Category: Student Posts

Last weekend, educators, policy creators, and history makers gathered for the, “Where Integration Meets Innovation” conference, organized by One Nation Indivisible, and in collaboration with the Sheff Movement Coalition. The conference was a two-day event, hoping to bring public attention to, “creating, sustaining and improving dynamic and diverse public schools for the 21^st century. [1]” Friday afternoon’s events included a luncheon and panel discussion, utilizing space at the Hartford Public Library, and Saturday morning’s events incorporated a diverse number of speeches at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Both of these events shed light on the paradigm of school reform, specifically in relation to the Sheff movement and its goals. Friday’s panel included Attorneys for the Plaintiff’s in Sheff v. O’Neill, such as Martha Stone, Dennis Parker and Alex Knopp, Columbia University Professor Amy Stuart Wells, and Senior Policy Fellow at Connecticut Voices For Children and Hartford Board of Education member Robert Cotto. Elizabeth Horton Sheff, lead plaintiff for the Sheff movement withstanding 24 years, addressed both Friday and Saturday’s attendees, calling attention to the irony within the “hollow victories” in which the government stakes it’s claims for acute and active school reform. For example, the ideology of an idealized “Sheff school choice” versus the currently implemented “school choice” within Hartford and its surrounding suburbs was debated. “Magnet schools with high achievement rates, do not mean integrated,” noted Knopp, a Yale Law School graduate. Open choice is a program that offers suburban kids the opportunity to attend urban schools, and vice versa; it is a process which is intended to create more integrated schools and bridge achievement gaps between white and minority students. However, Knopp pointed to the differences between schools under school choice which have higher achievement levels, and schools under the choice program that have higher achievement levels and an integrated learning environment. The topic provoked further questions offered up by Knopp, such as, “to what extent should open choice be mandated for suburb schools to give seats to urban schools?” These topics spiraled into questions of locational poverty amongst the city, racial steering and redlining practices, as well as projections on how to connect integrated schools with integrated housing, all of which the panel members addressed from their point of expertise.

In contrast with Friday’s panel discussion, the opening remarks on Saturday morning were not intended to educate the public on Sheff goals or how the current education system is failing its students. Saturday’s goal was to ignite a spark within the conferences attendees, a spark that had the potential to create actual change within the system. “We are spending too much time talking, and not enough time taking action,” preached Bruce Douglas, the Executive Director of the Capital Region Education Council. He continued, “There is more poverty and family dysfunction within schools now than ever,” and concluded that, “Education is in a state of emergency, and it must be addressed with a sense of urgency.” But the goal of his sermon, as others that Saturday morning, were not to convince people to get up out of their seats and take action. Most of the people at the conference were those who had already taken action, and were already “heroes” in the fight for a better education system. “That’s the problem with these conferences,” Douglas professed. “I am not talking to try and convert you….I am already talking to the converted.” The tone of Saturday’s conference was less informative about the issues, but moreover the beginnings of an instruction manual, on how to bring the information to the public and encourage others to take action. Because talking the talk is one thing, but walking the walk takes guts.

On Friday night, November 8^th the two-day school integration conference in Hartford held an open panel at Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker titled, “Harnessing Diversity’s Potential: Employing Student-Centered Learning and Technology to Achieve Equity and to Build 21^st Century Skills.” Principal Peter Dart opened with welcoming remarks and then Susan Eaton introduced the panel. In her introduction Susan spoke of the importance of working together and how all struggles should be tied together instead of everyone working in isolation in order to work towards greater racial, social, and economic. With that statement she introduced six different panelists who employ their own methods of student-centered learning in order to achieve equal opportunity in education, which would lead to a more equitable society.

Robert Cotto, from Connecticut Voices, was the moderator for the panel discussion and asked each panelist to introduce him/herself and briefly discuss his/her method for student-centered learning. Nicholas Donohue, CEO of Nellie Mae Education Foundation, was the first to speak and said that his organization promoted very high student agency by teaching mastery and competency in the use of technology. Shandra Brown, Principal of CREC Museum Academy, then said how Museum Academy has collaborations with museums in Hartford, in which they use their ideologies to engage students in art in order to educate them in not what to think but how to think. Alicia Iannucci, teacher at Quest to Learn, spoke about how this school, which many have called the “xbox school” promotes situational learning using technology because “life is one large game.” Barbara Cervone, Founder and President of What Kids Can Do said that the goal of the program is to change people’s views on what children are capable of because they are part of the solution to equity in education. Helen Soule, executive director of The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills discussed the importance of career skills, self-direction and the 4 C’s: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Lastly, Melissa Giraud, digital media and learning strategist and consultant, spoke of media projects and radio stories and the significance of increasing opportunities for student internships that count for credit.

Robert Cotto then asked the panelists “Why are these methods well suited for racially/culturally/economically diverse schools?” Shandra Brown explained how at the end of the year each student has to present in front of students, parents, and community partners and how students politely critique one another in which they ground opinions in evidence “without seeing color.” Melissa Giraud discussed described her experience teaching in a Northern Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, in which she took the students on a trip, many of whom were flunking out of school, and had them make national scripts through interviewing. Melissa explained the significance of having students construct their own knowledge that is relevant to them. Nicholas Donohue ended the panel discussion by explaining that education is a politically and culturally constructed system that is becoming more individualized. He said that although the technological aspect is significant for increasing equality, it will not work until our society’s current cultural set of values and beliefs are challenged and shifted.

Saturday, November 9, 2013
An intimate group of parents, educators, and community activists sat in a sunny classroom on the Learning Corridor’s campus to learn how to create and promote effective dialogue about race and identity in their respective communities. The workshop, entitled Creating and Enriching Spaces for Multiethnic Community Dialogue and Making Room for Community Conversations about Race, was facilitated by Pamela Pinnock of D.C.’s own Busboys and Poets.

Pinnock opened the workshop giving a brief description of Busboys and Poets’ rich history. The restaurant which boasts a “Peace and Struggle” wall was named in honor of Langston Hughes, also known as the busboy poet. Initially opened in 2005 by an Iraqi born immigrant, the restaurant was intended to be a space where “art, culture, and politics collide”. For two hours on the first Sunday of every month, Busboys and Poets hosts A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk On Race) in the Langston Room. The monthly event gathers strangers from all walks of life into a safe space equip with ground rules to exchange ideas about race and current events. Pinnock says that there are key components to hosting productive conversations on the sensitive subjects of race and its intersectionality with gender, class, nationality, and sexual orientation. She listed four components to community dialogue success:

1. Safe space
2. Ground rules
3. Someone knowledgeable to moderate discussion
4. A format that allows EVERYONE to participate

Pinnock stressed the importance of a neutral space, mutual respect, and reservation of judgement. For recurring events, like the A.C.T.O.R discussion series, she said that consistency of date and time is crucial to the success of the talks. She endorsed partnerships with other organizations as a great way to diversify discussion participants and topics. Pinnock cited a host of approaches that would work beyond the restaurant model and translate well into everyday settings. After her presentation and a brisk round of Q&A, the attendees seemed confident and prepared to bring the Busboys and Poets method of conversing across lines back to their campuses and communities.

The workshop was a part of the “Where Integration Meets Innovation” school diversity conference hosted by One Nation Indivisible. The event was free and open to the public.