News
Teaching for Change Turns 20
In 2010, Teaching for Change celebrates 20 years of building social justice, starting in the classroom. Visit our 20th anniversary pages to learn about our history and how you can contribute to our 20th anniversary campaign. Help make sure we can continue for another 20 years to provide teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world.
Teaching for Change Fundraiser - Spanish Play on April 7
El retablillo de Don Cristóbal/The Farce of Don Cristóbal and the Maiden Rosita
Join Teaching for Change at this exclusive preview of Federico García Lorca's play. This is an opportunity to enjoy a great play and support Teaching for Change in our 20th anniversary.
About the play: Directed by acclaimed Argentine director Adhemar Bianchi and puppeteer Ximena Bianchi. Influenced by his passionate enthusiasm for the marionettes of his childhood, García Lorca combines his unique poetic lyricism and the rough folk humor of the traditional trickster in this bawdy and delicious farce. This is fertile terrain for Bianchi’s love of popular art forms: street theater, circus, commedia dell’arte, and Golden Age Spanish theater. In his staging, Republican soldiers and members of the Abraham Lincoln International Brigade who are fighting in the Spanish Civil War celebrate their cause for freedom with impassioned songs of the war and a joyful performance of Lorca’s puppet play. In Spanish with English surtitles.
Special thanks to the GALA Theatre for selecting Teaching for Change as the beneficiary for this preview night. (The play runs from April 8 - May 2, 2010.)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
7 p.m. reception
8 p.m. performance
Location: GALA Theatre 3333 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20010
Our goal for this 20th anniversary fundraising event is: $10,000.
Tickets are available for a minimum $40 donation each. You can also sponsor a seat for teachers and parent leaders, or donate any amount. All donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Teaching for Change Official Bookseller at Split This Rock
From March 10-13, 2010, the Split This Rock Poetry Festival will feature readings, workshops, panel discussions, youth programming, and film. The 2010 featured poets are Chris Abani, Lillian Allen, Sinan Antoon, Francisco Aragón, Jan Beatty, Martha Collins, Cornelius Eady, Martín Espada, Andrea Gibson, Allison Hedge Coke, Natalie Illum, Fady Joudah, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Richard McCann, Jeffrey McDaniel, Lenelle Moïse, Nancy Morejón, Mark Nowak, Wang Ping, Patricia Smith, A.B. Spellman, Arthur Sze, Quincy Troupe, and Bruce Weigl. Teaching for Change's Busboys and Poets Bookstore is proud to partner with Split This Rock as the offical bookseller. Bios. Festival program and schedule.
Tell Us Your Teaching a People's History Story
"It was almost eleven years ago when I happened on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. I was 24 at the time and had just finished my first year of teaching. My life hasn’t been the same since." This is part of Gettysburg, Pennylvania teacher Michael Swogger's story. To demonstrate the lasting impact Howard Zinn and A People’s History of the United States have had on elementary and secondary school educators and students, we are collecting teachers’ stories. We have posted them on the Zinn Education Project website and they will be linked to HowardZinn.org. These stories can provide ideas and inspiration to other school staff and parents who are looking for ways to deepen the teaching of US history in their schools. Read Michael's full story and many more and even more important: tell us your story.
Teaching About Haiti
Teaching About Haiti has been posted online as a free, downloadable resource, along with a list of over 40 recommended books for books, films, and organizations for classrooms.
The Teaching for Change board and staff believe that while students should be encouraged to contribute to relief efforts, it is also important to gain a deeper understanding of the history and the roots of the poverty in Haiti. The US has been involved with Haiti for centuries, yet it has received little attention in textbooks or the curriculum. Part of our commitment to the people of Haiti at this time can be to not only increase our support but also our awareness. As informed citizens, we can advocate for respectful and constructive relations with Haiti in the months and years ahead.
Enid Lee Presents Major Report on Race and Education
Reality Check, a report examining the effectiveness of a wide range of educational programs and supports for African Nova Scotian students, was presented by Dr. Enid Lee (photo, right) to Nova Scotian Education Minister Marilyn More (photo, left) on December 10, 2009.
The report was produced by educator and international consultant Enid Lee and Clem Marshall. Enid Lee is a Teaching for Change virtual scholar and co-editor of Teaching for Change's publication, Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development.
In the report, Enid Lee makes 30 key recommendations aimed to improve opportunity and achievement for Nova Scotia's estimated 4,000 students of African ancestry.
The findings are based on extensive consultations with educators, parents, school boards, Education Department officials, community groups and race relations officials, as well as numerous school visits and classroom observations.
This report is relevant for anyone interested in systemic approaches to creating high quality learning environments for all students.
Full report (PDF).
More information on the Nova Scotian government website.
New Zinn Education Project Website Launches
The Zinn Education Project, a collaboration between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, are thrilled to announce the launch of the new Teaching a People’s History website. This site features over 75 free downloadable teaching activities for middle and high school classrooms to bring a people’s history to the classroom. These are the best history-teaching articles drawn from the archives of Rethinking Schools magazine.
The site also lists hundreds of recommended books, films, and websites. The teaching activities and resources are organized by theme, time period, and grade level. This is the only collection of its kind for educators – print or online — in the country.
This new site is made possible thanks to the support of an anonymous donor and the Caipirinha Foundation.
Please visit and bookmark the new Zinn Education Project: Teaching a People’s History website. Take advantage of the free resources and send us your feedback.
Best Bookstore for Browsing and Meeting
Ben's Chili Bowl DC Bocce Team Donates Winnings to Teaching for Change
The DC Bocce League donated $1,100 to Teaching for Change on behalf of the Ben's Chili Bowl Bocce team. Many thanks to team members Jonathan Zackey, DJ Saul, Jim Haggerty, Ben Detofsky, Jack Gaynor, and Tim Naylor who chose us to receive their Final Four Tuesday division winnings. This is the third season that the team has selected Teaching for Change -- may the team continue to be successful.
Donations provide vital support for the work of Teaching for Change.
Mississippi Mayor Visits Teaching for Change
Mayor Young visited the Teaching for Change Bookstore at Busboys and Poets where he is pictured with Teaching What Really Happened by James W. Loewen and our publication, Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.
Mayor Young shared his views and experiences with education. As mayor, he tells students to "dig deeper" in their study of history. When talking about the Civil Rights Movement, Mayor Young says to students: "Don't just tell me that Rosa Parks got on the bus. If you do that, you are doing a disservice to history."
In addition to the content of their studies, he is concerned about school policies. Mayor Young described how he was riding to work in his truck one day and noticed a teenager walking away from the school. He called out to the young man, "Aren't you walking the wrong way?" The student responded, "I arrived 10 minutes late so they told me I had to go home." The mayor called the young man's mother and learned that due to health reasons she could not get her son to school on time. The mayor is supporting this mother in a campaign to change the policy, not only for her son but for all students who are kept out of school unnecessarily.
Many thanks to Lawrence Guyot for arranging this meeting with a political leader who encourages students to study about social change in the past and take an active role in making a better future.