The Teacher Project: Looking Ahead

We are less than 24 hours away from The Teacher Project, a two-day retreat we are hosting for teachers in Southern California.

This first-ever event is designed to help teachers explore their core beliefs and how those beliefs shape the work they do in classrooms, schools and communities.

We are looking forward to exploring a number of questions and ideas during the retreat. Some of these include:

• How can we, as educators interested in educational and social justice, ensure that the values we say we care about – like equity and equality – are truly reflected in the work that we do? Why do our actions sometimes not align with our core values? How can we improve?
• What does discrimination look like? What acts of discrimination have each of us experienced? How did that discrimination affect us? What steps can we take to ensure that we do not discriminate against others – either intentionally or unintentionally?
• There are many “isms” that can hinder our efforts to treat the students and families we serve equitably. What are some of the common isms that plague our society? How can we constantly strive to eliminate these “isms” from our own lives and work, even as society seems to strive to maintain and advance at least of some of them?
• We know that what students believe about themselves matters. How can we work to promote resiliency and a sense of personal responsibility in our students?
• And finally, what is the current political landscape in education? How can an understanding of this landscape help us to advance causes of educational and social justice?

We don’t view this first event as a one-time experience with this group of teachers.

Instead, we believe it will be the first of many Teacher Project retreats, and the beginning of an ongoing partnership with the teachers we will meet this weekend. In time, we plan to include some of the stories we hear at this and other retreats on this blog, as well as in our books, articles and others writings.

Want to learn more about The Teacher Project or eager to see a similar retreat held in your area? Email us at instituteforedandsocialjustice[at]gmail[dot]com and include The Teacher Project in your subject line.

This weekend is an exciting beginning.