Pedagogy for the Distressed
Thinking about the Mission of Public Education
Gender Justice 2014 Week 1 Stories That Need to Be Told, Rev. Ginna Bairby Daughters of Eve: Biblical Women Take Back the Microphone, Miriam Foltz and Rachel Shepherd The Cry of Tamar, Rev. Marci Auld Glass Re-Imagining “Re-Imagining” and the Next 20 Years, Sylvia Thorson-Smith Re-Imagining God: Reflections on
MoreDo you have a teacher story? It seems to me that most people do. Many of us, when asked, can easily recall a story of a mentor figure who encountered us at just the right moment in our lives, the teacher who taught us a lesson much more important and
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? If a teacher, what age and subject matter do you teach? Katie: I am a Music Educator, currently teaching High School Choir. Unbound: At what type of school do you work? Katie: I teach at a public suburban high school. Unbound:
MoreUnbound: What was your role in the education system? David: I taught at Horace Mann Elementary School in Washington, DC, for 2 years. I served first as a 2nd Grade assistant teacher, then as a 4th Grade long-term substitute (for a woman on maternity leave), and finally as a Pre-K-to-2nd-Grade
MoreInterviews with Educators To start off this issue, the editors of Unbound thought decided to get some input from some of the people who are most familiar, most involved, and perhaps most passionate about these issues: those who serve and have served as professional educators. The following teachers, advisers, administrators,
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? If a teacher, what age and subject matter do you teach? Paul: I am a 3rd grade teacher. I teach language arts, science, social studies, and personal and social success. Unbound: At what type of school do you work? Paul: I
MoreUnbound: What was your role in the education system? Melissa: I am a former 7th and 8th grade Spanish teacher, GED tutor for ages 16-22, and MCAS (Massachusetts state test) tutor for ages 16-22. Unbound: At what type of school did you work? Melissa: I worked in two public schools,
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? Laura: I have worked as an undergraduate academic advisor for two and a half years. In this capacity, I help motivated students to identify and pursue ways in which they can take their academic interests to the next level. These ways
MoreUnbound: What was your role in the education system? Jim: I worked with a nonprofit organization that partners with schools to provide small-group and one-on-one tutoring, mentoring, and encouragement. Additionally, I provided after-school and summer programming for students and designed extracurricular activities to create a positive school climate. Unbound: At what
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? Laura: I teach 11th and 12th grade English. Unbound: At what type of school do you work? Laura: I work at a suburban public high school in northern Virginia. Unbound: Tell me about the demographics of your students. Laura: My students
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? Amy: I am a history teacher for grades 9-12. This year I am teaching a senior seminar, Government, Economics, US history, and World history. I have taught middle school geography, ancient history, and US history in the past as well as
MoreUnbound: What was your role in the education system? Charles: I was a college professor, teaching music history and related classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Unbound: At what type of school did you work? Charles: Over the course of my career, I taught at both public and
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? Blake: I am a high school social studies teacher. I teach students in 10th through 12th grade. Unbound: At what type of school do you work? Blake: My school is public and is classified as suburban. Unbound: Tell me about the
MoreUnbound: What is your role in the education system? Sandy: I am the Director of the Communities of Learning (CoL) program at Union Presbyterian Seminary, located in Richmond, VA. Unique to Union and currently funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment, CoL is an innovative program for newly-admitted students designed
MoreEducation has had a primary role in the Christian Church from the beginning. Jesus was often called Rabbi or teacher, and education was fundamental to his role and identity (Mk. 4:1-9; Mt. 5-7). He was the Teacher par excellence. The early followers of Jesus gathered together for fellowship and to
MoreWhy Education? The title of this issue, ‘A Pedagogy for the Distressed’, echoes Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a seminal work both for critical pedagogy and liberation theology. Many are distressed about the state of education, both in the U.S. and around the world, and yet most if not
MoreReformed Christians have worked tirelessly to establish and strengthen universal public education in every nation and time where they have found themselves. This work has been inspired by theological beliefs that have been part of our tradition since the momentous Consistory meeting that established the Reformation and instituted universal public
More“Children should be seen and not heard.” I imagine most readers have heard the adage. I can remember hearing that phrase more than once as a child. As I came to understand it, children were some sort of interesting conversation piece – enjoyable to have around as long as they
MoreUnbound: Where did the idea for the “Educate a Child, Transform the World” Campaign come from? Frank: The campaign theme came from the choice of quality education as the initial focus of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission’s critical global issue concerning global poverty. It was clear early on that
MoreThe “Educate a Child, Transform the World” Campaign in the PC(USA) “Educate a Child, Transform the World”: International, Interview with Frank Dimmock “Great progress has been made in increasing access and enrollment. However, the numbers of students has greatly outpaced the numbers of qualified teachers and available resources, thus classes
MoreA Family Story Lora and Bruce Whearty, elementary school teachers from Montana, accepted a call to serve as educational mission co-workers through the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1992. They resigned from their jobs, sold their home and most of their possessions, and moved with their two daughters to Vanuatu, a
MoreOne Presbyterian’s Experience Participating in International Educational Mission Occasionally something happens in your life that you can only explain as a “God-moment.” For me, teaching in Pakistan was just such an experience. I met Veeda Javaid, the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Education Board (PEB) in Pakistan, at the Synod
MoreEvidence-Based Methods of Instruction Background A widely recognized key to a nation’s or region’s development is access to quality education. Equipped with education, people become better parents, reducing infant mortality and disease, encouraging better school attendance, and being more able to provide a nurturing environment for their children. Research shows
MoreThe Social Contract We Have ‘Left Behind’ Consider this definition of justice from the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, the retired pastor at Washington, D.C.’s Foundry United Methodist Church: “Justice is the community’s guarantee of the conditions necessary for everybody to be a participant in the common life of society… If
MoreBroken Places in our Education Systems Public Schools and the Public Good: The Social Contract We Have ‘Left Behind’, Jan Resseger “In a democracy, we are responsible, through our elected representatives, for ensuring that our public institutions distribute opportunity to all children, not just to some.” Read Article sdf Brown
MoreA longer version of this article originally appeared in Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly: The Witness of Some Southern Presbyterian Pastors for the Cause of Racial Harmony in the 1950s and 1960s, compiled by James S. Currie. All rights remain with the original publisher. In 1953, the Little
MoreI was sitting in my eighth grade classroom with 20 or so other students, mid-afternoon on May 17, 1954. I don’t recall the subject we were discussing, but the acting principal of my 12-grade school in Monroe, NC, opened the classroom door and stepped into the room. He began to
MoreOn Full Inclusion of Children with Disabilities In 1998, I earned a Ph.D. in the cultural foundations of education at Syracuse University. I was drawn to Syracuse because of its reputation as an international leader in the practice of inclusion: the commitments and methods by which children and adults with
MoreThis article was originally published in Marian Wright Edelman’s Child Watch Columns on Feburary 6, 2009. Reused by permission. All rights retained by Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). Incarceration is becoming the new American apartheid, and poor children of color are the fodder. It is time
MoreStarting the Conversation at Home “Go to college”, they told me. “It’s the only way you can get a good, well-paying job.” I graduated college in 2007. The economic downturn started right before I graduated. I majored in English, not exactly what most people consider a ‘marketable’ or ‘practical’ degree?
MoreWalking the Church/School Boundary It’s a daily parade. Every morning as the sun rises over Mount Rainier, children leave the back door of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma and walk 2 blocks up I street to Lowell elementary school. The parade reverses direction in the afternoon. The 40 or so
MoreSeeds of Hope for the Future of Education The Prime Time Parade: Walking the Church/School Boundary, Rev. Dave Brown “Prime Time is a religion-free zone so that it affirms the separation of church and state and so that it embodies Jesus’ teaching to love our neighbors.” Read Article sdf Her
MoreWomen’s Colleges and Female Empowerment The tragedy of my educational history is not that in some middle school classroom, the twin pressures of puberty and a plummeting self-esteem finally forced me into silence. The tragedy is that no one noticed. Quiet boys are strange. When a boy goes quiet, people
MoreThe Domestic Expression of “Educate a Child: Transform the World” To learn more about and participate in the domestic component of this initiative, go to pcusa.org/child. The 221st General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in a very welcome action, affirmed what is known as the Educate A Child
MoreThe Rising Cost of College Tuition I recently overheard a father discussing college tuition and loans with his son. “When I was in college, I just took a summer job to pay my tuition,” the father earnestly argued. He was genuinely confused that his son was not able to pay
MoreFreedom Schools with the Children’s Defense Fund The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools program is a summer literacy program that mostly, but not exclusively, serves children of color in low-income communities. The program seeks to instill the love of reading and prevent summer learning loss in participants through generating
MoreFinancial Aid for Service I usually introduce myself by saying that I have a great job because I give away money for a living. It is an oversimplification, but I think most people know that. They smile and nod because they recognize that there is a bit more to Financial
MorePresbyterian Racial Ethnic Schools and Colleges Emilio Vazquez is originally from Mexico City. He was attending a private school in his hometown and had never imagined that attending high school anywhere other than Mexico City was an option for him. That all changed 4 years ago, when he started having
MoreThe Kirk School What is this anomaly?! A church school that doesn’t teach doctrine? A neighborhood mission that does not proselytize the Christian faith? How does this satisfy Jesus’ command to “Go into all the world and preach…” Are we not missing our best opportunity to spread the gospel and
More“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b; NIV) The gospel reveals to us a Christ who is radical not only in who he approaches, but also – perhaps even more importantly – how he approached them. The most marginalized, the most
MoreInterview with Community Organizer Patricia Jelly Growing Parent Power for Change is a project funded in part by the PC(USA)’s Self-Development of People (SDOP). It has grown out of the work of community organizer Pat Jelly and the Elizabeth chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee. The group consists of
MoreThinking about the Mission of Public Education Setting the Stage: Why Does It Matter? Educating Whole People: A New ‘Common Core’ , Rev. Ginna Bairby The Centrality of Education in the Reformed Tradition, Duncan S. Ferguson Our Theology of Public Education, Rev. Dr. Ray Roberts Toward a Theology of the
MoreA Closing Editorial Is the rise of polarized politics due—at least partly—to the decline of mainline Protestantism? And why do mainline Protestants see education as such an ethical value? This is an editorial reflection on a very rich issue and a look ahead to another but very different education-related Unbound
More
Unbound Social