Teacher Testimonials

I am deeply concerned as a nursery teacher because my job first and foremost is teaching children how to be good human beings and citizens of the world. This includes helping them understand and embrace their identities. I cannot in good conscience allow my students' and families' identities to be the subject of political debate. 

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I commit my whole heart to my students and their families.  When we disagree, we are able to talk about how we see things differently. We work together to create a culture in which it feels safe to talk and be your full safe.  In a recent presentation by Ethan, a couple of teachers asked questions that he didn’t like.  Rather than invite further conversation, he said that if teachers didn’t like his answers they should leave lab. 

While I recognize he was speaking to policy at UChicago, it shouldn’t feel like you either agree or you leave.

I believe best practice should be modeled from the top, and we aren’t seeing this.  Neutrality emboldens those with the most privileges.  None of this is in good faith.  None of this is good for kids. - Lab Teacher

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"I see our students--even the very youngest-- as individuals who are capable of complex thinking--not as vessels to be filled. I believe that education is, in our founder, John Dewey's, words, 'an active and constructive process," and that I must respond to and uplift our students' whole selves. This means that I must make space for their questions and concerns about the world around them. 

 Dewey also said, 'the real process of education should be the process of learning to think through the application of real problems.' These new guidelines have a chilling effect. I start to second guess myself each time I read an award-winning picture book,  teach histories of all people,  follow the class' lead in pursuing a subject of inquiry--that this somehow will be deemed "controversial" or a "contested issue" by these standards, and the consequences for this are unclear. 

How are we supposed to help our students learn how to think under these conditions? "   -Lab Teacher

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"I want to highlight his quote: 'Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.'" -Eli Wiesel. - Lab Teacher