Spoken to an educator recently? Opened a newspaper? Then, no doubt you’ve heard about the startling increase in remarkably cruel, insensitive & flat-out rude behavior kids are showing on a regular basis. Group-think is short-circuiting basic decency with alarming regularity. At my middle school in recent months, as in schools …
A few weeks ago, I read this Medium post by Dr. Shayla R. Griffin, which I posted my initial reflections on, and which has had an enormous impact on my thinking over the intervening weeks. My takeaway: There is a population that wants schools to open: parents working from home need space; …
A few nights ago, I pulled a play off my bookshelf, A Thousand Clowns by Herb Gardner. It’s the story of an outsider, the self-appointed court jester Murray, who can’t keep a job or a friendship, because he won’t play by anyone else’s rules. Murray is raising his nephew, Nick, …
American society is characterized by pluralities. Whether you consider the U.S. a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl,” our society is a blend from various world cultures, and also the unique local cultures of this country. I find myself often thinking about the socialization processes that create and continue our …
