Patricia Carini's philosophy and ways of seeing and doing were born at a small, independent school in rural Vermont, but the reach of her ideas extended to teachers working in a variety of different settings. This article documents the impact of Carini's work on the practices of the staff at The Cedar School (pseudonym) a small, progressive,…

Teachers at a, mostly white, independent school met monthly for a year, discussing how to talk with children from pre-K through eighth grade about race. They looked at interactions that arose spontaneously in the classroom, from younger children's comments about skin color to racially tinged remarks in the older classes. Faculty members, who all…

Contemporary academic scholarship has devoted a tremendous amount of effort to documenting the prevalent standardized, formal schooling environment. Too little has been written about the persistence of small, independent progressive schools that have never stopped putting their students' individual needs and interests first. Peachtown Elementary…

Descriptive Review, as developed by Patricia Carini and colleagues at the Prospect Center, is a process of deep observation and documentation that has proven to be an invaluable tool for teachers interested in gaining a more holistic view of their students and their work. In this article, a teacher educator and three classroom teachers share their…

This autoethnographic narrative explores the challenges and successes of employing critical pedagogy in an eighth-grade history classroom. Using the threads of teacher, scholar, and individual, the author shares the intellectual and emotional progression through hope, frustration, humility, and growth that this endeavor demanded. Further, this…

Recently, as many as 50,000 migrant children from Central America have entered the United States without their parents. Under federal law, public schools must enroll a child who lives in the community, regardless of his or her immigration status. Ming and her twin brother Chang enrolled in my district's elementary school. Ming would not speak,…

This article describes a teacher-research project in which a class of fifth-grade English language learners demonstrated that learning about photography and using it as inspiration for their creative writing authenticated their writing task, helped them bring their outside-school worlds inside school, increased their enthusiasm for writing, and…

This essay presents a reflective account of a preservice teacher's experience in her fieldwork practice. The author, a professor in the preservice teacher's education institute, acted as a critical friend and joined in the reflection as an equal. Based on the voices of the preservice teacher and a group of primary teachers, this essay presents a…

The modern ideal of international cooperation, which it is desired to incorporate in the future education of the young, is based on the two main principles of solidarity and justice. In this essay, the author discusses two aspects on the problem of solidarity: (1) moral aspect; and (2) intellectual aspect. In connection with the moral aspect, the…

One of the most important problems in education is that of inculcating a sense of citizenship. Most of the social and political disturbances in the world are due to the failure to perform duties and the false interpretation of rights--both apparently the outcome of ignorance. For that reason, it is most important that children should be accustomed…

Many school districts are moving to scripted programs in hopes of improving standardized test scores because of pressure from state and federal governments, particularly in low-income, bilingual, and low-performing schools. However, the relational side of education is an essential consideration, and it can be linked not only to proficiency on…

The associate director of education at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago recounts her learning and teaching through managing the Movement as Partnership program. Included are detailed descriptions of encounters with teachers and students as they create choreography reflective of their inquiry into integrating dance and literacy arts curriculum in the…

This article describes one teacher's efforts at creating a differentiated mathematics program in her multi-age first- and second-grade classroom. The author describes challenges encountered and successes met in this process, as well as the structures she uses to meet a variety of student abilities, including open-ended problem-solving tasks,…

Adolescent willing and desiring is pervasive in mainstream American culture. The result is that America's youth is drowning in itself, in the immaturity, impulsiveness, and pastlessness of our dominant culture. Listening to the voices of youth caught in this crisis, and drawing from the observations of thinkers such as Nietzsche, Erikson, Baldwin,…

Two decades after I left teaching primary school for a university career, I observed students and teachers in a mainstream primary school in Hong Kong. There were three main student communities within the school. Those who were labeled extremely low achievers were taught in a small class of not more than 12; these students were taught a curriculum…