About the blog: Transforming Urban Education, Transforming Ourselves
The purpose of this blog is to engage members of the broader community in exploring the possibilities for fundamental transformation in urban education, and in society and culture more generally, toward greater justice and quality. It is an opportunity to raise, reflect upon and respond to the deeper questions and dilemmas that arise in the movement for quality urban education and social justice that we often don’t have the time for when caught up in the heat of the struggle or the pressures of our everyday work.
I welcome everyone across race, culture, class, gender, sexuality, and age to join this mutually respectful dialogue about the issues we need to work through in the process of personal, social and educational transformation. I especially welcome to this blog the voices of those most affected by the chronic crisis in urban education today: students, and youth who have been pushed out of school, their parents, caretakers, families, community members & leaders, support staff, teachers, activists, and all who care about quality and justice in education and society today.
To keep our spirit alive and strong to sustain our social justice work, I will draw upon the courageous examples of unsung s/heroes in our communities, as well as insights from literature, spiritual teachers and the arts. As a point of departure, I will pose some of the issues and dilemmas that arise out of the coming of age novel, In a Silent Way, about a young teacher activist in urban America, set in the late sixties -- but even more relevant to us today as we confront the intensifying crises in urban education and urban communities.
Please bring your personal experiences and stories, your dilemmas and inspirations, your questions and wisdom to this dialogue so that, together, we can clarify our visions for the future and explore ways to bring them into being.