There’s a lot of pressure to do well and get good grades, but I feel like the only thing there should be pressure for is making sure you’re learning new things, instead of just looking at your grades.
Read More
Ultimately, I think kids remember most how teachers spoke to them and treated them more than what they taught them. I want my child’s teacher to, even if she doesn’t love her, to act loving towards her because even in preschool kids pick up on it if teachers don’t like them. They pick up on the tone of voice and the non-verbals and they can very quickly feel they’re not wanted. I want her to always feel she’s wanted. I don’t really care if she learns algebraic formulas - I care more about whether a teacher asks if everything is okay and if she wants to talk about it when she’s feeling down about something,
Read More
Part of me thinks, is it the education system that generates the lack of opportunity or is it something else? Is it a social problem? The answer is, yes, obviously, yes. ... I don’t see any reason why schools can’t give her the skills to pursue her dreams, but will those dreams secure a good life anymore is what is in question.
It can make her who she wants to be but I’m not sure if who she wants to be is going to be safe in the future.
Read More
Maybe you want to give every kid a sense of hope that they’re going to do whatever it is they want to do. Some people will argue that you shouldn’t give them false hope - that some kids aren’t going to be able to do some things. But I don’t know who’s going to get to judge that. I know so many people who have made it into positions where they wouldn’t have been the obvious candidate. So who can say what’s possible? I know for my daughter I want her to have that belief and sense of hope.
Read More
What I want at a macro level is that whether you’re in rural Brazil or in Prospect Leffert Gardens in NYC that you would have the same opportunity to education, and that education would have an equalizing effect - though that’s not the case right now. Right now, if you’re of a certain echelon, or run with a certain type of people, then you’re often not mixing with other students from other areas or backgrounds - and then you’re just keeping those kids within their own isolated part of society and reinforcing inequality.
Read More
The friendships you form are a big part of school. School forms your social network, which is like after-hours education. After school I went to play with this friend or that friend. And then I saw, oh, that kid doesn’t have a dad – that’s what that looks like. Or, oh, that kid lives with his uncle – that’s what that kind of family looks like. It’s how you learn about the world and learn how to be a friend.
None of that speaks to “book education”, per se, but it is part of the holistic, forming experience of schools.
Read More
" It's not just about an individual sitting at their desk learning; it's about how they work as a collective group, support each other and learn from each other. They should be able to learn about their roles in supporting their community, which can often just be their classroom and then eventually the wider community. They should be asking: how are we affecting our planet? How are we affecting all members in our community?"
Read More
“When you ask parents what they want for their children, they often say they want kids to be optimistic, grateful, curious, optimistic, well-rounded. They won’t say I want them to be a chemist. Maybe it’s because they know that’s what they relied on in their lives; people skills, empathy to be kind, and those soft skills.”
Read More
"I think the purpose of schooling is to provide equal opportunities for everyone because everyone has the same capacity to learn but not the same chance to succeed."
Read More
"I think there are often schools where children don't know what opportunities are out there for them and don't feel that anyone is invested in them--no one has told them that they can be successful. And this is upsetting."
Read More
"We have to educate the whole person and realize that people have to be content within before they can go out and do things that are going to bring them fulfillment."
Read More
"The most important parts of school are learning how to collaborate, interact with other people, use other people as resources, and learn how to be a part of the world."
Read More
"The purpose of education should be to give children the tools to ask themselves "what makes me happy?" and "how can I achieve this happiness?"
Read More
" Because if you become one of those teachers who goes against the grain, you start to lose your free time and lose...your hair. You start losing out on other things because the system is built against you and you don't want to deal with it."
Read More
I think all parents want their kids to be happy. But sometimes that means they think their child will only be happy if they go to an Ivy League or highly selective college and have every opportunity they either did or didn’t have. Parents always want what’s best for their kid but we have trouble seeing that sometimes those heavy-handed goals towards what’s “best” have negative mental and emotional ramifications for the kids.
Read More
When I think back on what I remember about my schooling, my focus keeps going back to the relationships, not necessarily the traditional educational aspect of what we think of when we thinks of schools. But relationships are probably the most important aspect of your life. That’s what is going to get you through life.
Read More
"I want to be able to travel to many places around the world and have a job where I can go around the world to help animals. I think having a chance to succeed and to do what I like would make me happy."
Read More
"A lot of people automatically assume if you’re making a certain salary range that should be enough to keep you content in life. But monetary stability doesn’t equate to personal fulfillment."
Read More
"Having a global perspective is humbling and intimidating. It's humbling because it's nice to know that it’s not all on you, things aren't all your responsibility. You realize it takes an entire community to make something happen in a tangible way."
Read More
"I think the human element of schooling is so essential to what schooling is, and it's so often overlooked by policymakers and educators."
Read More