News & Notes

Book Review

Educating for a Culture of Peace, Riane Eisler and Ron Miller, editors - Review by Megan Earls

Envisioning nothing less than sweeping changes in America’s cultural and political status quo, this is a radical book, one that issues a clear and urgent call for teachers to actively create a culture of peace in our classrooms right now. We must, say the editors and authors, help change the world by changing the way we teach children.

In fourteen passionate essays, teachers, principals, children’s advocates, and children’s songwriter Ravi share their insights and ideas. Collectively, they urge us to transform, rather than simply transmit, the values of the mainstream American culture in which we live and teach. That culture, says Riane Eisler, focuses on getting and keeping power over others, through violence if necessary—a dominator culture. Peace, she says, comes only in a partnership culture—one that empowers others through mutual respect, caring, and nonviolent conflict resolution.

Using examples from their own work, the essayists argue persuasively for shifts in curriculum content, school structure, and the quality of human connections in schools. Although state standards do define what we must teach, the writers invite us to consider how we teach it—how we present and work through the required content with our students.

One essay I found particularly compelling was “Emphasizing Variety Rather Than Commonality” by Lisa S. Goldstein. She highlights a common root cause of conflict: fear of difference. Although many schools address this problem by introducing multicultural programs, Goldstein cautions that many of these programs overemphasize the commonalities among races, religions, and ways of life. Rather than just telling students “we are all the same,” she argues, we need to help them recognize and respect difference. She writes, “Children who appreciate differences understand that the broader the range of languages spoken, of cultures represented, of perspectives shared, the richer and stronger the community.”

Goldstein offers teachers several practical suggestions. One is to talk openly with students about the similarities and differences among themselves and their peers. We can help children see the value of each individual’s perspective in their day-to-day experiences and in their readings. Another suggestion is for teachers to appreciate and respect differences of opinion and style between themselves and their colleagues. Students will learn by watching how their teachers react to such differences.

I love this book because it reminds me why I started teaching: to nurture in young people the vision and skills to build a more equitable and intelligent world. These writers powerfully remind me that achieving my goal is not only necessary but very possible. As Eisler notes in her opening essay, “Cultures are human creations. They can and have been changed.”

To order, visit www.heinemann.com. 240 pages, paper, Heinemann, 2004, $22.00.

Megan Earls is a founding faculty member and lead English teacher at Williamsburg Collegiate Academy, a public charter school in Brooklyn, New York. Megan teaches reading and writing to fifth and sixth graders.

In the Field

Responsive Classroom Teacher Honored by Colleagues

The staff at Lakeview Elementary School in St. Cloud, Florida, have chosen Responsive Classroom consulting teacher Melissa Correa-Connolly as their Distinguished Minority Educator for 2007. Melissa serves as a behavior specialist at Lakeview, an elementary school with a diverse population of 950 children in grades preK–five.

The award recognizes Melissa’s contribution to improving school climate through her leadership of the school’s Discipline Committee, which has been developing a positive approach to dealing with behavior issues. Also considered were the support Melissa offers all Lakeview teachers as they deal with children’s challenging behaviors and the workshops she leads to help district teachers develop proactive behavior management strategies. Winning her school’s recognition makes Melissa eligible to be chosen as her district’s Minority Teacher of the Year.

Melissa has been a certified Responsive Classroom consulting teacher for twelve years and is the author of the popular book 99 Activities and Greetings, published by NEFC in 2004.

Helping to Rebuild in Louisiana

Responsive Classroom consulting teacher Marcia Bradley of Orleans, Massachusetts, traveled with twenty-three other volunteers from New England to Louisiana last November to help rebuild Katrina-damaged homes. Working with a group called the North Shore Recovery Team, Marcia helped repair two houses in Slidell, a community on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain outside New Orleans.

Marcia, a former principal and current part-time Responsive Classroom workshop presenter, didn’t have special construction skills, but she learned on the job. She helped install kitchen cabinets, plumb a kitchen sink, finish a countertop, and put up drywall at the houses where she worked.

Each house had a story. The first belonged to a family that spent four days in the garage loft while twelve feet of water flooded the house. The second, the only two-floor house in its neighborhood, sheltered eleven neighbors while flood waters consumed the first floor.

“It's difficult to describe the magnitude of the disaster,” says Marcia, who toured storm-ravaged wards besides the areas she worked in. “For me, the opportunity to be of real service is one of the gifts of my semi-retired status. May the Gulf Coast be spared any new storms for a long time to come.”

Book Note

The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot

This book can help any teacher who has experienced tension-filled parent-teacher conferences or who just wants to get more out of these conversations. Through telling stories of real parent-teacher interactions, Lawrence-Lightfoot, a Harvard University education professor, offers insights and guidance on how to communicate more effectively with parents. You’ll see how parent-teacher interactions are often influenced by both the parents’ and teachers’ own childhood experiences and by society’s beliefs about race, class, and gender. Then you’ll learn how skillful teachers handle conversations with parents so that all parties feel validated and stay focused on the ultimate goal of helping the children. To order, go to www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/. 288 pages, paper, Ballantine Books, 2004, $13.95.

What’s New at NEFC

Meet Our Marketing Director

As NEFC’s marketing director, Jay Lord develops strategies that help us share the Responsive Classroom approach with as many educators as possible. He conducts marketing research, writes our annual marketing plan, and leads NEFC in identifying which regions of the country to focus on as we expand our Responsive Classroom work.

Jay helps ensure that NEFC’s books, newsletter, website, and other resources about the Responsive Classroom approach continually reach more educators. He oversees print and online advertising for Responsive Classroom products and services and plans for NEFC’s presence at selected conferences and events.

As one of NEFC’s co-founders, Jay brings to his work a deep understanding of the philosophy underlying the Responsive Classroom approach. “Add to that Jay’s enthusiasm for our work and his many years of experience as a teacher and mentor,” says executive director Roxann Kriete, “and you have a person who really knows how to reach educators.”

Summing up what he finds most appealing about working at NEFC, Jay says he loves “working with congenial and capable people to make a difference in the world by making school better for children. Properly implemented, the Responsive Classroom approach really does just that.”