Ethical Schools

Ethical Schools

Amy and Jon talk with educational innovators about creating ethical learning environments, helping students overcome the effects of trauma, and empowering young people to make change. Tune in weekly.

  1. 24 Jun

    What teens deserve: A creative out-of-school program

    Jon speaks with Dr. David Penberg, who ran the Liberty  Partnership Program at Bank Street College in the 1990s, and two of the participants, Madelyn Baez, and Tara Crichlow. Three decades later, Madelyn, Tara, and David explain how the program changed the trajectory of their lives. The Liberty Partnership was created as a college prep intervention for underserved and marginalized middle school students.   For the participants, it was a safe place of "uncomfortable empowerment" where their opinions were taken seriously in a simultaneously supportive and challenging environment. Overview 00:00-00:45 Intro 00:45-01:56 Liberty Partnership Program (LPP) origin and description 01:56-03:36 What LPP felt like to Madelyn and Tara 03:36-07:03 LPP structure and goals 07:03-09:40 How Madelyn and Tara joined 09:40-14:42 How experiences in the program were different from school 14:42-19:10 Environmental conversations 19:10-19:24 Trip to China 19:24-20:49 Asset-based program; not about “fixing” the young people 20:49-23:03 Opportunities and relationships 23:03-26:04 “Uncomfortable empowerment” 26:04-26:50 Options, opportunities, exposure, experience 26:50-30:37 Bank Street as a place of safety and empowerment during time of demonization  of young people of color after Central Park jogger case 30:37-35:03 Impact on students’ relationships with families and friends 35:03-37:02 Impact on David’s life 37:02-37:52 Remembering youths who died 37:52-40:51 The larger Bank Street environment 40:51-42:15 The “pure love” of the LPP community 42:15- Outro Transcript Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.  Soundtrack by Poddington Bear

    What teens deserve: A creative out-of-school program
  2. 19 May

    Literature as identity-affirming, teaching as liberatory

    Dr. Chantal Francois and Dr. Jen McLaughlin Cahill, co-authors of Identity-Affirming Literacies in Schools, discuss their time at the school they call Pearl Street Collaborative, a progressive secondary school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that prioritizes teacher inquiry and collaboration. Schedules include time for teachers to meet frequently with grade and content colleagues. Drawing on the work of Freire and Lilia Bartolomé, Drs. Francois and McLaughlin Cahill used literature to support students' identities, including by integrating an LGBTQ+ focus into English classes.   Overview 00:00-00:52 Intros 00:52-03:36 Humanizing pedagogy 03:36-04:44 Relationships and humanizing pedagogy 04:44-07:35 Scheduling facilitating creation and maintenance of faculty relationships 07:35-10:04 Collaboration as modeling for students 10:04-10:21 Pearl Street Collaborative 10:21-13:24 Literacy as more than reading 13:24-18:53 Reading and teaching as political 18:53-23:17 Mission statement as a meaningful document 23:17-31:23 Structuring literacy instruction around independent reading and reading whole books 31:23-36:44 LGBTQ+ identify-affirming literacies 36:44-40:34 Impact on students of LGBTQ+ focus 40:34- Outro References Book Identity-Affirming Literacies in Schools by Dr. Chantal Francois and Dr. Jen McLaughlin Cahill: buy it on Routledge or find it on Amazon Article by  Dr. Lilia Bartolomé "Beyond the methods fetish: Toward a humanizing pedagogy" Transcript Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.  Soundtrack by Podington Bear

    Literature as identity-affirming, teaching as liberatory

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Amy and Jon talk with educational innovators about creating ethical learning environments, helping students overcome the effects of trauma, and empowering young people to make change. Tune in weekly.

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