Education Blog

Bridging Differences

Deborah Meier is a visionary teacher, author, and founder of successful small schools in New York City and Boston. Harry Boyte, senior scholar at Augsburg College, is founder of the youth civic empowerment initiative Public Achievement and a leader in the movement to democratize higher education. This blog is no longer being updated.

Education Opinion What Do K-12 Testing and Hospitalization Have in Common?
An experience with my father-in-law's death over the weekend in Johannesburg raises starkly the questions of outside expert control, with parallels in schools.
Harry C. Boyte, October 13, 2015
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2 min read
Teaching Opinion How Schools Can Keep Play Alive
Deborah Meier discusses play as a form of agency, America's "obsession with rank order," and the role of school mandates.
Deborah Meier, October 8, 2015
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2 min read
Teaching Opinion Gun Violence, Schools, and Citizen Politics
Harry Boyte and Deborah Meier exchange ideas about "citizen politics," cross-partisan politics of citizen empowerment, or civic agency, how citizen politics can address challenges like gun violence, and how schools might become sites.
Harry C. Boyte, October 6, 2015
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5 min read
Teaching Opinion What Is Democratic Education -- and Education for Democracy?
Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte discuss what democratic education and education for democracy involve. They identify "agency," both individual and collective or civic, as key.
Harry C. Boyte, October 1, 2015
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5 min read
Teaching Opinion The Problem With Technocrats in Charge
In this exchange on democracy and education, Harry Boyte argues that mandates usually put technocrats in charge, drawing on Pope Francis' populist philosophy to argue that technocratic approaches reflect biases, all too common on the left, against local cultures and everyday citizens. Deborah Meier agrees technocracy is a problem, but traces it to economic greed.
Harry C. Boyte, September 29, 2015
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5 min read
Teaching Opinion How to Promote Democracy in Schools
In this exchange Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte discuss democratic schools, or "democracy schools" in which a mix of children are all learning "in the same classroom." They also talk about how to get there. Meier accents mandates of some democratic elements. Boyte says we need a broad citizen movement as the central strategy.
Harry C. Boyte, September 24, 2015
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4 min read
Teaching Opinion What Is 'Public' Education?
In this opening dialogue on democracy and education Deborah Meier and Harry Boyte agree on the importance of democratic education and on teachers' crucial roles, and have some differences on what is "public."
Harry C. Boyte, September 22, 2015
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4 min read
Teaching Opinion Great & Gruesome K-12/Higher Ed. Encounters
Some of the best, and worst aspects of democracy are displayed in recent K-12/post-secondary education interactions. We've seen respect and disrespect, collaboration and confrontation. With the ironically named "Higher" Learning Commission, we've seen abuse of power, particularly their most recent decisions undermining the ability of students to earn college credits while in high school.
Joe Nathan, September 18, 2015
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5 min read
Education Opinion Summer Break: Pondering My Obsession With Schools and Democracy
In wrapping up her conversation with Joe Nathan, Deborah Meier thinks through what the survival of political democracy will require of schools.
Deborah Meier, June 30, 2015
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3 min read
Education Opinion What Schools Should Do to Produce Active, Constructive Citizens
The single most important agreement is that schools in this country should have as one of their central goals: Helping young people develop skills and attitudes necessary to be active, constructive citizens of a democracy.
Joe Nathan, June 25, 2015
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3 min read
Education Opinion Seven Dictates for Schools That Accept Public Funding
A school has a public responsibility whenever it accepts public funding. Here are seven dictates that should apply to such publicly funded schools.
Deborah Meier, June 23, 2015
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2 min read
School & District Management Opinion Suburban Districts Shouldn't Hire Detectives to Keep Students Out
Some suburban districts hire detectives and even take families to court, to keep out students, often low income and students of color, from nearby urban districts. I think this is awful. I found many status quo defenders (and I don't see you as one of them) who believe this is perfectly ok.
Joe Nathan, June 18, 2015
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3 min read
Education Opinion How Should Schools Help Teach Democracy?
Deborah Meier and Joe Nathan discuss how schools can teach students about democracy.
Deborah Meier, June 16, 2015
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5 min read
Education Opinion 4 Books That Encourage, Inspire, and Challenge Educators
Encouragement,inspiration,passion, perspective,challenge and controversy. That's what I think the four books offer that are suggested below.
Joe Nathan, June 12, 2015
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6 min read
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