Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

The Bank Street Thinkers: Foundational Knowledge To Support Our Roots And Wings, Bank Street College Of Education

Bank Street Thinkers

A series of papers and lectures that explore Bank Street history, the concepts of teaching and teacher preparation, our long history of social studies teaching and curriculum development, the role of language and play in young children's growth, and a look at the meaning of competence in schools.

Social Studies And Geography (1934), Lucy Sprague Mitchell

Bank Street Thinkers

Lucy Sprague Mitchell muses upon the meaning of each of the title words separately and then together providing insight into how children learn best -- by doing. Discusses Mitchell's concepts of human geography and how school trips promote students' understanding of their world.

Going Green: A Parent-Teacher Collaboration, Laura Sametz, Claire Mansfield

Progressive Education in Context

Details how a collaboration between a teacher and a parent in the Bank Street School for Children led to a school-wide composting program.

Teaching China, Meghan Armstrong

Progressive Education in Context

Describes the teaching fellows program of China Institute's Teach China program.

Loudness In The Library: Empowering Students To Think Critically About Identity And Bias, Anshu Wahi, Allie Bruce, Jamie Steinfeld

Progressive Education in Context

Describes how an unplanned, informal discussion about how race and identity are depicted on book covers evolved into a year-long investigation with a class of 11 and 12-year-olds where the interests and comments of the students drove the curriculum.

Progressive Education: Why It's Hard To Beat, But Also Hard To Find, Alfie Kohn

Progressive Education in Context

Looks at the varying ways educators characterize progressive education, why progressive education makes sense, and why it might be the exception rather than the rule in educational philosophies.

No Ordinary Field Trip: A Conversation With John Lewis, Sam Brian

Progressive Education in Context

Eighth grade students from Bank Street School for Children meet Congressman John Lewis in Washington D. C.

What Are You Doing For Others?, Traci Pearl, Sasha Elias

Progressive Education in Context

Discusses the community service projects, an important component in the curriculum of the School for Children.

Tools For Life - Lower School Coordinator Laura Guarino's Address To Lower School Families On Curriculum Night, October 25, 2012, Laura Guarino

Progressive Education in Context

In a message to parents of young children, Laura Guarino emphasizes Bank Street School for Children's focus on helping children develop their capacity to be learners, to be flexible thinkers, and creative problem solvers.

Strengthening Nyc Middle-Grades Learning In & Out Of School: Five Recommendations To The Mayor, Partnership For After School Education, Ford Foundation, Bank Street College Of Education

Books

A paper urging Mayor de Blasio and his team to consider insights and recommendations about middle-grades learning in New York City. Moving away from outdated assumptions about adolescence and schooling, this work suggests and expands upon the following:

1. Reframe middle-grades learning as a community responsibility.

2. Focus accountability on student learning and development in and out of school.

3. Strengthen middle-grades schools as centers of youth development.

4. Incentivize innovative designs.

5. Prepare and support a range of adults to foster middle-grades learning in and out of school.

Progressive Education In Context, I-Iv, Bank Street School For Children

Progressive Education in Context

Contains current articles that highlight aspects of the educational vision, mission, and values of the Bank Street School for Children.

Let's Talk About Race: Developing Anti-Bias Curricula In Elementary Schools, Harper Keenan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study investigates the theories and potential teaching practices for implementing an anti-bias curriculum in today's elementary schools. Drawing on the work of Louise Derman-Sparks (1989, 1997, and 2011), Frances Kendall (1996), Gary Howard (2006), Ann Pelo (2000 and 2008), six characteristics of effective anti-bias curricula are explored and analyzed as frameworks for developing curricula. In addition, the study chronicles the experience of one grade level team of four teachers working to transform the social studies curriculum they were given into one that is more intentionally anti-bias. Finally, it offers lessons learned and implications for future curriculum development.

Bank Street And Teach For America: Process And Preparation, Paul Shirk

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this paper I analyze the goals and practices of education that are implied in the mission statements and literature of Bank Street College of Education (Bank Street) and Teach for America (TFA). I noticed and struggled to understand the tension between the mission statements of the two organizations that I was a part of during my master's program. While analyzing the readings and my experiences, I began to see differences between these two organizations' theories and beliefs about child development. I considered how my experiences with children supported or refuted these beliefs. From Bank Street, I recognized many beliefs …

Searching For Meaning: A Personal And Historical Exploration Of Progressive Education, Molly M. Lippman

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this study the author seeks to better understand the meaning of progressive education. This study does not attempt to answer the question What is progressive education?, but rather it seeks to bring the question to the forefront of the minds of fellow thoughtful, reflective, progressive educators who, like the author, struggle with the contradictions and discrepancies present among progressive educators, both historically and contemporarily. Utilizing Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's style of portraiture (1997, with J. H. Davis), the author writes in the narrative style, sharing with the reader three conversations with progressive educators whose work has informed her own educational philosophy. …

Making Sense: Reflections On Developing A Social Studies Curriculum For Five- And Six-Year-Olds, Anne Tobias

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper is a reflection on the writing of a social studies curriculum for five and six-year-olds-a study of a neighborhood construction site. It examines the way in which one teacher's commitment to offering children meaningful content evolved into the formulation of her educational philosophy, as influenced by such progressive educators as John Dewey, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, and Caroline Pratt.

Part One of the thesis is divided into three major sections. The first consists of a developmental overview of five- and six-year-olds. The second describes the connections between understandings of basic child development, understandings of a particular group of children, …

My Whiteness: A Teacher's Efforts To Explore The Roots Of Her Own Racial Identity, Abigail Johnson

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This Independent study is an attempt to explore the roots of my own racial identity in order to become a culturally sensitive teacher. It is preparation for teaching in a classroom where most of the children will be from a different background than my own.

Domestic Life In Dutch New Amsterdam A Social Studies Curriculum For Third And Fourth Grade Children, Michael W. Parrish

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis presents a social studies curriculum for third and fourth grade students on the domestic life of New Amsterdam. Beginning with the geography of the region, the study focuses on the role that the environment has on meeting basic human needs of shelter, food and clothing. Based on a framework of objectives and ideas, the study is divided into three major units: shelter, food and clothing. Meeting each basic need required of New Amsterdam residents a vast amount of time and dedication. As children experience this curriculum, they can begin to understand the effort and many layered processes the …

A Social Studies Curriculum For Three And Four Year Olds : A Family Study That Bridges The Gap Between School And Home, Judith M. Gentry

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This independent study outlines a social studies curriculum for three and four year olds, focusing on family. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a framework for teachers when considering how to promote diversity in their classroom and at the same time recognizing cultural identity.

The Inter-Kid Code Of Social Ethics: Fairness In The Lives Of Fourth Graders, Miriam Dreyer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

How fourth graders understand fairness is the topic of this independent study. Conceptual frameworks were based on the notion that children are actors in the creation of their own social lives. Data was gathered through a series of discussions and written assignments. The author concludes that fourth graders define fairness as a set of shared understanding between children about what is right and wrong. However, this "inter-kid code of ethics" is said to be fluid, and can be applied in a variety of ways in different contexts by children. Equality and kindness are identified as major themes within this code.

A Neighborhood Curriculum For Kindergarten And First Grades, Kathy L. Rubin

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper is a curriculum study of a school neighborhood designed for children ages 5 through 7. The goal of this study is to provide an opportunity for students, who at this age are beginning to expand outward from the roots of their homes and families, to understand their next immediate neighborhood (their school). They will have a chance to meet people who work in the neighborhood, learn about how we get around and from where things come. And then, from that vantage point the students can begin to broaden their perspective and view of their world.

This study is …

Querida Prima, Dear Prima : A Story For Children Seven To Ten Years Old, Stephanie Hermann

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This project is an original bilingual story of two cousins who live in two different countries. The United States and Costa Rica. They bridge their separation by writing letters and emails throughout the story. Through this correspondence they learn about each other and the have more in common in their seemingly distinct worlds than they realize. The text of the book is written in English. The correspondence between the two characters is in English with Spanish translations.

This thesis includes a rationale which explains the need for this book in a world that recognizes the importance of bilingualism and on …

Water In Our Neighborhood A Study Of The Neighborhood With A Focus On Water An Integrated Curriculum For Six And Seven Year Old Children, Simone Graniela

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This unit was developed and created for children as an interdisciplinary study for a New York City public school setting in the Bronx. Through trips, children learn about the goods and services provided as well as the various ways water is used within the neighborhood The curriculum allows for many opportunities for parents to be partners in their children's education which is emphasized throughout the lesson plans provided.

Challenging The Norms: Democracy, Empowering Education, And Negotiating The Curriculum, Joshua Sean Thomases

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Discusses the principles of a democratic classroom, and how implementing these principles can create a powerful environment where extensive and in-depth learning truly happens.

Mirror Of Memory: A Novel About The Great Depression: Original Work And Curriculum Guide For Early Adolescents, Marina Moskey

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Mirror of Memory: A Novel About the Great Depression is a project which contains original historical fiction work for early adolescent readers and a curriculum guide for American history teachers about the Great Depression. This project includes lesson plans centered upon documentary photography, oral history, and historical information about the Great Depression. In addition, an examination of early adolescent development in conjunction with a critique of existing literature can be found within this project.

The Experiencing Of Democracy And Progressive Education: A Constructivist Approach To Mathematics, A Workshop For Teachers, Preminda Langer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Chronicles the history of schooling in India, discusses the development of the constructivist classroom, and shares a series of math workshops for teachers for nursery and kindergarten classrooms in India.

Reflections On A Third Grade Social Studies Curriculum, Laura E. Gerrity

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This curriculum study is a narrative account of a teacher and the social studies curriculum she uses with her third grade class. The curriculum is divided into two main parts. One is a study of the students' culture and family history which involves interviews with the children's parents, an examination of maps and literature from those cultures, and a description of the way the students experience the study through their writings, drawings, and conversation.

The second part of the study is an investigation of the students' neighborhood and community. Through interviews with community members, neighborhood walks, and their own observations, …

A Call To Movement: Reflections Of An Activist As Educator, Frances Lucerna

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Transformation or reform of public schools may be seen as a product of dual divergent forces - one rooted in the ideology of provider and the other arising from collective self-help initiatives for community self-determination. This paper explores, from a personal as well as community perspective, the socio-political underpinnings of creating a public school focused on human rights and the development of the community that gave it birth. It reveals the influences and principles that shaped my life as a community activist as well as the critical events in the history of El Puente ( a community-based organization ) that …

Implementing An Oral History Unit With 9/10s: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Lisa F. Best

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The topic of this independent study is oral history and its interdisciplinary uses in a curriculum. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the various uses of this instructional plan as it explores the themes of diversity and cultural pluralism in the society of the United States of America. The first section of this study is a description of the Manhattan Country School (MCS) as the setting where this unit is currently being taught; and then it will address the developmental and curricular implications of the unit. The child development section will include positions on educational theory from theorists …

A Description And Analysis Of An Integrated Science-Social Studies Curriculum For A Class Of Emotionally Disturbed Children, Margaret Mcnamara

Graduate Student Independent Studies

While working in a small independent special school, this writer developed an animal curriculum for four emotionally disturbed boys with another teacher. The teaching of this curriculum took place from March to June of the school year 77-78. This independent study is a description and analysis of the animal curriculum done with special students.

This paper is structured so that it begins with a description of the new environment of these children including a daily schedule. A short explanation of the group's functioning and brief case studies are included. Previous curricula and the origin of this curriculum is discussed. …

Editorial: Making A Remote Culture Vital, Willowdean Handy

69 Bank Street

Volume 2 Number 1, October, 1935

"After her return from the Far East, Mrs. Handy became interested in modern education and spent one year as a student at the Cooperative School at Bank Street."