This Week's Inspiration for the Teacher in Me

I read about Karen Salazar at Jack's earlier this week.

Yesterday while listening to Democracy Now! I heard about Karen Salazar for the first time. She is a high school teacher who was fired from her position at a school in LA because her curriculum was too “Afrocentric” - instead of, you know, the usual Eurocentric curriculum that’s delivered to American students on the daily. From a letter by Salazar posted on the Vivir Latino site:

I am being fired because I am trying to ensure that my curriculum is relevant to my students’ daily lived experiences, and in the process, create a space for them to be critical of Eurocentric society and curricula that only serve to reinforce their dehumanization, subjugation, and oppression …

Then tonight, I read a post on the Quaker Agitator in which Dave provided a link to a a magazine called Radical Teacher. Dave's post included the magazine's definition of a "radicalteacher," which begins with these beautiful, basic precepts:

1. One who provides student-centered - rather than teacher-centered - classrooms; non-authoritarian.

2. One who shares rather than transmits information.

3. One who aids in student growth and empowerment by drawing out what is already there and latent.

4. One who respects students.

There are 12 more wonderful items in the list. I am really, really looking forward to exploring this magazine.