Deborah Meier on Education

Dear friends and colleagues,

I am hoping, maybe unrealistically, that I can walk well enough to ring doorbells by the fall. Even if not for Warren or, I have not given up yet – Sanders. It will make me feel less useless.

And while I immensely enjoy visits to and from family and friends, reading or listening to books and doing crossword puzzles — and slogging thru 100 emails et al a day (90% deles)—I miss being in the middle of the action.

Getting old however is better – I think – than the alternative.

Seeing almost all my friends in Chicago was wonderful. But the North Dakota Study Group gathering was frustrating for reasons that I’m sorting through. It is always good to see young and old education allies, but I felt uncomfortablyI out of synch with many of my “allies” on what our task today is. I will share my dilemma in my next blog.

I have committed to writing several essays and chapters  – focused on what schools could do to advance democracy. It boils down to “practicing it”. First and foremost, amongst the adults.

I have been reading manuscripts by teachers, and some recently published practitioner books such as “Schools for the Age of Upheaval” by T. Elijah Hawkes. It tells a story of one school and how much plain, but not ordinary, mutual respect can do to create powerful learning communities. Order it!

Meanwhile, my friend Jane Andrias and I are working with an old colleague, Jeremy Engel, making a film about the 1991 and 1992 graduates of Central Park East Secondary School – almost 30 years later. It means a lot to us and we are hoping it will help others too. The life and death of that school continues to haunt me. However, I am made happy whenever I am reminded of how important it was to so many of us – former teachers, students and their families.

Best

Deb

Filed under: 2020 |