Blog

Welcome to my Reflections at the intersection of teaching, learning, parenting, ecology, spirituality, the arts, and democracy

    • What do young people need to know to cope with the rapidly changing world that is upon us?

    • How can we teach our children to live in ways that protect the bio-systems that all life relies on?

    • How can we educate people for a life of meaning, and for work that sustains both themselves and the planet?

     

  • The public conversation about education suffers from an appalling lack of imagination and a scandalous disregard for what is truly important. While our nation and our world are experiencing multiple crises – ecological, political, economic, and social crises – contemporary educational policy talk is focused on testing, standardization and accountability.

    In this blog, I’ll offer bits of wisdom hard won from my experiences as a parent, a teacher, a teacher educator, and a researcher to spark our collective imagination about the kind of education we need to meet the urgent needs of a world in crisis.  I will share books and resources that have influenced my thinking.  And I will invite you into the discussion of the kind of educational future you envision.

To school or not to school….

Most children are well into their second or third week of the new school year. Parents have sent them off and into the care of professional educators with varying mixtures of regret, anticipation, relief or dread.  Not all parents have sent their children off, however. Read more

For the Love of Frogs

Once again this spring, I enjoyed our “All Species Day” here in Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont. It’s a fabulous participatory spectacle of puppets, music and drama that urges us all to become caretakers of our planet and all the creatures that live upon it. When I first took part in this celebration years ago, it got me thinking about how we might integrate these elements of theater and ritual into our curriculum. Read more

Parental Pedagogic Creed

If you could design the perfect learning environment for your child, (or grandchild, or ALL children) what would it look like? Underneath our visions of education lie deeply held beliefs about human potential and about learning. My “Parental Pedagogic Creed” is a simple statement of what I wanted for my children’s education.

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