Note: As part of some recent work, I was asked to draft a short statement of beliefs around my work as an educator. Given the centrality of reflective practice in my work, it’s by no means the first time that I’ve done similar exercises, but it was an opportunity to check in with my beliefs. The text of my statement follows below. I think it is as short as it can be.
More than anything else, education and the project of school are exercises in cultivating human freedom. It is the work of all educators to do their best to ensure that the practices that they employ and the structures that they privilege in their work are as aligned as possible to this larger goal. It is to always remain firmly within the cycle of reflection and action, always considering the work of education in solidarity with one’s students and the larger school community through the lens of the freedom project. It is not to pretend to neutrality. As Zinn reminds us, “you can’t be neutral on a moving train.”
This is not to pretend away the various dynamics within any school system that work to contravene the freedom project. It suggests a central role for educators, working in communion with all members of a school, to engage in the work of uncovering those dynamics wherever they may lie, to confront, and to oppose those forces. It does not suggest that the goal of the educator should be to educate anyone…
