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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teacher leaders.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
Stickin' (It) to the Union
It's hard to say which came first--the dysfunctional chicken or the infuriated egg--but unionization is not the root cause of what Michelle Rhee calls "crappy schools."
Education
Opinion
Dear MORE magazine
Dear MORE magazine: Would you print a little piece called "Are Nurses Ruining Our Hospitals?"
Education
Opinion
Katrina Nation, Part II: Live-blogging the NBC Teacher Town Hall
Lots of sound, more than a little fury. And about 95% solidly pro-professional teacher and public education. Doesn't get much better than that.
Education
Opinion
Katrina Nation: Driving Past Public Schools
NBC's promoting the "advantages" of destroying an entire educational community in a devastating, lethal--and preventable--flood? Really? Shameful.
Education
Opinion
Diane Defends Detroit
Perhaps it's time to stop dividing people into "our side" and "their side" and start the hard work of deconstructing popular policies and media-driven narratives. It's not about winning. It's about making better public schools for all kids.
Education
Opinion
Crime and (Inappropriate) Punishment
At last--a teacher who takes swift action against disrespectful punks and teaches them a lesson! But what's the real takeaway?
Education
Opinion
Teach Party Express
So why aren't teachers out there making their own inflammatory films and outrageous statements? Why don't we carry insulting signs, wear funny hats and gather on the Mall for no discernible purpose?
Education
Opinion
Bob the Science Guy--and the STEM Crisis
What made Bob an excellent teacher was the very fact that he was a generalist. Every kid in that system learned about science from a man who was broadly knowledgeable, showing them the function of scientific principles in their everyday life and modeling curiosity about the way the world works.
Education
Opinion
Home, Sweet (Rental) Home
Is there more to education than dispensing knowledge and skills? Does the community school still have a place?
Education
Opinion
Squandered
Have we squandered the terrible momentum engendered by that day in September?
Education
Opinion
Ugly Babies
If things were not perceived to be uniformly ghastly, we may be looking at investment and transformation over time for our most challenged public schools. Building on what we have. Hope. But no.
Education
Opinion
Sports Authority
Sometimes, ed policy world feels like the jocks' table in the cafeteria--men tossing out stats, men wrestling with contrary views , men confidently making strong opinion plays and engaging in a little verbal back-slapping.
Education
Opinion
Value Clarification
Who wouldn't want to add value to a child's education and life prospects? When you understand the clear, working definition of the numeric value being appended, however, the noble-sounding descriptor "value" feels a lot less...valuable.