Teaching & Learning Blog

Teacher in a Strange Land

From January 2010 to September 2018, Nancy Flanagan, an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership, wrote about the inconsistencies and inspirations, the incomprehensible, immoral and imaginative, in American education. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich., and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teacher leaders.

Education Opinion This is What Democracy Looks Like
We're teetering on the brink of losing one of America's best ideas--a free, high-quality public education for all children in America.
Nancy Flanagan, March 17, 2011
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1 min read
Education Opinion Cooties
Making music is what we're meant to do, as human beings. Cooties and all.
Nancy Flanagan, March 15, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion Bad Teacher Boogie
Rather than spending energy trying to ferret out the inadequate teachers, we might focus on producing, and retaining, genuinely excellent educators, creating a culture of teaching expertise.
Nancy Flanagan, March 12, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion Merits and Demerits
Once the concept of merit pay takes hold, who knows what could be incented?
Nancy Flanagan, March 9, 2011
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2 min read
Education Opinion Hate Speech
Here's where education comes in--real education, not achievement-data education. What is the evidence, and can we trust it?
Nancy Flanagan, March 5, 2011
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2 min read
Education Opinion Expert Witness
What makes me an expert on class size? Huge classes.
Nancy Flanagan, March 2, 2011
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4 min read
Education Opinion Report Cards for Teachers
Report cards? Don't confuse me with information.
Nancy Flanagan, February 28, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion A Private School Educator Speaks on Public Education
Private school educator: Let's acknowledge that the overall state of public education is, in reality, a heck of a lot better than most people believe.
Nancy Flanagan, February 24, 2011
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4 min read
Education Opinion Teacher Get Angry, Teacher Get Mad*
"All I want to do is close my door and teach?" Oh, I hope not.
Nancy Flanagan, February 21, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion Weekend Warriors
On the face of it, all governors and all public school teachers should have the same goal: improving the educational prospects of students who attend state-funded schools.
Nancy Flanagan, February 19, 2011
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2 min read
Education Opinion Poise & Ivy: Judging Teachers by their Credentials
Smart, capable people turn up everywhere in the teaching profession, regardless of where they took their degrees or why they decided to teach.
Nancy Flanagan, February 15, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion A Valentine to Public Education
Despite warts and weaknesses, I'm not ready to give up on one of America's best ideas: a free, high-quality public education for every single child.
Nancy Flanagan, February 14, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion Grizzled Veteran's Rant
It's excruciatingly hard to let go of something that works. A policy that guts good practice is going to be resisted.
Nancy Flanagan, February 11, 2011
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3 min read
Education Opinion Masters of Our Own Domain
More education doesn't make better teachers? Kind of encapsulates our national ambivalence about the value of education, doesn't it?
Nancy Flanagan, February 8, 2011
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3 min read
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