Education Commons^™

Walking The Walk: Linking Teaching And Advocacy, Danielle Morrison

Occasional Paper Series

Discusses the author's journey from being a teacher to being a teacher for change.

Across Classrooms: School Quality Reviews As A Progressive Educational Policy, Doug Knecht, Nancy Gannon, Carolyn Yaffe

Occasional Paper Series

Knecht, Gannon, and Yaffe, former New York Department of Education administrators, describe their work adding a quality review process to the accountability system for city schools. Positing that the quality review is itself a progressive process, they argue that it can help schools to focus more on the lived experiences of their students and less on high stakes moments.

Holding Space For Progressive Practice, Abbe Futterman, Dyanthe Spielberg, Cecelia Traugh

Occasional Paper Series

Elementary principals Futterman and Spielberg and Bank Street dean Traugh use a descriptive review process to share their methods for maintaining educational spaces that are grounded in progressive values, in the face of conflicting mandates from the district or the state.

Say That The River Turns: Social Justice Intentions In Progressive Public School Classrooms, Beatrice Fennimore

Occasional Paper Series

Fennimore confronts the deficit-based talk prevalent in many schools serving marginalized students in “Say that the River Turns.” She argues that teaching for social justice begins by replacing deficit-based talk with clearly articulated intentions that subsequently transform into actions.

Beyond Child-Centered Constructivism: A Call For Culturally Sustaining Progressive Pedagogy, Alisa Algava

Occasional Paper Series

Algava argues that twentieth-century constructivist pedagogies are not sufficient to fulfill progressive education's inherently political, activist and democratic potential. She calls for a culturally sustaining progressive pedagogy that critically engages questions of power with both children and teachers.

The Center For Inquiry: Anatomy Of A Successful Progressive School, Christine H. Leland, Amy Wackerly, Christine Foxen Collier

Occasional Paper Series

Describes the work of the Center for Inquiry Schools in Indianapolis, Indiana. Authors Leland, Wackerly, and Collier were part of the original cohort of teachers and university faculty who founded a progressive magnet school. Premised on inquiry-based teaching and learning, the Center for Inquiry has grown from one to four schools.

City-As-School: Internship-Based Learning In New York City Public Schools, Rachel Seher, Melissa Birnbaum, Alan Y. Cheng

Occasional Paper Series

Paints a portrait of a high school with experiential learning at its core; at City-As-School in New York City, internships take the place of many classroom-based courses.

Now Is The Time, Jonathan Silin, Meredith Moore

Occasional Paper Series

In an era when intense pressure has been brought to bear on educators at all levels to “fix” education, Progressive Practices in Public Schools is designed to shine a light on the programs and pedagogy that are too often hidden from public view. The goal is to highlight what is hopeful by identifying educators who model rich, complex, and compelling alternatives to what is on offer from many contemporary “reformers.”

Leonard Covello: A Study Of Progressive Leadership And Community Empowerment, Lorenzo Krakowsky, Patrick Shannon

Occasional Paper Series

Describes Leonard Covello's progressive work at and around Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem, NY.

The New Orleans Reformed Public School System: National Model?, Raynard Sanders

Occasional Paper Series

The author describes what happened to the New Orleans Public Schools after Hurricane Katrina.

Introduction: Diving Into The Wreckage: Our Schools, Education Reform, And The Future Society, William Ayers

Occasional Paper Series

"In this special issue of the Bank Street Occasional Papers, we will dive into the wreckage, engage the fight, and hope to reclaim the ground of education in and for democracy." --Author.

Preface: Challenging The Politics Of The Teacher Accountability Movement, Gail M. Boldt

Occasional Paper Series

Explains that this issue is intended as a resource for anyone concerned with re-framing and taking back the educational conversation, moving toward meaningful school reform that is based in a commitment to creating conditions under which teachers can develop the kinds of complex and sophisticated professional knowledges and practices that support authentic student learning.

Front Matter And Introduction, Valentine Burr

Occasional Paper Series

The writers in this issue of Occasional Papers advocate for models of inclusion that support children’s capabilities and challenge systemic inequities based on ableism and cultural biases. They examine the complex and changing nature of collaboration between general and special educators in inclusion settings. Underlying these essays, though not always explicitly stated, is recognition that the fields of special education and disability studies can deepen and inform each other.

Selected Works By Harriet Cuffaro, Miriam Raider-Roth, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

Selected works by Harriet Cuffaro.

Mapping The Social Across Lived Experiences: Relational Geographies And After-School Time, Louai Rahal, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur

Occasional Paper Series

This article is divided into two sections. The first offers a theoretical frame that enables key concepts to be defined and discussed. The second reviews current approaches to methodology that enable researchers to study the movement of youth over time and across space in an effort to examine the learning that is occasioned by different relationships. Here, we offer ways to begin thinking about mapping social relationships across lived experiences. The article ends with a brief conclusion, in which we note the significance of documenting the developing experiences of children and youth, mediated by social relationships, and the necessity of …

Theorising Through Visual & Verbal Metaphors: Challenging Narrow Depictions Of Children And Learning, Sophie Rudolph

Occasional Paper Series

Through a rich description of how young children use drawing to express their emerging understandings of the world, Rudolph disrupts narrow definitions of the child as learner.

Art Education At Bank Street College, Then And Now, Edith Gwathmey, Ann Marie Mott

Occasional Paper Series

Takes readers through the history of art education at Bank Street College to show the innovative and child-centered approaches that continue to challenge dominant educational thinking.

A “Widespread Atelier” For Exploring Energy: “From Wave To Wave”, A Unique Place Where Science, Art, And Design Intersect And Converge In An Open And Dynamic Way, Giulio Ceppi

Occasional Paper Series

Offers insight into the development of an atelier in the Apennine Mountains in Italy and challenges us to rethink what counts as art materials in children’s lives.

The Existential Territories Of Global Childhoods: Resingularizing Subjectivity Through Ecologies, Laura Trafí-Prats

Occasional Paper Series

Draws upon photography to discuss the construction of childhood within the ecological spaces of globalization.

The Affective Flows Of Art-Making, Bronwyn Davies

Occasional Paper Series

Invites readers to consider the transient and surprising things that occur for both adult and child within the rhythmic flows of art making.

Preparing Teachers For Place-Based Teaching, Amy Vinlove

Occasional Paper Series

This paper begins by offering two portraits of recent teacher education graduates providing place-based teaching in their classrooms, followed by a description of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions teachers (new or seasoned) must possess to effectively teach in a place-based manner. Next is a short discussion of the importance of experience and application of these tenets. Finally, there are three examples of activities and assignments my colleagues and I have developed for our teacher preparation program. We aim for these experiences to help inspire and prepare our graduates to integrate their local communities and places into their own classrooms, whether …

Nature Preschools: Putting Nature At The Heart Of Early Childhood Education, Ken Finch, Patti Bailie

Occasional Paper Series

Describes nature preschools as places that go beyond the typical preschool teachings within the classroom. Activities at nature preschools may include child-centered outdoor investigations, unstructured play and exploration in rich outdoor settings, large, natural areas to explore, and special programs that might include making maple syrup or apple cider, meeting live animals, and discovering pond life.

Learning Naturally: An Inquiry Study Of Streams In Hawaii, Becca Kesler

Occasional Paper Series

Describes a teacher-guided, place-based inquiry curriculum.

"I anticipated that it would give my students opportunities for exploration, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and collaboration, while developing a relationship with the natural world. This is the story I would like to share. My hope is that it will provide other teachers with the inspiration to consider the rich learning opportunities available in their local environments." -- Author

Discovering Place-Based Education In The Foothills Of The Himalayas, Monimalika Day, Doug Hernandez

Occasional Paper Series

The central feature of this paper is a portrait of a teacher conducting lessons near a pond in a remote village in the foothills of the Himalayas. It describes how the teacher provides opportunities for her young students to explore their natural environment and helps them to connect with their place. It is essential to note that her story represents the efforts of many other preschool teachers working with Prakriti.

Place-Based Education: (Re)Integrating Ecology & Economy, Mark T. Kissling, Angela M. Calabrese Barton

Occasional Paper Series

Describes the relationship between ecology and economy in place-based education.

Curtain Up: Place-Based Teaching & Learning In The New York City Theater District, Peggy Mcnamara, Bryan Andes

Occasional Paper Series

In this article we describe and analyze the process first grade teachers used as they guided their students to investigate a place in their school community called “the Theater District,” an important industry in the neighborhood.

Guggenheim For All: Museum Education For Students On The Spectrum, Chiara Di Lello

Occasional Paper Series

The aim of this paper is to articulate the strengths of Guggenheim For All (GFA) as a place-based learning experience and the ways it can benefit students on the autism spectrum. I review educator practices in light of both Universal Design for Learning principles and best practices for teaching students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and draw on anecdotal data from teachers that support a view of GFA as place-based learning.

Playing In Literary Landscapes: Considering Children's Need For Fantasy Literature In The Place-Based Classroom, Sarah Fischer

Occasional Paper Series

Are the philosophies and pedagogical practices of literature-based classrooms congruent with place-based classrooms? In this paper, the author argues that not only is imaginative literature compatible with place-based philosophies, but it can become a powerful centerpiece of a curriculum aimed at educating for a sense of place and inspiring life-long readers.

Reclaiming The Promise Of Place: An Interview With David Greenwood, Roberta Altman

Occasional Paper Series

David Greenwood (formerly Gruenewald) is a Canada research chair in environmental education at Lakehead University, where he also directs the Centre for Place and Sustainability Studies. He has published widely on critical place-based, environmental, and sustainability education. His current interests are to continue to make connections between the big ideas of place and sustainability and other big ideas and experiences in the arts, mindfulness, embodiment, and being in the world.

Introduction: Claiming The Promise Of Place-Based Education, Roberta Altman, Susan Stires, Susan Weseen

Occasional Paper Series

Each of the papers in Claiming the Promise of Place-based Education offers a much-needed antidote to the forces that disconnect us from the places we teach, learn, and live in. Taken together, they provide an opportunity to reflect on the power of place in education. We invite you to enjoy the fresh air that the authors of this issue of Occasional Papers have brought with them to share with you.