In The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer (2017) writes, “If we want to grow as teachers -- we must do something alien to academic culture: we must talk to each other about our inner lives -- risky stuff in a profession that fears the personal and seeks safety in the technical, the distant, the abstract” (p. 48). For many years, social justice educators have taken this to heart in the work that we do in classrooms, schools, and in the wide array of professional development we lead. We have come to know deeply how the personal and professional collide when it comes to social justice in education, and to grow the courage for this work in our students, we have come to depend on the creation of intellectually safe (Jackson, 2001) classrooms and professional communities of inquiry. But what happens when we ask teacher leaders to disclose their inner lives, take personal and professional risks, and become vulnerable in what is often a hostile, volatile, and mostly unsafe public space? As we reflect on our praxis, this is the work that is required of leaders of social justice in education, and it is why ongoing support and initiatives, such as The Social Justice Education in Hawai‘i Project, is needed to confront obstacles that have oftentimes kept us separate and silent.
Hele Aʻo – “To Go and Learn”
Traveling more than 150,000 miles and visiting more than 20 different progressive schools, the faculty and staff at Hanahauʻoli used the 2019-2020 school year to bring back new ideas. Inspired by the school’s 100th year anniversary in 2018, Lia Woo (‘88), the new Head of School, was hoping the visits would inspire change and growth for the future. “After studying our school’s history, mission and beliefs, I wanted the faculty to look outward and learn from other progressive schools. By engaging in collaborative, experiential learning, faculty not only practiced their teacher-researcher skills but also helped inform future strategic priorities.”
The Progressive Education Spectrum
In the opening sentence of William Haye’s (2007) book, The Progressive Education Movement, he states, “For some time now, I have accepted the idea that a major theme in the history of education in the United States during the past century has been the ongoing debate between those who consider themselves traditionalists and those who espouse the principles of progressive education (p. xi). “ This debate and need to distinguish between what constitutes a progressive philosophy and pedagogy, compared to more “traditional” approaches to education is well-documented and has no doubt played an important role in the evolution of the American progressive education movement. It has helped progressive educators clarify and define what they mean by a “progressive education” for both the movement’s critics and followers. It has also helped to create charts like Haye’s (2007, p. ?) below, which didactically delineates the difference between traditional and progressive approaches to education.
When doing philosophy with children, what do we mean by “philosophy?”
At the end of their journey in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM), College of Education (COE), Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy, MEd Curriculum Studies program, master's candidates applied the process of philosophical reflection to explore the meaning of their experiences in the program. In collaboration with peers and professors they engaged in a creative process to “untangle” and illuminate lessons learned about progressive education during the five semesters of the program. They were asked to communicate their reflections to a wider audience via a thought provoking and artful film that could be shared with a wider audience. The overarching question guiding the reflective process and ultimately the film was: Why progressive philosophy and pedagogy?
Using the Art of Dance to Communicate: Why Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy?
At the end of their journey in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM), College of Education (COE), Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy, MEd Curriculum Studies program, master's candidates applied the process of philosophical reflection to explore the meaning of their experiences in the program. In collaboration with peers and professors they engaged in a creative process to “untangle” and illuminate lessons learned about progressive education during the five semesters of the program. They were asked to communicate their reflections to a wider audience via a thought provoking and artful film that could be shared with a wider audience. The overarching question guiding the reflective process and ultimately the film was: Why progressive philosophy and pedagogy?
The Sweetness of Time
Slow down everyone you’re moving too fast - Jack Johnson’s soothing voice brings me back to Oahu and a relaxing day at the beach. I love this song because it puts me in a calming space and reminds me to slow down. Life seems to move quicker and quicker. I know so many of us can relate to getting caught up in the grind and are seeking a balance where time slows down a bit and we can appreciate the small moments. Growing up and now raising my family in Honolulu has been an interesting mix of “slowed down” and relaxed experiences at times. For example, when your friends say the BBQ starts at 6:00, and you know it’s totally acceptable to come at 7:00 or 8:00. Yet, in recent years I find myself getting caught up in a faster pace, rushing from school to pick up my kids with anxiety creeping in while moving from one appointment to another, meeting deadlines, or feeling like things just keep getting added to the plate.
Librarianship in Service to Democracy: What Libraries Can (and Should) Be in Progressive Schools
In 2023, it is almost impossible to escape some form of the “culture wars” being waged in the “battle grounds” of classrooms and libraries. There are book challenges and bans, vocal opposition to school curricula, and the ever looming threats of misinformation and disinformation. Solutions to these problems are evasive; they cannot be addressed with a single-pronged approach. It will take the support and mobilization of an entire network–our network of progressive educators around the world “harnessing the dynamic power of progressive practice for the next generation of students, schools, and democracy” (PEN, 2023). An essential element of this network are our school librarians and the best practices of 21st-century librarianship, which are deeply rooted in a progressive philosophy and pedagogy.
Fighting Back Against the Future
The simple act of having hope for a better future breaks the doom-loop and builds a platform for action.
The future is not bright. At least, not if you’re reading the most popular interpretations of the future: AI uprisings, ecological crises, mass surveillance states, and wartime apocalypses dominate speculative fiction across novels and Netflix. It seems inevitable that in the upcoming decades, our world will become an increasingly worse and uninhabitable place. Fueled by the real dangers of climate inaction, militaristic tension, and a crumbling public sphere, there’s genuine reason to worry. People find themselves glued to the apocalypse: escaping to social media to endlessly scroll and consume news of the impending collapse. Some embrace doomerism, an extremely pessimistic and nihilistic worldview that has entirely given up hope for a better future.
Experiencing The Kaleidoscope That Is Progressive Education
When I was little, I loved kaleidoscopes. I would look through the lens in amazement at the myriad of color fragments that all seemed to be moving at once; sometimes toward one another, sometimes away from one another, yet all in concert to make a beautiful whole. As I left Hanahau’oli School this week, I felt like I had just discovered life in a kaleidoscope. I came for a two day visit to look specifically through the lens of thematic learning and yet I experienced so much more. This colorful kaleidoscope of students, teachers, administrators, staff, and support teams were constantly on the move with pieces shifting moment by moment through the day with students at the center. Each move was never random or haphazard, but carefully crafted to bring out the best in one another to allow each individual to shine as part of a cohesive whole.
Spirituality and Progressive Education
Ever since I was a young child, I have wondered about the inherent source of a thriving person. Described by Yos (2012), the person who lives a flourishing life is: whole, integrated, compassionate, grateful, joyful, and living purposely in the present moment. A thriving human responds freely and is flexible to new experiences without fear, but instead with a deep sense of inner wisdom. That said, the current state with which we find our society, inundated by fear, over-competition, materialism, racism, and bias, has made it incredibly difficult for humans to thrive or engage meaningfully and purposefully in their lives. The reality of our current world is that it is an upstream swim to a place where thriving can occur. In this blog, I explore the relationship between “spirituality” and progressive education, and wonder whether the intersection of the two might be a resource for finding meaning, flourishing, and becoming a thriving person in our modern world.
The Inextricable Link Between Progressive Education and Scientific Research
An often underemphasized and misunderstood essential element of the progressive education movement is its relationship with scientific research. The idea that teaching, learning, and schooling must be systematically studied through observation and experiment has been a defining feature of progressive education philosophy and pedagogy from the very beginning. “As much as they wore their hearts on their sleeves,” early progressive educators like Francis W. Parker, John Dewey, and Ella Flagg Young “prided themselves on their allegiance to science, culling ideas from research from all over the world and exhaustively testing their hypothesis and methods” (Little & Ellison, 2015, p.41).
“Your image of the child: Where teaching begins”
“Amooooore,” (“Looooove,”) an Italian mother crooned over her child, looking at her with adoring eyes (note: this is a scene you might witness in any city, piazza, cafe, park in Italy). Every time I hear someone call their child “amore,” I can’t help but smile at the adoration Italians have for children. My husband and I have witnessed this first hand since our daughter was a baby and when we traveled through Italy with her. We felt like the red carpet was rolled out for us because we had a child. “This is NOT the experience we have had in the U.S.!” we thought, especially in airports, grocery stores, or anywhere with a line, whereas in Italy, families with young children have priority and precedence. For years I’ve wondered about the reasoning behind this wonderful cultural perspective, which I have learned can be attributed to many factors: a low birth rate (making children in Italy more rare and precious), a culture strongly tied to family and community, and one that celebrates the beauty in everything (and that takes the time to savor such things). Among them are family, food, art, architecture, and other cultural phenomena born out of the beautiful interaction between humans and the natural world.
Continuing to Grow the Modern Progressive Education Movement in Hawai‘i
In this final musing on the many thought-provoking questions posed at the Modern Progressive Education Panel Discussion for Human Restoration Project’s first ever Conference to Restore Humanity! (view a complete recording of our discussion online here), let us examine the ways the progressive education movement has grown between the early 1900s and today. Human Restoration Project’s Chris McNutt posed the following questions to Josh Reppun, ambassador for WhatSchoolCouldBe.org, Brendan McCarthy, a scholar-in-residence in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy graduate program, and myself. What are the driving factors behind the growth of the modern progressive education movement? What is different in a modern progressive education versus that of the past? How is it expanding today?
Progressive with a Capital P?
In my October 2, 2022 post on the Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy Blog, I shared one of many engaging questions posed to me at the recent Modern Progressive Education Panel Discussion for Human Restoration Project’s first ever Conference to Restore Humanity! (View a complete recording of our discussion online here.) Organized by Human Restoration Project’s Chris McNutt and including the perspectives of Josh Reppun, ambassador for WhatSchoolCouldBe.org, and Brendan McCarthy, a scholar-in-residence in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy graduate program, this conversation continues to stimulate wonderings for me today.
In Defense Of Impurity: A Reflection On Wonder
As a part of their program of study in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy MEd Interdisciplinary Education, Curriculum Studies Program–students participate in a summer seminar with UHM philosophy professor, Thomas Jackson. The course is titled, PHIL 725: Philosophical Topics- Philosophy, Childhood, and Education. It examines issues, theories, perspectives and problems that philosophers, from a variety of cultural backgrounds and historical contexts, have tackled over the past 2500 years. The goal of the course is to provide educators with a philosophical “grounding” that promotes awareness, encourages knowledgeable reflection, and develops skills necessary for becoming a teacher-philosopher. Following is a reflection shared by UHM Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy graduate student, Michael Mendoza.
Progressive Education － Do You Know It When You See It?
On July 25, 2022 I had the opportunity to participate in a Modern Progressive Education Panel Discussion, a component of Human Restoration Project’s first ever Conference to Restore Humanity! The conference was an international invitation for K-12 and college educators to center the needs of students and educators toward a praxis of social justice. It featured Dr. Henry Giroux, Dr. Denisha Jones, and tracks on disrupting discriminatory linguistics, ending carceral pedagogy, building for neurodiversity, and promoting childism. The purpose of the conference was to help change systems and reimagine education.
Using ʻĀina-Based Learning & School Gardens to Promote Social Justice Education in Elementary Grades
Aloha Mai Kākou,
O Jessica Ruth Sobocinski koʻu inoa. O Portage, Indiana mai au. Noho au ma Paʻauilo Mauka, Moku o Keawe. ʻO Robert Sobocinski ke kāne. ʻO Shawn Cunningham ka wahine. Noho pū lāua a hānau maila ʻo Jessica Sobocinski he wahine.
My name is Jessica Ruth Sobocinski and I am from Portage, IN, currently living in Paʻauilo on Hawaiʻi Island. I was born in 1991 to Robert Jerome Sobocinski and Shawn Lynn Cunningham, two young college students from White, working class families.
Niente Senza Gioia
Niente Senza Gioia (Nothing Without Joy!) - Loris Malaguzzi
This is one of my favorite quotes from Loris Malaguzzi, principal founder of the Reggio Emilia schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The quote resonates with me at the progressive school where I am lucky enough to have been teaching and learning for the past 14 years. The school is Hanahauʻoli School, which translates to “joyous work.” “Aha!” I cried when I found this quote - it’s meant to be!
The Teacher Scholar Role at Hanahau‘oli School: Using Inquiry to Grow a Progressive Teaching Practice (Part 2 of 2)
In the previous blog I shared how I honed in on the following problem of practice while teaching handwriting (or letter formation) within my early elementary classroom: The handwriting program I was providing was not very effective for teaching letter formation to the children who needed it most. I noticed this problem most when children were engaged in independent practice, using worksheets and workbooks that were intended to reinforce skills and habits that I had taught through a variety of other letter formation activities in my classroom (see Part 1 of this blog series). This was a problem I had seen before, within my first grade classroom at a different independent progressive school. However, during my semester teaching in a K-1 classroom at Hanahau‘oli School, I honed in on these specific observations:
The Teacher Scholar Role at Hanahau‘oli School: Using Inquiry to Grow a Progressive Teaching Practice (Part 1 of 2)
Teaching is an incredibly complex and dynamic endeavor. Teachers must navigate a complicated web of critical relationships on a daily basis and work together to guide learners through a changing landscape that includes aspects of multiple fields of knowledge. A teacher’s work is influenced by small and large–personal and societal–shifts in the outside world that inevitably make their way into the classroom, sometimes explicitly, other times on the soles of their students’ shoes. Teaching is both an art and a messy science, one that cannot be realistically limited to a single variable.