefits from students working together with differing perspectives and varied resources.
• Requires high-order thinking skills from both students and teachers.

Teacher's role in three ways:

1. Assess students' prior knowledge and lay groundwork when needed
2. Match inquiry question scope to students' learning level
3. Provide resources and/or search strategies for credible sources

Teacher as facilitator: resist answering questions that would inform the inquiry; allow students to experience productive struggle.

Productive struggle: the "sweet spot" between scaffolding and support where learning happens as students stretch beyond their comfort zone.

🔍 Project-based learning (PBL)

• Students develop knowledge and skills through engaging projects around real-world challenges.
• Often includes a "public product" as culminating event to showcase learning.
• Requires sustained inquiry, observation, and potentially fieldwork.

Four foundational concepts:

• Active construction (learners actively construct meaning)
• Situated learning (occurs in authentic, real-world context)
• Social interactions (ongoing opportunities for discussion and sharing)
• Cognitive tools (organizers, data displays, software, presentation resources)

Critical elements always present:

• Organization around open-ended driving question or challenge
• Integration of essential academic content and skills
• Use of inquiry to learn or create something new
• Application of 21st-century skills (critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication)
• Student voice and choice
• Opportunities for feedback and revision
• Presentation of problem, process, and final project

🔍 Community-based learning (CBL)

Community-based learning: teaching/learning strategies enabling youth and adults to learn through engagement with community.

• Integrates community engagement, school-community partnerships, and critical social-justice reflection.
• Meets students' learning needs while reciprocally supporting community partners' needs.
• Expands classroom into the world outside school grounds.

Forms of curricular involvement:

• Direct service (cleaning beach, serving food in soup kitchen)
• Indirect service (fundraising, gathering petition signatures)
• Apprenticeships (volunteering while learning a trade)

🔍 Collaborative learning

• Range of approaches involving students in joint intellectual efforts.
• Working in groups of two or more to gain understanding, develop solutions, or create products.
• Centers on students' exploration or application of course material rather than teacher's presentation.
• Significant shift from teacher-centered or lecture-centered classroom.

Based on assumptions that:

• Learning is active, constructive, and depends on rich contexts
• Learners are diverse
• Learning is inherently social

Cooperative learning (most structured form):

• Development of interpersonal skills as important as content learning.
• Tasks include both academic and social skills as objectives.
• Involves assigning roles within groups (recorder, participation encourager, summarizer).
• Ensures positive interdependence and enables practice of different skills.
• Includes reflection time on group process.

Connection to SEL: relationship skills developed through working interdependently address CASEL framework's key elements—active listening, clear communication, negotiation, working with diverse individuals.

📊 Creating learning goals with Bloom's Taxonomy

📊 Bloom's Taxonomy structure

• Created hierarchical classification of thinking from simple to complex, concrete to abstract.
• Commonly used resource for writing objectives with verbs classified by level.
• Verbs at top of pyramid represent higher-order thinking; bottom verbs are more basic.

Levels from bottom to top (revised by Krathwohl & Anderson, 2001):

• Knowledge (lowest cognitive load)
• Comprehension
• Application
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
• Creating (highest cognitive load)

📊 Using taxonomy for objectives

• "Cognitive" approach focuses on what students should know.
• "Behavioral" approach focuses on what students should be able to do.
• Most teachers combine both, including declarative and procedural knowledge.

Scaffolding with multiple objectives:

• Lesson plans often include 2-3 objectives.
• Allows scaffolding—providing lots of support when introducing concepts, then scaling back to encourage independence.
• Teachers start with tasks requiring lower-order thinking and move to higher-order thinking.
• By including objectives in progression, teachers can measure which objectives students haven't met and focus on those parts.

📊 Critique of Bloom's Taxonomy

Limitations identified:

• Meets needs of bureaucratized institutional teaching systems.
• Progression through hierarchical levels is rigid and not representative of how many people learn.
• Directs educators toward "top" level at risk of devaluing other levels.
• Distinction between categories is artificial since learning involves many processes.
• Classification into discrete levels may undermine holistic, interrelated, interdependent nature of learning.
• Rigidity doesn't leave much room for cultural inclusivity.

Critical theory perspective: Critical theorists attempt to understand and dismantle societal frameworks causing oppression; they assert academia has played a role in perpetuating oppressions and advocate for reimagining the status quo.

🌍 Culturally responsive teaching and equity

🌍 Cultural and social norms in learning

• Research shows learning takes place in settings with specific cultural and social norms.
• These norms significantly influence learning and transfer.
• Critical that teachers create classrooms where norms and expectations create strong conditions for learning for each student.

Key characteristics of culturally responsive pedagogy (Hammond, 2014):

• Communicating high expectations
• Actively engaging students in learning
• Providing appropriate level of challenge to increase intellectual capacity
• Having positive perspective on parents and families
• Helping students understand how curriculum links to everyday lives

🌍 Dependent vs independent learners

The excerpt contrasts two types of learners:

Dependent Learner	Independent Learner
Dependent on teacher to carry most cognitive load	Relies on teacher to carry some cognitive load temporarily
Unsure how to tackle new task	Utilizes strategies and processes for tackling new task
Cannot complete task without scaffolds	Regularly attempts new tasks without scaffolds
Sits passively when stuck until teacher intervenes	Has cognitive strategies for getting unstuck
Doesn't retain information well	Has learned how to retrieve information from long-term memory

Equity issue: Low-income students, students of color, and underserved emergent bilinguals routinely receive less instruction in higher-order skills development. Curriculum is typically less challenging and more repetitive, focusing on lower skills in Bloom's Taxonomy. This denies students opportunity to engage in productive struggle that grows the brain.

🌍 Neuroplasticity and culturally responsive teaching

• Zaretta Hammond links brain research to culturally responsive pedagogy.
• "Cognition and higher order thinking have always been at the center of culturally responsive teaching, which makes it a natural partner for neuroscience in the classroom."
• Teachers need to facilitate students' cognitive growth so they can activate neuroplasticity and become independent learners.

📖 Narratives in education

📖 Dominant narrative

Dominant narrative: the side of the story most upheld by the political, legal, and economic structures of society.

• Formal public education in the US is firmly grounded in the dominant narrative.
• Includes stories about who we are and what the country is.
• Example: westward expansion presented as economic opportunity (rather than genocide of indigenous peoples).
• In teacher education: commonly taught ideas about how children learn, best ways to demonstrate knowledge, values around sharing knowledge competitively or collaboratively.

📖 Counter narratives

Counter narratives: highlight alternative ideas to dominant narratives.

• Can include facts not shared in common history lessons.
• Example: genocide of indigenous peoples during colonization from perspective of people who experienced and fought it.
• Teachers can make room for counter narratives by learning about multiple ways of knowing, multiple ways of demonstrating knowledge, and varied understandings of what knowledge is important to a community.

🎓 Contemporary learning demands

🎓 Historical context

• Nearly 100 years ago, simple reading, writing, and calculating were the goal of schooling.
• Basic declarative and superficial procedural knowledge were sufficient.
• Educational systems did not typically train people to think and read critically, express themselves clearly, or solve complex problems.

🎓 Current demands

• Complex literacy skills now required of almost everyone to navigate global landscape.
• Demands for sophisticated skills at work have increased dramatically.
• Meaningful participation in democratic process has become increasingly complicated as local, national, and international issues are intertwined.
• New science of learning provides knowledge to improve people's abilities to become active learners who understand complex subjects and transfer learning to new problems and settings.

Imperative for teachers: Learn and implement strategies that nurture academic potential of all students, regardless of background, experience, or identity, so they can succeed in increasingly complex world.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

School governance and finance in the United States operate through a decentralized, three-tier system (federal, state, and local) that creates significant funding inequities because most resources come from local property taxes, resulting in wealthier communities having better-funded schools than poorer ones.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Decentralized governance: The US has a three-level system (federal, state, local) with most power at state and local levels, unlike centralized systems in other countries.
• Federal role is limited: The federal government provides only ~9% of school funding but influences policy by attaching conditions to federal funds.
• Property tax creates inequality: Most school funding comes from state and local sources (91%), heavily reliant on property taxes, which means wealthier areas have more resources.
• Common confusion: Federal vs. state control—the federal Department of Education does not tell schools what to teach; states set standards and curriculum, while local districts implement them.
• Funding formulas vary widely: States use different formulas (student-based, resource-based, or hybrid), leading to huge disparities—some states spend $24,000+ per pupil while others spend under $8,000.

🏛️ Three levels of governance

🏛️ Federal level

The US Department of Education: A cabinet-level agency created in 1979 that promotes policies, distributes federal assistance, enforces civil rights laws, and collects education statistics—but does not directly control what schools teach.

Key federal roles:

• The Secretary of Education (nominated by president, approved by Senate) leads the department
• Promotes educational policies and reform efforts
• Distributes federal funding appropriated by Congress
• Enforces civil rights laws in education
• Collects and analyzes education data

Important sub-departments:

• Institute of Education Sciences (IES): Conducts research and provides scientific evidence
• Federal Student Aid (FSA): Manages grants, loans, and financial aid
• Office of Migrant Education (OME): Supports children from migrant families

How federal power works:

• The federal government cannot mandate curriculum or teaching methods
• It maintains influence by potentially withholding funding if regulations aren't met
• Federal education acts must include funding formulas and distribution methods

🏢 State level

Three major decision-making positions:

Position	Role	Responsibilities
Governor	Chief officer	Oversees policy; can veto or approve legislation
State Board of Education	Policy makers	Act as liaisons for educators; set state-wide policies
Chief State School Officer (State Superintendent)	Administrative oversight	Ensures policies and laws are followed

Key state responsibilities:

• Allocates funds to each school district (the largest financial role)
• Sets standards for assessment and curriculum
• Licenses public and private schools, charter schools, teachers, and staff
• Establishes compulsory education laws (typically ages 5-6 through 17-18)
• Provides teacher salaries and operational funding

Don't confuse: The state sets standards and curriculum frameworks, but local districts decide how to implement them in classrooms.

🏫 Local level (school districts)

School district: A geographic area that groups multiple schools together, usually determined by county lines or population centers.

Governance structure:

• School boards (elected by public or appointed by mayor/city council) oversee the district
• School boards elect a superintendent to manage day-to-day operations
• The superintendent works with principals and ensures district policies are followed

Local district decisions:

• Allocation of funding within the district
• Curriculum implementation details
• School policies
• Employment policies and hiring decisions

Individual school level:

• Each school has a principal who leads the building
• Assistant principals help with daily operations and often handle discipline
• Administrators support faculty, implement district/state policies, and serve as liaisons to families and communities

📊 The hierarchy in practice

The system works as a pyramid from top to bottom:

1. Federal government: Sets some guidelines (like No Child Left Behind) but provides minimal funding
2. State: Provides most funding and sets standards
3. District: School board and superintendent ensure schools meet state standards
4. Superintendent: Oversees all schools in the district, makes routine visits
5. Principal: Manages individual school, handles budget, schedules, and daily activities
6. Assistant principals: Help principal, often handle discipline
7. Teachers: Hired by individual schools; ultimately decide what happens when the classroom door closes

Important note: While there's a hierarchy, teachers have significant autonomy in their classrooms and are held responsible for student performance.

💰 How schools are funded

💰 The 9% vs. 91% split

Federal funding: ~9% of school budgets

• Comes from annual budget proposed by president and set by Congress
• States submit plans to federal government outlining assessment and learning outcomes
• Federal funds distributed to State Education Agencies (SEAs), then to Local Education Agencies (LEAs)

State and local funding: ~91% of school budgets

• Comes primarily from taxes (income, property, sales)
• States set their own education budgets, creating huge variance across the nation

Example of variance: In 2015-16, New York spent $24,657 per pupil while Idaho spent $7,921—a difference of over $16,000 per student.

💰 Title I funding

Title I, Part A: Federal program from the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act that provides assistance to schools with large percentages of students from low-income families.

How Title I works:

• Federal government provides funds to SEAs
• SEAs allocate money to LEAs using a funding formula
• LEAs distribute to schools based on need
• If more than 40% of students are eligible, funds can be used for school-wide improvement
• Otherwise, used for targeted assistance programs

The equity problem: Title I aims to make schools more equitable, but since it only accounts for 9% of funding, it cannot overcome the massive inequities from the other 91% of funding sources.

💰 State funding formulas

States use one or a combination of three formula types:

Formula Type	How It Works	Usage
Student-based	Assumes a set cost per student; adjusts for low-income, special education, or emerging bilinguals	Common
Resource-based	Uses cost of specific resources or programs to fund them	Less common
Hybrid	Combines multiple formulas	Most common (38 states in 2020)

🏘️ The property tax problem

🏘️ Historical origins

Colonial times:

• Farmers paid property tax based on their land
• Each farming community contributed to local schools
• This created the tradition of local communities funding their own schools

Today's reality:

• Property tax still exists but is tied to real estate value
• High-value homes contribute higher property taxes
• Wealthier communities generate more money for their schools
• Impoverished communities or areas with lower property values cannot contribute as much

🏘️ Why this creates inequality

The mechanism:

• School districts with expensive real estate collect more property tax revenue
• More revenue means more resources for schools (better facilities, more teachers, newer materials, more programs)
• Poor communities collect less revenue and have fewer resources
• This perpetuates educational inequality across geographic and economic lines

The collectivism principle:

Collectivism in education: The concept that everyone in a community contributes to educating all children, even if they don't have school-age children themselves.

• Property taxes embody this principle—all property owners contribute
• However, the system fails when property values vary dramatically between communities

Example: A wealthy suburban district might spend $20,000+ per student with state-of-the-art facilities, while a poor rural or urban district spends $8,000 per student with aging buildings and limited resources—even though both are in the same state.

🏘️ The teacher burden

• Teachers spend an average of $459 per year of their own money on classroom supplies
• This is mentioned in the excerpt but not fully developed
• It reflects how inadequate funding forces educators to personally subsidize their classrooms

Don't confuse: The property tax system with a fair funding system—while it embodies the principle of collective responsibility, it creates massive inequities because property values vary so dramatically between communities.

🎯 Key takeaways about equity

🎯 Structural inequality is built into the system

The excerpt emphasizes that funding inequity is not accidental but structural:

• The decentralized system creates winners and losers based on geography
• Wealthier communities can provide better education simply because they have more valuable property
• Federal Title I funding (9%) cannot overcome state and local disparities (91%)
• State-to-state variation is enormous ($7,000 to $22,000+ per pupil)
• Within-state variation between districts is also significant

🎯 The Stacey Abrams quote

The chapter opens with this perspective:

"Funding education is not a mystery. It is a set of choices. It's a function of leadership, & we have to have leaders who are willing to have the very real conversations that education costs more for certain children and that the…return on investment lowers our public welfare costs, lowers our incarceration rates and lowers all of the social welfare programs that we have to put in place."

What this means:

• Educational funding reflects political choices, not inevitable constraints
• Some students need more resources than others (special education, English learners, students in poverty)
• Investing in education has broader social benefits (lower incarceration, less need for welfare programs)
• Leaders must be willing to have difficult conversations about equitable funding

🎯 Questions for future educators

The excerpt implicitly raises questions you should consider:

• How will the funding level of your school district affect your ability to teach effectively?
• What resources might you lack in an under-resourced district?
• How can you advocate for more equitable funding?
• What does it mean that your students' educational opportunities depend heavily on where they live?

Remember: Where you work will determine the money and resources available to you, and school funding often reflects community composition and wealth (number of businesses, homeowners, taxpayers, population size).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Public school funding in the United States relies primarily on local property taxes and state allocations, creating significant inequities between wealthy and poor districts that perpetuate educational disparities despite federal interventions.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Property tax foundation: Schools are funded primarily through local property taxes tied to real estate values, meaning wealthier communities contribute more to their schools while impoverished areas lack adequate resources.
• State vs. federal control: States control the majority of school expenditures (spending $7,000–$22,000 per student annually), while federal funding accounts for less than 10% of total education costs.
• Equity vs. equality challenge: The property tax system perpetuates funding disparities, with predominantly White districts receiving up to $23 billion more than districts serving predominantly students of color.
• Common confusion: Tax levies vs. bonds—levies fund learning and operations, while bonds fund building and facility improvements; both require voter approval but serve different purposes.
• Historical context matters: Measures 5 (1990) and 50 (1997) in Oregon dramatically shifted funding from local property taxes to state income taxes, transforming the entire funding structure.

💰 How school funding works

💰 The property tax system

Property tax: A tax tied to real estate value where homes of higher value contribute higher taxes to local schools.

• The system originated when farming communities contributed to educate their children through property taxes.
• Today, most citizens don't farm, but the property tax remains the primary funding mechanism.
• Key mechanism: More money from wealthy communities goes to schools in those regions; impoverished communities with lower-value housing cannot contribute adequate resources.
• Example: A district with expensive homes generates more property tax revenue per student than a district with modest housing, even if both have the same number of students.

📊 Funding sources breakdown

Schools receive money from three main sources:

Source	Percentage	Key characteristics
Local property taxes	~45%	Varies dramatically by district wealth
State funds	Majority (varies)	Allocated through formulas to provide equity
Federal funds	<10%	Includes Title I for low-income areas

• Don't confuse: Federal funds are supplemental, not primary—states and localities bear the main financial responsibility.
• Title I federal funds for low-income areas do not make up for inequities in local funding.

🏛️ State funding formulas

• States use formulas to provide financial equity among school districts.
• Each district receives an allocation per student, plus additional amounts for students in more costly programs (Special Education, English Language Learners).
• Example: Oregon's 2021-2023 budget for education was $12.624 billion, a 9.9% increase from the previous biennium.

📋 Budget development process

📋 Board of Education role

Budget: A plan of financial operation expressing estimates of proposed expenditures for a fiscal year and the proposed means of financing them.

• Board of Education (BOE) members develop budgets in collaboration with administrators.
• Multiple laws and procedures must be followed during budget development.
• Educational law emphasizes that budgets should be written in plain language that taxpayers can understand.

📋 Factors BOE must consider

When developing a budget, the BOE and administration need accurate information about:

• Educational objectives
• Enrollment projections
• Community receptiveness to tax increases
• Capacity and limitations of facilities

🗳️ Tax levy vs. bonds

Tax levy:

• The sum of revenue in property taxes a district must collect (after removing other funding sources) to meet the proposed budget.
• Determines the tax rate for cities, towns, or villages in the school district.
• Districts use a state formula beginning with an increase of 2% or inflation (whichever is less).
• Tax levy limit: the amount a district's tax levy may increase without requiring a supermajority (60% of votes plus one) to approve.

School bonds:

• Used by school districts to finance building projects or capital projects.
• Placed on the ballot by district school boards for voter approval.
• 40 states require voter approval of bond issues; seven more allow voters to petition for ballot placement.
• Key distinction: Bonds are for building or improving facilities; levies are for learning and operations.

🗳️ Oregon's tax structure evolution

• Measure 5 (1990): Introduced tax rate limits; when fully implemented in 1995-96, cut tax rates an average of 51% from 1990-91 levels.
• Measure 50 (1997): Cut taxes, introduced assessed value growth limits, and replaced most tax levies with permanent tax rates; transformed the system from primarily levy-based to primarily rate-based.
• Effect: Shifted the bulk of public school funding from local property taxes to Oregon's General Fund (state income taxes).

⚖️ Equity and access issues

⚖️ Funding disparities and discrimination

• Funding public schools based on local property taxes perpetuates inequity in accessing resources needed for high-quality education.
• Predominantly White school districts can receive up to $23 billion more than districts serving predominantly students of color.
• Systemic issue: Redlining (housing discrimination based on race/socioeconomic status) leads to de facto school segregation even though de jure segregation is illegal.

⚖️ Landmark legal case: Rodriguez

San Antonio ISD v. Rodriguez (1973):

• Demetrio Rodriguez's children attended a school in Edgewood where the top two floors were condemned, less than half the teachers were licensed, and textbooks were falling apart.
• The district allocated $37 per student; nearby wealthy Alamo Heights spent $413 per student.
• Rodriguez filed a class-action suit arguing unequal access was unconstitutional.
• Supreme Court ruling: Did not rule in favor of Rodriguez, but triggered ongoing struggles concerning quality of education for all students.
• Don't confuse: The Court later determined that an "adequate education" means meeting minimum state academic standards, but this definition remains subject to debate.

⚖️ Impact on teachers and students

• Teachers spend an average of $459 per year of their own money on classroom supplies.
• Teachers have little say in budgets despite having the most impact on students' everyday lives.
• Local budgets determine access to technology, professional development, updated materials, field trips, and extracurricular opportunities.
• Equity question: In schools with fewer resources, teachers must find ways to make materials equitable (fair) compared to wealthier districts.

🏫 School models and choice

🏫 Types of schools

Public schools:

• Maintained through public funds to educate children in a community or district for free.
• Free and open to all applicants within a defined boundary.
• Models include: traditional, charter, magnet, Montessori, virtual, alternative, community-based, and language immersion.

Private schools:

• Privately funded and maintained by private groups or organizations.
• Usually charge tuition.
• May follow a philosophy or viewpoint different from public schools (e.g., religious institutions).
• Models include: traditional, religious, parochial, Montessori, Waldorf, virtual, boarding, and international.

Homeschooling:

• Does not fall into public or private categories.
• Child receives education at home without enrolling in public or private school.
• Each state has its own rules and regulations that families must follow and report on.

🏫 Charter schools and funding implications

• Charter schools are publicly funded but don't have the same requirements as traditional public schools.
• Autonomous from public schools; must meet educational goals set forth in their charter.
• Admission is application-based, usually first-come-first-served or by lottery.
• Funding impact: When a student transfers to a charter school, funds follow the student, decreasing the traditional school's funding formula.
• In 2010, charter schools comprised 6% of public school students; now closer to 30% in some localities.
• Concern: In many regions, charter schools are more segregated than public schools within the same boundaries.

🏫 School choice factors

Families make school decisions based on:

• Transportation and distance to chosen school
• Cost or tuition
• Curriculum and programs available
• Religious affiliation
• Fit for the individual student

Access disparity: Small rural towns may have only one school nearby, while urban areas offer more choices; not all families have equal access to different school models.

🎟️ Vouchers

School voucher: A government-supplied coupon used to offset tuition at an eligible private school.

How vouchers are funded:

• Tax revenues (most states provide to under-resourced students)
• Tax credits (businesses funding vouchers receive tax credits)
• Private organizations (e.g., Children's Scholarship Fund)

Consequences:

• When a student uses a voucher for private school, that student is no longer counted in the LEA or SEA funding formula.
• Local and state budgets decrease because one less student is counted.
• Private schools may consider religious affiliation, sexual orientation, and disability in admission decisions (unlike public schools, which must serve all students).
• Many private schools don't hire teachers trained to provide accommodations for students with disabilities.
• Equity concern: Vouchers divert funds from public schools that do provide services for all students, including those with disabilities who cannot attend private schools.

💻 Online and digital learning

💻 Evolution of online learning

• Started with 50,000 K-12 students enrolled.
• Origins in distance learning and correspondence courses dating back to the 1920s (instruction through mail).
• Mid-1980s: Students could submit assignments through electronic mail.
• Mid-1990s: Several states engaged in virtual instruction.

💻 Key definitions

Blended learning:

• Hybrid learning experience combining classroom environment with online coursework.
• Students exercise some control over "time, place, path and/or pace" within the class.

Online learning:

• All teaching and learning takes place over the internet.
• Can involve a single course or an entire school.
• No hybrid classroom component.

Digital learning:

• Umbrella term that includes all models (blended, online, etc.).

💻 Equity concerns and pandemic impact

• Before 2020, students using online courses needed internet access.
• Underrepresented and low-income high school students were most likely to use online courses for credit recovery (remediating failing grades).
• Pandemic impact: Students who moved to online learning between March 2020 and April 2021 lost ½ to 1 year's worth of learning in language arts.
• Vulnerable populations (low-income, ethnic minorities, homeless, disabled, English learners) experienced declines 1.5 to 2 times higher than their peers.
• Don't confuse: Pre-pandemic online learning (chosen by specific students) with pandemic-era emergency remote learning (imposed on all students).

🔍 Conclusion and implications

🔍 Complexity of reform

• Federal oversight of schools is limited, allowing governance to differ within each district and state.
• What benefits students in one community may not benefit students in another.
• Many school, district, and state policies are tied to federal, state, and local funding using various formulas.
• Key principle: To create change, individuals must understand how policy and funding decisions are developed and implemented.

🔍 Responsibility and equity

• School choice makes reform highly political.
• Many families' choices are constrained by geographic and economic resources.
• Educational professionals, policymakers, and stakeholders have a responsibility to serve all students.
• Core practice: Practicing equity in decision-making and teaching—from curriculum construction to instructional practice to policy advocacy—provides each student with what they need to succeed and thrive.
• Foundational principle: Everyone deserves access to education, even as the landscape of U.S. schools constantly changes.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Becoming a teacher requires navigating multiple educational pathways, staying informed and engaged throughout your career, and prioritizing self-care to sustain your effectiveness in a demanding profession.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Multiple pathways exist: Community colleges, bachelor's programs, apprenticeships, and online options all lead to licensure, with increasing state-level flexibility and funding support.
• Licensure varies by state: Each state manages its own credentialing requirements through agencies like Oregon's TSPC, making it essential to research local requirements and reciprocity agreements.
• Lifelong learning is essential: Teachers must stay informed through professional organizations, high-quality resources, and current events while maintaining a critical lens on education news.
• Self-care is not optional: Teaching is exhausting work that extends beyond classroom hours; taking care of yourself is critical to being effective for your students.
• Common confusion: The first year often brings unexpected challenges and surprises that can shock new teachers, but mastery typically takes three to five years to develop.

🎓 Educational pathways and licensure

🎓 State-specific requirements

Teaching licensure: state-managed credentialing that typically requires at minimum a bachelor's degree, though some high-need rural areas hire educators with associate's degrees.

• Each state oversees its own licensing through agencies (e.g., Oregon's Teacher Standards and Practices Commission—TSPC).
• Requirements vary significantly between states, making the process confusing when relocating.
• Many states have reciprocity agreements allowing teachers to transfer licenses between states after completing additional requirements.
• Example: A teacher licensed in Oregon may teach in Washington after fulfilling Washington's specific requirements.

🛤️ Diverse routes to teaching

The excerpt emphasizes that "there are more pathways than ever to become a licensed teacher" due to critical workforce demands:

• Traditional programs: In-person bachelor's and graduate degrees at colleges and universities.
• Remote/online programs: Allow students to continue working while earning credentials.
• Apprenticeship models: Tennessee offers apprenticeships; other states like Oregon are exploring replication.
• Community college start: Affordable pathway offering diverse coursework and student communities; students can transfer credits to four-year institutions.
• Work-while-learning: Districts increasingly support paraprofessionals financially to pursue licensure while employed.

Don't confuse: "Free" or cheap programs may have hidden costs or require you to find your own student teaching placement—always read the fine print and choose vetted local options.

📚 Typical coursework foundation

Foundational coursework for teacher candidates includes:

Subject Area	Examples
Social Science	Psychology, Sociology
Humanities	Literature, Art, Music, Language, History
Science	Biology, Environmental Science
Communication	Speech
Math	Various levels
Health/PE	Physical Education
Ethics	Philosophy or Religion
Education-specific	Pedagogy, methods courses
Ethnic Studies	Increasingly required

• Elementary educators need broad subject knowledge; middle/high school educators focus on their teaching area plus foundations.
• The excerpt strongly recommends Ethnic Studies coursework to understand "the rich heritage of a variety of underrepresented groups, their voices, art, literature and histories."
• Why it matters: Educators with this background are "better equipped to re-center the curriculum and work towards a more just society."

💰 Financial considerations

• Graduate studies correlate with higher teacher salaries.
• Many districts offer opportunities to pursue graduate degrees while working.
• State governments provide grants and scholarships due to hiring needs from the "silver tsunami" (aging workforce retirements).
• Community colleges offer affordable starting points.
• Working as a paraprofessional provides both experience and potential tuition support from districts.

🌍 Becoming an antiracist educator

🌍 Responsibility to dismantle oppression

Antiracist education: teaching curricular material in ways that dismantle rather than perpetuate oppressive processes, systems, dynamics, and stereotypes prevalent in US society.

• College education "might not cover anti-racism" despite its importance.
• Educators must educate themselves on communicating about racism, sexism, classism, and other oppressions.
• Why: "It is imperative" to be effective for all students regardless of identity.
• Educators must handle topics that affect students' lived realities—"Educators can not teach in a protected bubble."

📰 Understanding Critical Race Theory (CRT) controversy

The excerpt addresses recent headlines about CRT in K-12 schools:

• What CRT actually is: "A complex theory designed for legal analysis," not K-12 curriculum.
• The conflation problem: Popular media and politicians conflate accurate US history (colonization, enslavement, systemic oppression) with CRT.
• Jurisdictional misunderstanding: Critics accuse the US Department of Education of endorsing CRT, but the federal government has no jurisdiction over curriculum—that power belongs to individual states.
• Example: Gloria Ladson-Billings, who first applied CRT to education, explains the misunderstandings in interviews.

Don't confuse: Teaching accurate history about oppression with teaching graduate-level legal theory (CRT).

🎓 Curriculum representation

• "The lack of representation in the US curriculum of certain groups is well-documented."
• This leads to societal struggles "to reckon with its past, present, and future in terms of delivering equity and justice."
• Taking Ethnic Studies courses helps educators know diverse groups' heritage, voices, art, literature, and histories.
• Goal: Re-center the curriculum toward justice.

📚 Staying informed, engaged, and focused

📚 Lifelong learning opportunities

Staying informed: continuing to learn and hone teaching craft through courses, degrees, certificates, and professional organizations throughout your career.

The excerpt emphasizes: "One of the most exciting parts of being a teacher is that you get to be a life-long learner yourself."

Ways to stay informed:

• Additional courses, advanced degrees (even doctorates), or certificates.
• Professional organization memberships (often discounted for students/early-career teachers).
• High-quality websites and podcasts vetted by editors or content experts.
• Following current events, policy, and legislation related to education.

Don't confuse: Sites like TeachersPayTeachers and Pinterest (unmoderated, not guaranteed quality) with vetted professional resources.

🏛️ Professional organizations

The excerpt provides a table of major organizations:

Organization	Scope	Focus
AERA	International, regional	All education areas, teacher research
ASCD	International, state, college	General K-12/K-16 education
ILA	International, state	Literacy K-12 and higher ed
NABE	International, regional, state	Bilingual/multilingual education
NCTE	National, state, local	English and language arts
NCTM	International, national, regional	Mathematics education
NSTA	National, state, local	Science teaching
TESOL	International, national, state	English as second/foreign language

• Organizations often have state/local chapters and conferences.
• Students and early-career teachers can join or attend at discounted rates, sometimes free.

🔍 Critical lens on education news

The excerpt stresses awareness of current events while maintaining a critical perspective:

• Education is "constantly evolving" and "interrelated with other institutions" (economy, politics, religion).
• Recent headlines: pandemic, equity in online learning, CRT claims.
• Seek news from multiple sources; don't accept one source as truth.
• Seek input from "well-studied experts in the field."

Questions for critical analysis:

• What is the headline about and why is it significant?
• Who drives the narrative? Whose voices are excluded?
• What emotional response is intended, and for whose benefit?
• Are actual stakeholders (teachers, families, students, administrators) centered or de-centered?

🎤 De-professionalization problem

De-professionalization: when education is micromanaged (teachers told what to teach, given scripted "teacher-proof" curriculum) and teachers are undervalued (extensive work for low wages).

• Often teachers' voices are absent from education news coverage.
• This absence contributes to de-professionalization.
• Historical connection: Education's history as a female-dominated field correlates with de-professionalization—women teachers were paid less and encouraged to view work as a "calling" instead of a profession.

🤝 Staying engaged with students

"The best way to learn to be a teacher is to get experience actually working with students."

Opportunities to stay engaged:

• Volunteer in local classrooms (help with materials, one-on-one work).
• Substitute teaching (though "not the same as being a full-time classroom teacher").
• After-school tutoring programs or homework clubs.
• Programs supporting refugees or other community populations.
• Summer camps or children's museums.

Safety policies:

• Many schools require background checks for regular volunteers.
• Never be alone with a student.
• Check in/out at front office as required.
• These rules "are in place to keep students safe."

Stretch yourself: Go beyond familiar experiences to expose yourself to "different places, people, and ways of thinking" because "your future classroom will be full of diverse learners."

🧘 Staying focused and self-care

The excerpt provides critical advice: "Taking care of yourself is critical!"

Emotional realities of teaching:

• Excitement: No day is the same; diverse learners shape every day.
• Self-doubt: Common for early-career teachers; mastery takes three to five years.
• Exhaustion: Long hours, few breaks, plus emails, conferences, meetings, events; worrying about students extends beyond school hours.

Self-care strategies:

• Speak up when overwhelmed.
• Carve out time for yourself.
• Practice hobbies that bring joy; find new ones.
• Find mentors or communities of support (especially those who share your identity if you hold a marginalized identity).
• Remember: "If you aren't taking care of yourself, it's hard to be the best possible teacher for your students."

Example: Kenneth Robinson, a school teacher featured in a video, demonstrates taking care of himself through specific activities.

Why it matters: The excerpt states this "can not be overstated" and asks readers to "read this twice and take it to heart."

🔮 The journey ahead

🔮 Ongoing professional development

• Your journey "is just beginning" after completing your teaching credential.
• You will continue developing your craft over years.
• Opportunities to see how education changes and "to be a part of efforts to drive change."
• Understanding history and connections to political, social, economic, and legal realms equips you to "analyze current trends and anticipate new ones."

⚖️ Education as a pendulum

The excerpt notes: "Education can be like a pendulum: certain beliefs and practices tend to fall in and out of favor every few decades."

• Knowing foundations helps anticipate these shifts.
• You will work with colleagues and stakeholders to improve education for teachers, students, families, and communities.

🎯 Final challenge

The excerpt concludes with a challenge: "Maintain a critical lens as you continually question how to make US education the most inclusive, effective, and successful for all of our learners and their communities."

Don't confuse: Completing your credential with the end of your learning—teaching is a lifelong journey of growth and development.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Teachers and students retain constitutional rights within public schools, but these rights must be balanced against the school's mission to provide a safe, orderly learning environment and equitable education for all.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Teaching license and contracts: Teachers must earn state-specific licenses and sign legally binding contracts that define their roles, responsibilities, and obligations to the school district.
• Tenure protections: Tenure protects teachers from arbitrary dismissal through due process requirements, though it does not guarantee lifetime employment and can be revoked for justifiable reasons.
• Constitutional rights in schools: Both teachers and students have First Amendment rights (speech, expression, religion) and Fourth Amendment rights (search and seizure), but courts allow schools to impose reasonable restrictions when speech or conduct disrupts educational goals.
• Common confusion: Rights outside vs. inside school—constitutional protections apply differently in educational settings; schools can restrict speech or expression that substantially disrupts the learning environment, even if the same speech would be protected elsewhere.
• Mandatory reporting: Teachers are legally required to immediately report suspected child abuse, serving as critical protectors of student safety and well-being.

📜 Teacher professional requirements

📜 Teaching license

Teaching license: state-specific credential that defines the dispositions, knowledge, and skills needed to obtain and maintain employment as a legally-recognized teacher.

• Each state sets its own requirements for earning and maintaining a teaching license.
• In Oregon, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission oversees the licensing process.
• Many states have reciprocity agreements, allowing teachers to transfer licenses between states after completing additional requirements.
• Example: A teacher earns a license in Oregon and later moves to Washington; they can teach there after fulfilling Washington's specific requirements.

📝 Teaching contract

Teaching contract: a written legal agreement between the school system and the teacher identifying roles and responsibilities for the teaching position.

• Must be signed by the teacher and ratified by the school board to be binding.
• If the school board negotiated with a teacher's union, union policies and regulations are included.
• Breach occurs when either party fails to perform as agreed during the specified time frame.
• Example: A contract specifies curriculum responsibilities, work hours, and professional conduct expectations.

🛡️ Tenure

Tenure: protection for teachers from arbitrary dismissal by school officials, requiring due process before termination.

Historical background:

• Derived from the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 (merit system for government workers).
• Teacher tenure rights date back to 1909 when the NEA lobbied for these protections.

What tenure provides:

• Mandates due process—schools must show cause to dismiss a tenured teacher.
• Protects against discriminatory firings not covered under race and gender anti-discrimination laws.
• Increases teacher morale, involvement, and collaboration, which links to increased student achievement.

What tenure does NOT provide:

• Lifetime employment or job-for-life guarantee.
• Protection from dismissal for justifiable reasons: noncompliance, immoral conduct, crime, insubordination, or financial reasons (budget deficiency).

Current changes:

• Some states (Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas) have eliminated tenure completely.
• Changes driven by accountability requirements from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Race to the Top grants.
• Don't confuse: Tenure is about supporting good teachers through due process, not protecting poor performance.

🗣️ Teacher rights: Speech and expression

🗣️ Freedom of speech

Key principle: Teachers can voice concerns about school matters, but schools can restrict speech that disrupts educational operations.

Landmark case—Pickering v. Board of Education (1968):

• Teacher wrote a letter to a local newspaper criticizing the school board.
• Supreme Court ruled the teacher's First Amendment rights were violated when he was dismissed.
• Established that teachers can speak on issues of public concern as long as regular school operations are not disrupted.

Limitation case—Connick v. Myers (1983):

• Supreme Court ruled that public employee speech is protected only when addressing matters of public concern.
• Employer's interest in maintaining a disruption-free workplace must be balanced against free speech rights.

Don't confuse: Speaking on public concerns vs. disruptive speech—teachers can criticize school policies publicly, but not in ways that substantially disrupt school functioning.

👔 Freedom of expression (dress and appearance)

Key principle: Schools can impose reasonable dress codes on teachers as public servants in positions of trust.

East Hartford Education Association v. Board of Education (1977):

• Teacher reprimanded for not wearing a necktie.
• Court upheld school board's right to impose dress codes on teachers.
• Rationale: Professional appearance requirements are warranted for public servants.

Standards for dress codes:

• Reasonableness is the key criterion.
• Clarity of language and flexibility depending on situation.
• Geographic diversity and school culture influence what is acceptable.

Recent controversies:

• Example: A Texas charter school teacher was fired for wearing a "Black Lives Matter" mask, which the school deemed a dress code violation.
• Highlights importance of knowing your specific dress code policy and understanding your rights.

🎓 Academic freedom

Academic freedom: the freedom of teachers to communicate information and share curricular material without legal interference.

Key limitations:

• Teachers must follow their legally binding teaching contract.
• Must adhere to school board rules, state laws, and federal regulations.
• Cannot change curriculum frameworks without authorization.
• Example: A sixth-grade science teacher cannot teach tenth-grade human anatomy content just because they want to—this would breach their contract.

Palmer v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago (1980):

• Teacher refused to teach city-designed curriculum, claiming it violated her religious beliefs.
• Court recognized teachers can have personal views but upheld that teachers "cannot be left to teach the way they please."

What IS protected:

• Selecting appropriate class materials aligned to curriculum.
• Inviting speakers or using newspaper articles that align with curriculum framework and school policies.
• Example: Using a current event article to teach a concept already in your approved curriculum is acceptable.

⚖️ Teacher liability and privacy

⚖️ Liability and negligence

In loco parentis: "in place of parents"—educators have legal responsibility to make judgments regarding student safety similar to those a parent would make.

When teachers are protected from liability:

• Made a reasonable attempt to anticipate dangerous conditions.
• Instituted proper precautions, including rules and procedures to prevent injury.
• Warned students of possible danger.
• Provided proper supervision.

Key cases:

• Fagen v. Summers (1972): Teacher not liable for playground accident; "a teacher cannot anticipate the varied and unexpected acts which occur daily in and about the school premises."
• Partin v. Vernon Parish School Board (1977): Teacher must demonstrate "high degree of care" but is not "the absolute insurer of the safety of the children."

When teachers CAN be sued:

• Student mistreated or abused (verbally, physically, emotionally, sexually).
• Discrimination based on gender, race, or special needs.
• Unfair treatment (e.g., grading practices).
• Assigning offensive material.

Don't confuse: Accidents vs. negligence—accidents happen, but negligence occurs when a teacher fails to take reasonable precautions or provide proper supervision.

🔒 Teacher privacy

Fourth Amendment protection: Guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.

O'Connor v. Ortega (1987):

• Supreme Court ruled public employees retain Fourth Amendment rights regarding workplace searches.
• Standard of reasonableness applies to work-related intrusions by supervisors.
• School is a public place with minimal search and seizure limitations.
• Important distinction: Personal effects (phone, bag) do not belong to the workplace and require a warrant to search.

📚 Copyright laws

Copyright Act of 1976 guidelines for teachers:

• May make a single copy of: a book chapter, article, short story, essay, poem, diagram, chart, or picture.
• May make multiple copies for classroom use if they meet guidelines of brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect.
• Must be mindful of copyright laws for videos, DVDs, software, and internet materials.
• Best practice: Check with school librarian or media specialist.

⛪ Religion in schools

⛪ Separation of church and state

First Amendment principle: Government is prohibited from imposing religious beliefs; public schools must be neutral and not promote religion.

Key Supreme Court cases:

Year	Case	Outcome
1962	Engel v. Vitale	Nondenominational prayers unconstitutional; schools cannot officially encourage student prayer
1963	Abington School District v. Schempp	State-mandated daily Bible reading unconstitutional
1971	Lemon v. Kurtzman	Clergy prayers at school ceremonies violate free exercise clause; established "Lemon test" for determining if religion in schools is constitutional
1981	Stone v. Graham	Posting Ten Commandments in classrooms illegal

Lemon test questions:

1. Is the policy or act for a secular purpose?
2. Does the primary effect either advance or inhibit religion?
3. Does the law or policy result in excessive entanglement of government and religion?

Palmer v. Board of Education (1980):

• Teacher's personal religious beliefs cannot override mandated curriculum.
• Schools must provide education as designed; teachers cannot refuse based on personal views.

🎒 Student rights: Speech and expression

🎒 Freedom of speech

Key principle: Students retain constitutional rights but schools can impose reasonable limits to maintain a safe, orderly learning environment.

Protected forms of expression:

• Right to wear religious clothing and discuss religion.
• Freedom from bullying and harassment.
• Freedom from racial or national origin discrimination.

Landmark case—Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969):

• Students planned to wear armbands protesting the Vietnam War.
• Principal banned armbands; students sued.
• Supreme Court ruled in favor of students: free speech is permitted in schools.
• Established that student speech is protected unless it substantially disrupts school functioning.

Limitation case—Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986):

• Student used vulgar language in assembly speech.
• Supreme Court ruled schools are not required to permit offensive or disruptive speech at school-sanctioned events.
• Rationale: Offensive speech disrupts educational mission and is inappropriate for school settings.

School newspaper case—Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988):

• School removed articles from student newspaper deemed inappropriate.
• Supreme Court ruled student newspapers can be regulated for "legitimate pedagogical concerns."
• Schools can determine if content is reasonable for the school community and free from inappropriate language.

💻 Online speech

Doninger v. Niehoff (2008):

• Student's derogatory online comments about school officials.
• Court of Appeals held that even off-campus online speech can be restricted if it substantially disrupts school-related goals on campus.
• Applies to both students and teachers.

Key principle: Speech (print, digital, or in-person) must have legitimate pedagogical focus and not substantially disrupt school mission.

👕 Student dress codes

Key principle: Schools can impose dress codes if clothing/symbols have potential to disrupt school functioning.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)—also addressed dress:

• Students wanted to wear armbands protesting Vietnam War.
• Court ruled in favor of students: no evidence armbands would disrupt school.

Guiles v. Marineau (2006):

• Student wore shirt with political viewpoint some found offensive.
• U.S. Court of Appeals ruled shirt was protected speech under First and Fourteenth Amendments.

B.H. and K.M. v. Easton Area School District (2013):

• Students suspended for wearing breast cancer awareness bracelets.
• Court ruled in favor of students: message not lewd or disruptive.
• First Amendment requires schools to treat all student views equally if not obscene or disruptive.

Equity concerns with dress codes:

• Gender-biased language often results in stricter enforcement for female and minority students.
• Can marginalize certain cultural groups.
• Example: Houston school district policy required male students to keep hair "ear-length or shorter," banning dreadlocks—later ruled discriminatory by federal court.

ACLU guidance on dress codes:

• Schools cannot ban symbols, slogans, or messages they disagree with (First Amendment protection).
• Cannot treat boys and girls differently or force conformity to gender stereotypes.
• Students can wear clothing aligned with their gender identity and expression.

Don't confuse: Maintaining order vs. discrimination—dress codes should provide optimal learning environment without systematically oppressing certain groups based on gender, race, religion, or socioeconomic status.

🔍 Student rights: Search and privacy

🔍 Search and seizure

Fourth Amendment principle: Protects against unlawful search and seizure, but courts allow schools to search with reasonable suspicion.

New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985):

• Student found smoking in bathroom (school rule violation).
• Principal searched her purse based on reasonable assumption she had cigarettes.
• Supreme Court established "standard of reasonableness" for student searches.
• School administrators can search if they have reasonable suspicion a student broke a law or school rule.

Key distinction: "Reasonable suspicion" (required for school searches) vs. "probable cause" (required for warrant in general public).

Drug testing—Board of Education v. Earls (2002):

• Court upheld random drug tests for student athletes.
• Rationale: Safety and drug-free school environment outweigh privacy rights of students voluntarily participating in sports.
• Students in extracurricular activities have limited Fourth Amendment rights in school settings.

Police involvement—J.D.B. v. North Carolina (2011):

• 13-year-old questioned by police at school about neighborhood burglaries.
• Parents not contacted; Miranda rights not read.
• Supreme Court ruled age should be considered in determining if student was in police custody.
• Psychological differences between adults and children require "common sense" approach.
• Miranda warnings should have been applied appropriately for the student's age.

Video surveillance and metal detectors:

• Courts allow surveillance if school safety has been threatened.
• Extensive surveillance can violate Fourth Amendment protections.
• Intent: maintain "safe, secure, healthy, and disruption-free learning environment."

📁 Privacy of records (FERPA)

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 1974): federal law protecting privacy of student educational records, also called the Buckley Amendment.

FERPA requirements for schools:

• Inform parents annually of their rights regarding child's records.
• Provide parents access to their child's records.
• Maintain procedures allowing parents to challenge and amend inaccurate information.
• Protect from disclosure of confidential information to third parties without consent.
• Allow students to opt out of testing.

What FERPA does NOT cover:

• Personal teacher notes.
• Letters of reference.
• Grade books.
• Correspondence with principal.
• Files kept separate to protect other students' privacy.

Rights transfer: Parents retain access rights until child reaches age 18 or enrolls in postsecondary institution.

🌈 Current issues in education

🌈 Racial issues

T.B. et al. v. Independent School District 112 (2019):

• African American students filed complaint against white students in Minnesota.
• Claimed harassment and school failed to intervene or protect their rights.
• Based on Equal Protection Clause (Fourteenth Amendment) and Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• Case remains open in court of appeals as of the excerpt's writing.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Teacher responsibilities:

• Enforce policies and procedures to maintain safe environment for all students.
• Take immediate action to respond to bullying and intimidation.
• Speak up when witnessing questionable behavior.
• Report incidents to principal.
• Participate in regular professional development and training.
• Support culture of inclusion and acceptance.

🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ rights and discrimination

Legal protections:

• For teachers: Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
• For students: Title IX bans sex discrimination in schools.

Title IX: "No person shall, on the basis of sex, be denied admission, or be subjected to discrimination in admission, by any recipient to which this subpart applies."

Equal Protection Clause (Fourteenth Amendment):

• Students or teachers who believe they've been discriminated against can bring litigation.
• "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens... nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Equal Access Act (1984):

• Requires federally-funded secondary schools to uphold students' First Amendment rights.
• Students can conduct meetings and hold open forums with equal access to extracurricular groups or clubs.

Key cases:

Case	Year	Outcome
Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education	1999	School board liable for failing to prevent sexual harassment; acted with deliberate indifference
Nabozny v. Podlesny	1996	Schools and officials can be held liable for failing to protect homosexual students from antigay harassment

Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009):

• Expanded federal hate crime law.
• Includes crimes motivated by victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Student protections:

• Protection from bullying by other students, teachers, and staff.
• Cannot be discriminated against or unfairly denied access to facilities, sports teams, or clubs.
• Supported by anti-bullying and school nondiscrimination laws.
• Sexual harassment guidelines provided through Office for Civil Rights.

🚨 Mandatory reporting

🚨 Child abuse reporting

Mandatory Reporting: legal requirement for educators to report any signs of child abuse.

Why it matters:

• Children often can't or won't speak up about abuse from parents, caregivers, or third parties.
• Educators and community members must recognize warning signs and act to protect children.

Warning signs:

• Physical signs present on the child.
• Behavioral signs or statements made by the child.
• Behavioral signs or statements made by parent or caregiver.

Important note: Any single concern may or may not indicate abuse, but observing indicators—especially multiple ones—should prompt reporting suspicions.

Reporting requirements:

• Reports must be made immediately.
• Reports should be oral and can be made by telephone or other communication modes.
• "Public or private officials" are required to report, including: school employees, higher education employees, healthcare professionals, social workers, etc.

State-specific requirements:

• Requirements vary by state.
• Resources available through state departments (e.g., Oregon Department of Human Services).
• Check RAINN.org for mandatory reporting requirements by state.

🤝 Professional organizations and unions

🤝 Teacher unions

Major organizations:

• National Education Association (NEA)
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• Both have existed for over 100 years.

What unions provide:

• Collective bargaining support—work with teachers to negotiate with school districts.
• Lobby Congress for state and federal legislation impacting education.
• Support for teacher rights and responsibilities.
• In some states, support right to strike as collective bargaining means.

Collective bargaining status by state:

Status	States
Legal	Oregon, Washington
Illegal	Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Arizona

"Right to work states":

• Employees have right to work without being forced to join a union.
• Even in these states, professional organizations provide support, networking, and professional development.

⚠️ Teacher strikes

General restrictions:

• Educators often not permitted to strike because they're employed by the state and considered vital to public service.
• Some teachers strike regardless of state laws (e.g., 2018 in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma).

Consequences of striking:

• School board can obtain court injunction ordering teachers back.
• Teachers can lose pay for each day on strike.
• In many states, teachers can be dismissed for striking.

#RedforEd movement:

• Recent movement involving teachers striking or protesting in many states.
• Advocacy for students and education funding.

---

Note: This chapter emphasizes that understanding ethical and legal issues is essential for making informed decisions as an educator in the U.S. public school system. Teachers and students retain constitutional rights in schools, but these rights must be balanced with the school's mission to provide safe, equitable education. A robust legal system maintains fairness and supports all students as society evolves and becomes more diverse.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Becoming a teacher requires navigating multiple pathways to licensure, committing to lifelong learning and anti-racist practice, and prioritizing self-care to sustain effectiveness in a demanding but rewarding profession.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Multiple pathways exist: teacher licensure can be achieved through traditional bachelor's programs, community college transfers, apprenticeships, online programs, and working as a paraprofessional while studying.
• Staying informed, engaged, and focused: effective teachers continue learning through professional organizations, high-quality resources, and hands-on experience while maintaining their own well-being.
• Anti-racist education is imperative: educators must actively dismantle oppressive systems and teach accurate history, not perpetuate stereotypes or avoid difficult topics.
• Common confusion: substitute teaching ≠ full-time classroom teaching; the first year of teaching is often a mix of highs and lows, not immediate mastery.
• Self-care is critical: taking care of yourself is essential to being the best teacher for your students; exhaustion and self-doubt are normal but must be managed.

🎓 Pathways to becoming a licensed teacher

🎓 Educational requirements vary by state

• Each state manages its own credentialing guidelines (e.g., Oregon uses the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission – TSPC).
• Typically requires a bachelor's degree at minimum, though some high-need rural areas have hired educators with associate's degrees.
• When moving between states, check with the state licensing authority to understand local requirements.

Licensure: the official credential granted by a state that permits an individual to teach in public schools within that state.

Don't confuse: out-of-state or private programs may seem cheaper but often have hidden costs (e.g., having to find your own student teaching placement). Local programs are vetted by the community and often safer bets.

🏫 Diverse pathways to licensure

Due to critical teacher shortages, states are creating more routes into teaching:

Pathway	Description	Benefits
Traditional bachelor's program	In-person learning at a college/university	Well-established, community-vetted
Online/remote programs	Flexible scheduling for working students	Allows students to keep their jobs
Community college transfer	Start at a community college, transfer to a university	Affordable, diverse student community, real-world experience
Apprenticeship programs	Work while learning (e.g., Tennessee model)	Earn while you learn
Paraprofessional pathway	Work in schools in non-licensed roles, then pursue licensure	Build confidence, gain experience, districts may provide tuition support

Example: A paraprofessional working in a school can apply their classroom experience to their coursework and may receive financial support from the district to pursue licensure while continuing to work.

📚 Typical coursework for teacher candidates

Elementary educators should focus on a broad range of subjects; middle and high school educators should focus on their teaching area plus foundational courses:

• Social science (Psychology, Sociology)
• Humanities (Literature, Art, Music, Language, History)
• Science (Biology, Environmental Science)
• Communication (Speech)
• Math
• Health and Physical Education
• Ethics (philosophy or religion)
• Specific Education coursework
• Ethnic Studies (increasingly important to address underrepresentation in US curriculum)

Why Ethnic Studies matters: The excerpt emphasizes that lack of representation of certain groups in curriculum leads to a society that struggles with equity and justice. Taking coursework in Black history, Latino/a/x/e literature, Asian art, or women's contributions to science equips educators to re-center the curriculum toward a more just society.

💰 Financial considerations and opportunities

• Graduate studies often correlate with higher teacher salaries.
• Many districts offer options to pursue graduate degrees while working.
• Due to the "silver tsunami" (aging workforce), states are creating funding incentives: grants and scholarships.
• Community colleges offer affordable pathways.
• Work with an advisor to navigate transfer pathways and ensure courses will transfer to your chosen university.

🌍 Becoming an anti-racist educator

🌍 Responsibility to dismantle oppression

Anti-racist education: teaching curricular material in a way that does not perpetuate, but dismantles, the oppressive processes, systems, dynamics, and stereotypes prevalent in US society.

• Educators must be able to handle topics that affect students' lived realities: racism, sexism, classism, and other oppressions.
• Educators cannot teach in a protected bubble; they must be responsive to the needs of a modern society.
• College education may not cover anti-racism, so educators must educate themselves.

Why it matters: Regardless of your identity or your students' identities, you must be effective for all learners. This requires understanding how to communicate and provide learning opportunities on difficult topics.

📖 Understanding Critical Race Theory (CRT)

• CRT is a complex theory designed for legal analysis, not a K-12 curriculum.
• Popular media and politicians have conflated accurate US history (colonization, enslavement, systemic oppression) with CRT.
• The US Department of Education has no jurisdiction over curriculum; educational decisions are left to individual states.

Common confusion: Critics accused the US DoE of endorsing CRT, but the federal government plays no role in mandating curriculum.

Don't confuse: Teaching accurate US history (including uncomfortable truths about oppression) ≠ teaching CRT as a legal theory.

📚 Staying informed as a lifelong learner

📚 Continuing education beyond initial licensure

• Your journey does not end when you complete your teaching credential.
• Opportunities to continue learning: additional courses, advanced degrees (master's, doctorate), certificates.
• You may choose to become a college professor to work with preservice teachers.

🏛️ Professional organizations

Joining professional organizations keeps you current and connected:

Organization	Focus
AERA (American Educational Research Association)	All areas of education, teacher research
ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)	General K-12 (sometimes K-16) education
ILA (International Literacy Association)	Global literacy-focused, K-12 and higher ed
NABE (National Association of Bilingual Education)	Bilingual/multilingual students and dual language education
NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English)	Teaching and learning of English and language arts
NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)	World's largest mathematics education organization
NSTA (National Science Teaching Association)	Science teachers, largest worldwide
TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)	Largest professional organization for ESL/EFL teachers

• Often have state, national, and international networks and conferences.
• Students and early-career teachers can join or attend conferences at discounted rates, sometimes free.

🌐 High-quality online resources

The excerpt recommends vetted, editor-moderated resources (not unmoderated sites like TeachersPayTeachers or Pinterest):

Websites: Edutopia, Learning for Justice, Cult of Pedagogy Blog, ReadWriteThink, EdShelf, Discovery Education, OER Commons, Dave's ESL Cafe

Podcasts: The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast, TED Talks Education, Teachers in America, Shaping the Future, Sunday Night Teacher Talk, TeachLab with Justin Reich, Science of Reading the Podcast, Teaching Keating with Weston & Molly Kieschnick

📰 Keeping up with current events and policy

• Stay aware of legislation, policy, and education headlines.
• Education is interrelated with other institutions: economy, politics, religion.
• Recent headlines (early 2020s): the pandemic, equity in online learning, Critical Race Theory claims.

News sources for education: Chalkbeat, EducationDive (K-12 Dive and HigherEd Dive), The Atlantic: Education, EducationWeek

🔍 Reading news with a critical lens

When reading education news, ask:

• What is the headline/story about?
• Why is this significant to cover?
• Who is driving the narrative?
• Whose voices are excluded?
• What emotional response does the piece intend to evoke, and for whose benefit?
• What stances from actual stakeholders (teachers, families, students, administrators) are centered or de-centered?

Common problem: Teachers' voices are often absent from education news coverage. This contributes to de-professionalization.

🚫 De-professionalization of teachers

De-professionalization: when education is micromanaged (teachers told what to teach, given scripted "teacher-proof" curriculum) and when teachers are undervalued (expected to do extensive work for low wages).

• Directly correlates to education's history as a female-dominated field: women teachers were paid less and encouraged to think of their work as a "calling" instead of a profession.
• Seek news from multiple sources and well-studied experts, not just one source.

🤝 Staying engaged with students and communities

🤝 Gaining hands-on experience

The best way to learn to be a teacher is to get experience actually working with students.

Ways to stay engaged:

• Volunteer in local classrooms (help with materials, one-on-one work with students).
• Apply to be a substitute teacher (even before finishing your credential).
• Help with after-school tutoring programs or homework clubs.
• Support refugee programming in your community.
• Design and implement curriculum for summer camps or children's museums.

Important: Being a substitute teacher ≠ being a full-time classroom teacher. Substitute teaching is not the same experience.

🔒 Policies and safety

• Many public schools require background checks for regular volunteers (e.g., practicum experiences).
• Others may ask you to check in at the front office.
• Never be alone with a student as a volunteer.
• These rules keep students safe; follow them at all times.

🌱 Stretching beyond your comfort zone

• Go beyond familiar places and past experiences.
• Expose yourself to different places, people, and ways of thinking.
• Your future classroom will be full of diverse learners; stretching your horizons now makes you a more effective teacher.

Example: Instead of returning to the summer camp you loved as a child, seek out a new community or population to work with.

💪 Staying focused and practicing self-care

💪 Emotions of early-career teaching

• Excitement: No day is the same; different learners shape every day.
• Self-doubt: It can take 3–5 years to feel mastery of your craft. It's common to feel you don't have all the tools when you're an early-career teacher.
• Exhaustion: Long hours, few breaks, emails, conferences, meetings, special events. You worry about students outside of school hours.

The first year: Often a mixed bag of highs and lows. Many new teachers report surprise at unexpected demands and startling events. Some are shocked and disappointed; others find the transition relatively easy.

🧘 Taking care of yourself is critical

For the sake of yourself and your students, here is one of the most important pieces of advice we can offer you: taking care of yourself is critical!

• Speak up when you feel overwhelmed.
• Carve out as much time for yourself as possible.
• Keep practicing hobbies that bring you joy; find new ones.
• If you don't have a mentor or community of support, find one or several.
• If you hold a marginalized identity, a mentor or support system that shares that identity can offer useful support and advice.

Why it matters: If you aren't taking care of yourself, it's hard to be the best possible teacher for your students.

Reflection prompts:

• What activities bring you peace and joy now?
• How could you continue these when you are a teacher, or what new activities might you try?
• What network of resources or people do you have for tough times?

🔄 Education as a pendulum

• The field of education is constantly evolving.
• Certain beliefs and practices fall in and out of favor every few decades.
• Knowing the history and understanding how US education is connected to political, social, economic, and legal realms equips you to analyze current trends and anticipate new ones.

🌟 Your ongoing journey

• Your journey toward becoming an effective, life-changing teacher is just beginning.
• Continue to develop your craft by staying informed, engaged, and focused.
• You will have opportunities to drive change and work with colleagues and stakeholders to make education better for teachers, students, families, and communities.
• Maintain a critical lens: continually question how to make US education the most inclusive, effective, and successful for all learners and their communities.