occupy education

OCCUPY EDUCATION
This is a collection of adults and children's messages that challenge public school to become something more than it is - messages that dare public school to serve students' passions instead of politicians and vendors' coffers. 
So many of the divisions and false notions of social order we cling to as adults are entrenched in the culture of public education. We want to take our next step in challenging that culture, and we ask for your help in helping us capture and share counter-narratives to today's test-addled, pop notions of schooling.



From the cooperative catalyst, a site of activists that are doing wonderful work:
(via #occupyedu: challenge schools to change « Cooperative Catalyst)
A simple truth lurks behind our schools: we built them to keep our kids apart.
But we can do better. 
Join #occupyedu to share the countless, unique ways you challenge the status quo in public education. 
Children, parents, educators, community members – all are invited. We cannot re-imagine or recapture schools without the stakeholders they serve.
Every child deserves a personally meaningful education and a community of learning that includes, involves, and inspires her. 
#occupyedu isn’t about standardizing our schools. It’s about creating a new public education system that recognizes and values a broader definition of learning than that accounted for by tests. It’s about recognizing and valuing a broader community of children than those who benefit from the tests. It’s about fostering sustainable communities of learners and problem-solvers that include all children in personally meaningful work of lasting worth and joy to themselves and our society. 
While local solutions best fit local needs in our schools, the broad goal of #occupyedu is to influence federal and state educational policy so that meaningful work of lasting value stands in place of high test scores in assessing, promoting, and graduating our students. 
Join us in pursuing this goal where you live, teach, and learn.
Please share with us your stories of powerful learning in community. Please also consider submitting a picture of yourself and/or your message for public education. You can also add your pictures to our flickr pool. 
Teachers, invite your colleagues and administrators to join you in occupying education. Parents, please invite your children and their teachers.
We’ve been promised relief that is not relief. It is up to us to promise our children something better in schools.

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