Even as we creep towards the darkest days of the year in the Northern hemisphere, I continue to find light and hope. I have just returned from Mexico where a new publication Escuelas Democraticas: Una Perspectiva desde Mexico premiered at the International Book Festival in Guadalajara (FIL). The book, co-authored by twenty-seven public school educators from thirty states across Mexico, shares stories of how democratic practices live in classrooms, hallways, and school yards. Most importantly, the book demonstrates the power of democratic practices to transform relationships among all the stakeholders in schools: students, teachers, parents/caregivers, administrators, and community based organizations.
The four pillars of democratic education–ideas that I have developed over years of teaching, leading, and learnin–, provided the impetus for the book and serve as its organizing framework. Briefly, these pillars are as follows:
- Emphasizes the open flow of ideas and choices,
- Embraces high quality and equitable education which is inclusive of all,
- Contributes to the ‘common good’ through active engagement, consensus and compromise,
- Organizes all stakeholders to confront theirs and society’s most urgent challenges.
Such complex ideas captured the attention of those at the book festival– the largest in the Spanish speaking world. More than making an impression on the audience, I am still contemplating the power of writing and then presenting for these twenty-seven educators. We always say to young people: it matters what you say, it matters what you write, it matters that you stay in school. But there was something extraordinary about this gathering of these first time authors. They were presenting ideas about education at the premier event for Spanish-language literature and culture. To see their ideas taking center stage filled me with enormous hope and a sense of accomplishment.
To see public school teachers sharing the stage with literary figures from around the world may have been a first for me. Too often we ignore the intellectual work of teaching and just think of teachers as those folks who stand in front of kids all day making sure they behave and learn something in the process. Teachers are paid as caretakers, not creators of the mind, body and soul, but here at the International Festival of the Book teachers were stars.
I also visited a few of the co-authors’ schools. I am reminded that joy is both a form of resistance and also learning.
Luis, a co-author and newly appointed director of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz primary school in Toluca, leapt onto his school’s patio surrounded by students, teachers, and parents, and talked about the process of writing and his deep belief in the the power of play–the subject of his chapter. “You learn through play,” he reminded the assembled crowd. “When you ask your child,” he spoke directly to parents, “what they did in school, and they answer, ‘we played,’ that is not a bad thing. Learning is not just about reciting or copying from the board. It’s also about making and building projects, and even jumping rope and learning to take turns.”
For the next forty-five minutes between introductions of district supervisors, parents, teachers, and our team from Mexicanos Primeros (the organization that created the book), students performed pieces with us: a short play, a recitation, traditional dances. Their energy and glee for being in school with all these visitors expanded our imagination of the educational possibilities. It was play and learning–of the most joyful kind. I loved the performances, but what I really loved was the look on the teachers’ and students’ faces when Principal Luis talked about himself as a writer. I wonder how many more writers might emerge from this school.
We visited classrooms where students were engaged in lessons about the gastro-intestinal system; creating self-portraits, or learning English. Students grinned at Luis as if he was a celebrity–he was even more special than a principal– he was a writer, from their school no less. Everyone wanted to practice their English and share their projects. It was a school filled with pride and purpose.
A secondary school in Ecatepec, was also celebrating the director’s fame as a co-author. Students welcomed us with a celebratory parade, an artistic showcase of three-dimensional portraits of well-known figures who overcame disabilities (Stevie Wonder, Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, to name a few), and a dance performance from one of their students (and an alumna) who both had Down’s Syndrome. I was struck by the warmth and respect students demonstrated as audience members while they cheered on their peers who shared work. There was no calling out or rude behavior; this was a community coming together to celebrate the hard work of students and of their principal.
The principal had written about many of the difficulties of educating young people in this community, which has been struggling against gang violence, drug addiction and poverty. These societal issues affect everyone in the school, but for a brief moment during our afternoon visit, we could all celebrate the joy of engaging in a school that truly reflects the ‘common good’ for everyone.
My visits to schools, whether in the U.S. or abroad, help me ask better questions and gain greater clarity on current issues. I’ve been deeply engaged in a new public STEAM school in Lynn, MA-a city just north of Boston. City Arts and Sciences Academy (CASA) opened this year with two grades– 6th and 9th–and will grow to be a 6th-12th project based learning school with a mission to inspire designers and artists to use creativity, critical thinking and experimentation to imagine and cultivate a future vested in community. It’s one of the most adventurous schools I’ve ever been involved with.
Wednesdays are project days and students and teachers are exploring together what it means to create a project that explores an essential question such as: What is community? or Whose stories do we tell? As part of the process, students have to learn to plan their time with their peers and think through all the ways that they might answer the essential question. From the teacher’s perspective, what are the skills and content that they hope students will learn? And, how is this different from more direct teaching with the teacher in charge of structuring the lessons and imparting the knowledge?
At Project Days at CASA, called Flex Days, the decision about what, why and how to learn is shared more equally among teachers and students. What should a finished project look like? Who is the audience that needs to experience the final exhibition? What is the story we want to tell? How do we reflect on what we have learned? This process of iterating is what creates the adventure at CASA and it is not easy to engage this way.
I wonder if we can be more explicit with students about why and how we are adopting a project based learning approach? Yes it’s fun, but also because we believe that an iterative design process helps students actually remember what they learn. And, we believe that by engaging together in projects that include design, prototype, redesign, testing, performing helps students actually create new ideas and solve theirs and their community’s most urgent challenges.
The power of school is when young people don’t see school as something done to them, but rather as something that helps them and their community grow and prosper by questioning, learning and finding solutions. I saw glimpses of that in Mexico and I see it in Lynn.
I know there’s a mental health crisis in the U.S. and worldwide as well. But I refuse to fall into despair, cynicism or fatigue. Our students need our hope and our determination to move towards light and we must create the schools they most deserve.