PEN: The Peripatetically Published Journal of The Progressive Education Network Winter 23-24

PEN

The Peripatetically Published Journal of The Progressive Education Network

Winter 2023-2024

EDUCATION MUST... amplify students’ voice, agency, conscience, and intellect to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world.

MUST... encourage the active participation of students in their learning, in their communities, and in the world.

needs of students,

Hello Progressive Educators!

Education must amplify students’ voice, agency, conscience, and intellect to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world

I am so excited to be writing this as the current PEN President. It has been a fascinating journey this year and I am excited for the next year in the Network.

The PEN Board is fortunate to have a strong, diverse group of individuals who dedicate themselves to the work that continues the powerful impact of the organization.

On behalf of the larger board we want to extend a huge thank you to two of our outgoing members. Sven Carlsson, who has served on the board since 2018 and has been a truly wonderful member and treasurer, has ended his tenure on the board. His expertise, thoughtfulness and dedication will leave a large hole in our hearts and in our work. Additionally, Heather Schilling has also ended her work with the board. Her energy, positivity and enthusiasm will be deeply missed. Thank you both for all your dedication to this important work!

As we say goodbye to those great members, we are excited to welcome Azizi Williams, head of school at Children’s Community School, to our board. She brings a wealth of experience in progressive education and a deep commitment to serving the students of her community. We are excited about the forward momentum of this wonderful group of people.

Additionally, we are excited that a PEN stalwart has joined us as the Network’s PEN Program Director. Theresa Collins brings her decades of progressive education knowledge and expertise to the board. In this new role she is strengthening and growing our partner network while also working to bring progressive principles throughout our schools. Welcome Theresa - and we look forward to all the great things you are going to bring to PEN!

SAVE THE DATE! The Progressive Education Network Conference is coming this fall! Columbus, Ohio, will be the home base for our incredible conference from October 18 to 20. The call for proposals to present is out now. Please take a look at our website to submit your progressive ed proposal for the workshop sessions. Start planning with your schools, districts and fellow educators for this transformative experience.

Finally, if you are not a current member or you need to renew your membership, visit our website! We have so many new things to offer members and love connecting more educators!

Thank you all for the difference you make.

— Jaime Danen

The PEN Board of Directors (l-r)  Andrew Williams, Tracy Drummer-Aiden, Jaime Danen, Sunny Pai, Kavan Yee, Sven Carlsson, Azizi Williams (not pictured- Chris Thinnes)

NIPEN 8.0: The Sweet 16

— by Theresa Collins and Sven Carlsson

NIPEN is back! Cohort 8.0 started their work together in October at the Francis W. Parker School (Chicago); we will conclude our workshop in April at Wickliffe Progressive Elementary (Columbus OH). Thank you to participating schools for supporting your faculty as they develop and grow as progressive educators!

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

Presidio Hill School*

San Francisco, CA

Wickliffe Progressive Elementary*

Upper Arlington, OH

The Wellington School Wellington, OH

Krista McAuliffe School* Saratoga, CA

Francis W. Parker School* Chicago, IL

Friends School of Minnesota* St. Paul, MN

Ancona School Chicago, IL

Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School Creve Coeur, MO

Heritage Middle School Berwyn, IL

* denotes PEN Partner School

Back Row L-R: Kari Warkentin, Laikyn Craycraft-Hohn, Valarie Kearney, Leah Nelson, Mark McClellan, Meagan Harlow-Kuzucu, Jeff Mitbo Middle Row L-R: Angela Evans, Krista Gill, Amber Todd, Alex Hoffman, Ellen Rhomburg, Jerra Merrifield, NIPEN Co-Director Theresa Collins Front Row L-R: Alicia Abood, Katie Grunow, Andrew Rutledge, NIPEN Co-Director Sven Carlsson

CULTIVATING A GENERATION OF UPSTANDERS: My Transformative Journey into Progressive Education

— by Ellen Rhomberg

As a kindergarten teacher at The Wellington School in Ohio, I have long believed in the power of education to not only impart knowledge but also to inspire a sense of social responsibility and community engagement in my students. However, it was not until my participation in the National Institute Progressive Education Network (NIPEN) Cohort 8 meeting this past October in Chicago that I found a pedagogical framework that truly resonated with the core of my educational philosophy. This article recounts my transformative journey into progressive education and the subsequent changes in my classroom that have aimed to empower my young learners as active participants in their community.

THE NIPEN Encounter: A Defining Moment

The concept of progressive education was not unfamiliar to me, but the depth of its implications for classroom practice and student empowerment had not been fully revealed until the NIPEN cohort meeting. Surrounded by fellow educators, I delved into the progressive education ethos, engaging in rich discussions and observing how progressive schools put theory into practice. This experience illuminated the importance of an educational approach that is student-centered, inquiry-based, and deeply committed to fostering democratic values and social justice.

In my own classroom, I have always sought to encourage curiosity, creativity, and a sense of community among my students. However, the principles of progressive education provided a clearer lens through which to view and refine my approach. Progressive education, with its emphasis on the development of the whole child, active learning, and social engagement, aligned seamlessly with my innate teaching style. It was as if a missing piece of the puzzle had fallen into place, and I could now see the full picture of what I aspired to achieve with my students.

THE NIPEN PROJECT Fostering Student Voice and Impact

Fueled by my newfound clarity, I embarked on a NIPEN project aimed at cultivating a classroom environment where students felt empowered to use their voices to make a positive impact. To accomplish this, I began by building a safe and trusting classroom community, where every child felt valued and heard. We integrated daily reflections on the importance of being more than learners of reading, writing, and math; we are also individuals with the potential to contribute positively to the world around us.

A key component of our classroom discussions centered on the concept of upstanders — individuals who actively take a stand for what is just and work towards making a difference in their communities. Each week,

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we learned about different upstanders, both historical and contemporary, to serve as examples of the power one person can have to effect change. This was not merely an exercise in social studies but a way to inspire my kindergarteners to see themselves as capable of similar influence.

THE TEACHER’S ROLE Guiding Inquiry and Celebrating Autonomy

Embracing the role of the teacher in a progressive education setting meant shifting my focus from being the provider of knowledge to becoming a facilitator of exploration and discovery. It was about guiding students toward their passions, helping them ask meaningful questions, and encouraging them to collaborate with their peers. The science teacher’s motto at our school, “Dream big, work hard,” became a guiding principle, reminding us that with the right mindset and effort, the possibilities for learning and impact are boundless.

CONCLUSION A Journey of Ongoing Transformation

The journey of ongoing transformation that began with my experience at the NIPEN cohort meeting has profoundly impacted my philosophy and methodology as an educator. Progressive education has provided a structured yet flexible framework that supports the integration of my multifaceted teaching experiences, including influences from Reggio, Montessori, and forest school approaches. By emphasizing the importance of student agency, critical thinking, and community engagement, I have been able to foster a classroom atmosphere where my kindergarteners understand their capacity to be agents of positive change.

As my students engage with the curriculum and the world around them, they do so with the burgeoning realization that their voices matter. They learn that with the right combination of confidence, passion, and dedication, their autonomy in learning can extend far beyond the classroom walls. “Dream big, work hard” is more than a motto; it’s a lived experience in my classroom, as students set goals and pursue them with the support and guidance of their peers and myself as their teacher.

In my role, I have witnessed the transformative power of progressive education not just in my professional practice but in the lives of my students. As the kindergarteners in my care begin to view themselves as capable, contributing members of their classroom, school, and wider community, I am continually reminded of the profound influence of education that not only imparts knowledge but also empowers students to dream and act. Progressive education, with its rich history and adaptable principles, has rejuvenated my teaching practice and reinforced my commitment to nurturing the next generation of thoughtful, engaged, and confident learners.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellen Rhomberg has spent the past ten years teaching early childhood education, a field she is deeply passionate about. With experience teaching children of all early childhood ages, Ellen currently brings her expertise to The Wellington School’s kindergarten classroom in Columbus,Ohio. She holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership with an Early Childhood focus. As a lifelong learner, Ellen is also furthering her professional development through participation in the esteemed NIPEN cohort 8. Connect with Ellen at ellenelizabeth901@gmail.com

WHY A FARM?

— John McDaniel, Farm Director Manhattan Country School Farm

Manhattan Country School (MCS) founders Gus and Marty Trowbridge point to their shared farming experience as students at the Putney School as part of their inspiration for starting a school with integrated Farm education. What is so unique about a farm experience that similar programs don’t capture? Gus even ponders in his book Begin With A Dream, “Was the Farm chiefly a place to live together away from home? If so, why a farm at all? Why not follow the Outward Bound model and give courses in wilderness survival? Was the Farm to be MCS’s Walden Pond?”

It is an open space where a diverse group of children can be immersed in the land and culture; a place where children and adults return again and again to experience the rhythms of the changing seasons.

I often ask myself, could MCS provide a similar immersive, interpersonal experience found at the MCS Farm on, say, a sailing ship, with a group of children and adults setting sail for a week at a time. Yes, the collaborative tasks of running the ship could be similar. The community efforts needed to stay healthy and safe at sea are vital. And yet, the MCS Farm fosters a culture of equity and collaboration unlike other outdoor experiences. There are real life consequences to our actions or inactions. If someone doesn’t feed the animals, the animal suffers.If someone doesn’t carry the firewood, others are cold.

At the MCS Farm, instead of setting sail, our kids make land in a rural, mountain location, arriving by bus from their urban homes. It is an open space where a diverse group of children can be immersed in the land and culture; a place where children and adults return again and again to experience the rhythms of the changing seasons. It becomes familiar, like a home away from home.

There are also surprises, which provide a constant reminder that the land is our most significant teacher. Our Farm operates on a scale and pace, which children can understand. The diversity of the animals we raise and the crops we produce opens their eyes to what is possible in our world. Growing, producing, harvesting, preparing and eating food, side by side in community, provides lifelong lessons and memories. Failure, success, change, compromise, adaptability, responsibility, life and even death.

The MCS Farm is a transformative experience. Students absorb what the soil provides and are immersed in an everchanging climate. Throughout their many trips to their Farm over the years, they are knee deep in the mountain traditions,

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WHY

A FARM continued from page

customs, and cultures – both wild and tame – that help shape their beliefs and ethics. As Roxbury’s own famed essayist John Burroughs wrote, “The soil is in my blood.”

This social experiment of bringing children from diverse backgrounds to the same place, to do the same work, and honor that labor was the vision of our founders when they started Manhattan Country School more than 50 years ago. There have been thoughtful programmatic and physical changes at the Farm, but always with children as stakeholders and mission as our guide. It has never been our vision to produce future farmers, but to help students become informed citizens, environmental stewards, educated consumers, social change-makers, and community leaders.

We believe that when people are aware of, and educated about, the sources of their food, fiber, water, and energy, they become powerful advocates and critics of the people and businesses that grow, produce, and supply these basic human needs. While everything we produce is self-consumed at the Farm and the 85th St. campus, or donated to those who are food insecure, the experientially-educated child is the “product” we ship down the road.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SCHOOLS THAT KIDS LOVE Some Schools Radiate Creativity

— by Christopher Nye

SUMMARY

Manzo Elementary (Escuela Manzo) in Tucson, Arizona captures students’ interest and drives motivation to learn by having a garden- and ecosystem-themed school. Built around large courtyards that contain gardens, a greenhouse, chickens, composting, and activity areas, this school is part of the regular district, but it stands out as a Certified Whole Child School. It is part of the Educate the Whole Child network that promotes engaging students’ heads, hearts, and hands in ways that reify most of the PEN Principles. These schools also provide living examples of what is often considered impossible—creating schools kids love to attend.

and Caring

What would it take to have a school that kids love?

Where they look forward to the start of the school year in the fall, and are keen to get on the bus in the morning? That question has already been answered in a number of places, including Manzo Elementary (Escuela Manzo) in Tucson.

This school is located in Barrio Hollywood, a working class part of Tucson, where the streets are paved, but you may have to dodge the potholes. Of the 341 pre-K through 5 students, the majority speak English as a second language. Many are immigrants. Parents often struggle to make ends meet, yet the spirit in the school is upbeat. Students are engaged.

In one of the courtyards and in the lot behind the school the students raise vegetables, tend the chickens and the greenhouse, make compost, and keep an eye on the 20-year-old desert tortoise, who has his own special habitat there. The kids love coming to school because instead of sitting in sterile rows of desks doing worksheets and boring exercises, they are often involved outside with project-based learning. This means working in teams on real problems related to real life. Thus, in addition to planting and tending the vegetables, they supply food for school lunches and have produce and eggs to sell to the community. It is hard to imagine a better example of the second PEN Principle that calls for students’ active participation, connecting leaning to their community.

Principal Brenda Maytorena grew up in a barrio at the border in Nogales, AZ; she knows this population, in addition to knowing every one of the children in the school. She understands how important it is to cultivate continued on page 10

a gestalt of caring (PEN Principle 5) because that actually enhances learning. In the foreword of her book Teaching Children to Care, Nel Noddings says:

The time spent learning to care is not wasted; it is not time taken away from academic instruction. Kids who are friendly, happy, and cooperative tackle their academic work with more confidence, and both teachers and students enjoy greater success. They are not adversaries but partners in caring and learning.

Manzo has to deal with all the problems other public schools face: low salaries, increasing numbers of special needs kids with issues like anger and autism, government-mandated testing that consumes instructional time, rigid curriculum frameworks that discourage teacher initiative. Some children arrive at school hungry or ill-clothed, but Manzo manages to be a haven for them and a blessing for families dealing with not enough money to cover bills. When you talk to the kids, one thing is clear: they love this school.

Manzo works so well because it takes a holistic approach to learning. In fact, in 2022 it became a Whole Child Certified School. A small number of schools in the United States have received this recognition by Educate the Whole Child (ETWC). Manzo qualified because it does not just engage the heads of children but also their hearts and hands, as they tackle gardening tasks and projects that allow them to discover and apply course content. Other schools in the ETWC network may emphasize creative activities, or provide some form of service, such as stream cleanup and environmental restoration.

The Educate the Whole Child network exists to empower educators in a climate that too often is disempowering. Certified schools are both charters and traditional public schools that encourage teachers’ initiative and promote creativity. They operate in locations as disparate as Vermont, Texas, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Maryland.

Co-leader of ETWC, Tom McGuire, is a retired teacher, principal, superintendent, and school of education faculty member. He explains that ETWC got started when a few older educators, who could remember what schools used to be like before No Child Left Behind, realized that public education was headed in precisely the wrong direction. An accountability paradigm that distrusted and disempowered teachers

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made it exceedingly difficult for them to unlock their energies and imaginations. And yet, unlocking imagination is exactly what our schools and our society need most.

ETWC proposes not to turn the clock back but to promote a paradigm that focuses on reaching kids where they are, igniting their interest in learning, and certifying schools that have visionary leaders and staff and break a path to truly transformational learning. This should not be as hard as it sounds. Kids naturally want to engage and learn; school tends to replace this desire with grade-getting and test-taking proficiency. The most insightful commentators and educators like Daniel Pink, Sir Ken Robinson, and Yong Zhao, make the point that this is not what future employers want. This thrust tracks nicely with what progressive education has advocated for decades and the current PEN Principles stressing collaborative relationships, community connections and parent involvement, nurturing students’ natural curiosity, and social and emotional growth.

To become certified by ETWC, schools need to demonstrate that they engage children not just intellectually but with at least five intelligences. They are:

• cognitive-intellectual activity, associated with the left brain

• creative-intuitive activity (the arts), associated with the right brain

• structured physical movement and unstructured, self-directed play

• handwork, making things that can be useful

• engagement with nature and community

All of these faculties have a chance to develop when students work on projects, where they work in teams on real-world problems and develop their social and emotional capacities in each of these intelligences at the same time. This happens at Escuela Manzo in Tucson and the other Whole Child Certified schools.

One of them, The Project School in Bloomington, Indiana, takes project learning to a whole new level with a research-based pedagogy that integrates the hard sciences, social, sciences, history, and civics with interdisciplinary reading, writing, and math. There, for example, at the end of the school year students put on a Museum of Authentic Work at which they have a chance to display for family and visitors, demonstrations, portfolios, and creative work that documents the substantive nature of their learning.

The different ways an activated learning like this can be accomplished are only limited by the imagination of the teachers and school leadership. At another certified school, Four Rivers in Greenfield, Massachusetts,

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Every school in the ETWC network nurtures growth in a mindful way and serves as a kind of leaven in the community.

they use the Expeditionary Learning model. Learning is often individualized; students spend time outside, in nature, and working in teams and on projects.

In a tough neighborhood of Baltimore, a group of parents came together around the question, “What would it take for every learner to be known, loved, and inspired?” This led to founding a cluster of three City Neighbors Schools. They employ a Reggio Emilia philosophy all the way through high school, even though this approach was developed for the earliest grades. With Reggio, children construct their own learning, infuse it with art, and work in teams. Each high school student attends a daily meeting of a class called a “Pod.” Often a Pod become a student’s safe place. Trust and compassion develop as they discuss in their Pod the difficult and painful realities of being a teen in a troubled inner city. Each year these schools host a Progressive Education Summit.

Every school in the ETWC network nurtures growth in a mindful way and serves as a kind of leaven in the community. Parents deeply appreciate knowing that their children can learn in a wholesome environment that honors their uniqueness and draws out their strengths.

Submitting to federal and state mandates relating to testing, standardized curriculum, and accountability, schools can lose sight of the potential for schools to change communities. But when that happens, it can be exhilarating. The best example I know of is a school outside the ETWC network but worthy of joining it.

In the mine-blighted community of Crellin in western Maryland, elementary school students began by studying Snowy Creek that ran nearby. They asked the question, “Why is that water yellow?” and they learned that the stream had been killed with acid mine drainage. Spending time in the field and in class finding out how this came about, and what could be done about it, became the organizing theme for lessons involving, history, math, language arts, and other disciplines. Parents and volunteers became more and more involved over time until this effort and spinoff projects replaced a climate of hopelessness with pride in the community. As a result, today Snowy Creek runs clear. This school is featured in a film called Schools that Change Communities. The Crellin episode is a heart-warming account of how the children themselves, along with inspired school leadership and teaching, changed the whole tenor of a depressed town.

Sometimes we don’t aim high enough. Schools like Escuela Manzo go well beyond meeting mandates, and kids love to come to school because an intensified sense of community has been cultivated. The wonderfully musical word for this in Spanish is convivencia. This can happen in any language.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Nye is on the leadership team at Educate the Whole Child and holds a PhD in American Studies.

TOUCHSTONE COMMUNITY SCHOOL

— Juliana Fuchs

Students and faculty at Touchstone Community School are committed to environmental stewardship. Our 2.9-14-yearold students build interdependent relationships with the natural world as they spend time learning about the environment and caring for the campus and animals. From gardening, to goat feeding and chick raising, to watershed mapping, our students demonstrate purpose and pride in their work when they participate in these meaningful learning opportunities. As our community deepens its connection with the land, we are also building a partnership with the Hassanamisco Nipmuc people who continue to steward their tribal homelands across central Massachusetts, including the land on which Touchstone is built. Contributing to the community, learning authentic history, and becoming better stewards of the land are important pieces of our progressive education values at Touchstone Community School in Grafton, MA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Juliana Fuchs is the Admissions Coordinator and former teacher at Touchstone Community School in Grafton, MA. She can be reached at julianaf@touchstoneschool.com

A JOURNEY OF IMAGINATIVE INQUIRY with Team X

— by Alllison Towsley

In second grade at Catherine Cook, students become active participants in their learning through a deep dive into the lives of the Indigenous people who lived here in Chicago, the Potawatomi. The way our students learn and research is through an approach called Imaginative Inquiry.

“Imaginative Inquiry is an approach based on the idea that children’s imagination is our greatest resource in the classroom, placing it center stage as a powerful tool for learning. Within a community of inquiry, teachers and students create exciting and meaningful contexts for learning, using conventions of theatre—such as point of view, tension, and narrative—to explore curricular objectives. Students are not merely passive observers of the stories of our world but are collectively invited to take action in the realm of possibility that Imaginative Inquiry provides.” Institute for Imaginative Inquiry

Second graders use their imaginations to turn our classroom into a “Headquarters” where we can read, research, question, discuss, time-travel, receive artifacts, and much more. Students are invited to be a part of Team X, our classroom research team that journeys through time to learn more about the land we live on, its past, and its people.

PART 1: HABITATS, WIGWAMS, AND GETTING FOOD

Students learn about the native habitats of Chicago during the 1600s and study the flora and fauna from the wetlands, prairies, woodlands, Lake Michigan, and the Chicago River. They create interactive murals to represent the environments and include QR codes linked to students sharing their research. Team X time travels to learn that the Potawatomi lived in dwellings called wigwams. Students study the purpose and structure of wigwams and build model replicas.

Researchers share their wonderings throughout the unit and inquire at this point about how the Potawatomi got their food. Students choose to study either hunting and trapping, gardening and farming, gathering, or fishing. They work collaboratively and apply their learning in class by creating the tools needed to get food the way the Potawatomi did in the 1600s. They time travel to be a part of the Big Hunt, where research teams use their tools to collect food in the habitats they created. Because of the imaginative time travel, students are immersed in life as a Potawatomi member. We end our first part having discovered that the Potawatomi were very resourceful and intelligent people who deeply respected nature and each other.

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PART 2: FRENCH SETTLEMENT

Students learn about the French explorers and settlement in New France. They time-travel to watch the interactions between the Potawatomi and French in Chicago. Team X learns that the Native Tribes in New France were eventually forced to move west of the Mississippi River. They take on the perspective of both a French child and a Potawatomi child, thinking through how the move will affect both groups of people. Through these activities and time travel simulations, students develop empathy for the people who lived in Chicago before them.

PART 3: FUTURE CHICAGO

We end our year by thinking about how what we learned from the way the Potawatomi lived could help us create a better future Chicago. Students identify important systems in our community and make a plan for how we can improve them for the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allison Towsley is a 2nd grade teacher at the Catherine Cook School in Chicago, Illinois. She has taught at Cook for 8 years and values their inquiry-based approach to teaching social studies. Allison can be reached at atowsley@ccookschool.org

OHLONE SISTERS

— by Leah Nelson

Second-grade students from Presidio Hill School, guided by the Ohlone Sisters, delve into the cultural and historical significance of El Polin Spring in Presidio National Park. The natural spring, once a vital water source for the Ramaytush Ohlone people, is a focal point for cultivating a sense of responsibility and community awareness. Ohlone stories guide responsible choices that intertwine cultural understanding, environmental stewardship, and the timeless wisdom of the Ohlone people. In this photograph, the students engage in the sacred story of How Hummingbird Got Fire under the willow tree. Back in the classroom, second-grade anthropologists adapted the story for a readers’ theater, imparting the Hummingbird’s message of the significance of collective responsibility and cooperation in addressing challenges.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leah Nelson is a second-grade teacher at Presidio Hill School in San Francisco, CA. She is inspired by her role as a facilitator to guide her students to care for the Ramaytush Ohlone land where they live, work, and play. She can be reached at leah@presidiohill.org

MATH MAGIC

— by Emily Souther

Math for me was always something to avoid. It gave me a headache and reeked of uselessness. Why should I care about adding large quantities of numbers together when there is a calculator at home? Why should I memorize and regurgitate fact families and why should I do this quickly, in under a minute, with what felt like everyone watching?

My second grade teacher, who was gifted and always brought light to the classroom, told my parents I had a “brain for math.” I don’t remember feeling any which way about it then, when it was still okay for math to be hands-on and relevant - even playful.

But then it was third grade. This teacher was different. She had a different method and she had a different light. It was eerie and sideways. That’s when math became a beast of its own, and I began to loathe it, to hide from it.

Not only was math suddenly abstract numbers that went together in seemingly random combinations, but I was expected to memorize these combinations and spit them back out quickly. As if taking the time to look at them, roll them around, notice them for myself, and question them was a sin - punishable by public shaming.

The teacher used timed multiplication tests and posted everyone’s results on the board. You started with the 1s and if you managed to scribble the answers correctly in the allotted time, you moved on to the 2s and so forth.

On the board she’d written:

I was stuck; petrified by these tests. I never wanted to practice the tables because I didn’t want to face the anxiety and shame I felt on test day. I wanted to hide from this painful experience and cozy up in the safety of the phrase: I’m not good at math.

And I lived there for many years: Avoiding thinking about math unless forced to, letting the belief seep deeply inside me:

I’m not good at math.

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Julie 9s

Katie 7s

Jason 8s Emily 3s

So, when I became an elementary school teacher myself, this was a deep wound that needed healing. I wondered and wondered and watched as new methods for teaching math unraveled. But it still felt as if no one knew how to touch it. As if it stunk and we all just needed to scaffold it with nose plugs to get through.

Then every once in a while, I would get a glimmer. I’d hear from someone, child or adult: I like math.

And it would rattle me. How can you like math? What do you see that I don’t see? How can some people say math is beautiful, elegant, and playful when my lived experience and the experience of so many is that math is something to get through? Something you must buckle down and force, nose to the grindstone and all that, just to get on with your life. What are these “math is beautiful” people seeing that I don’t see?

It took me ten years of teaching, using silly gimmicks that felt like tricks to keep the kids eyeballs glued to the lesson, until I found it. Like entering a hidden cave studded with gemstones, my math world opened up when I learned about the work Dan Finkel and Katherine Cook are doing at Math for Love.

In Finkel’s TEDx talk, he pleads, “Right now we are squandering our chance to touch life after life with the beauty and power of mathematical thinking.”

Finally, I’d found someone who can verbalize the beliefs that have been rattling around in my gut all these years. There aren’t math brains and non-math brains. There are rich, authentic, and relevant ways of teaching math and there are not.

I began reading everything I could at Math for Love and experimenting with their curriculum in my second/ third grade classroom. The results were staggering and I found myself feeling like a math magician, performing math magic, and the kids loved it. I started seeing energy, joy, and light in the children when we moved into math time. On days we had to skip math for field trips or special assemblies, the class would gasp and ask why we have to miss it.

It all starts with an opener - a chance to jump as quickly as possible into math doing. There are several that I love, but my favorite is called Unit Chats. This is where you project an image with an interesting arrangement of things and quite simply ask, “how many?”

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When I start this with a new group, they always ask, “how many what?” And I say with a confident shrug, “Up to you.” They take two to three minutes to look at the image quietly, doing their own counting, thinking, and examining. Then I ask them to turn to someone next to them to share their “how many.”

Without fail, the class erupts with a buzz of energy. Everyone turns to find a partner to share with, to explain their idea, and to listen to the other. Each idea is different and, as the class gains experience with this practice, they start to reach deeper, finding more interesting and unique ways to count. Finally, a few kids come up one at a time to share their ideas and show how they counted. We mark up the image, move things around, write their strategies down.

“Let me make sure I got your thinking right,” I say. “You counted by 2’s here until you got to 10 and then you saw there was the same amount there so you knew it was 10 + 10 and you know 10 + 10 is 20, is that right?”

They get to correct me if I interpret their method wrong and all their strategies are honored and held up for the class to learn from. I love this activity because it cracks open the mystery of math. Every single child can find an answer and it is their own to be celebrated.

It disarms the child that thinks I’m not good at math and it gives them a new opening. It creates safety for expressing a new idea, different from mine or their neighbors. It gives them time and space to think about an answer, to roll it around, to notice things. It encourages practice in explaining their thinking and seeing that each one of them is, also, a mathematician.

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My expedition spelunking into the cave of mathematics has introduced me to more and more explorers building structures to support this type of beautiful, interconnected way of teaching and learning math. Jo Boaler and her team from Stanford have created a math curriculum called Mindset Mathematics that emphatically promotes teaching the Big Ideas of math using growth mindset practices. And Christopher Danielson has created a blog that collects math ideas and resources for leading rich and interesting math conversations at home. It is called Talking Math

With Your Kids

As a third grader, sitting in front of those scary, meaningless timed tests, I knew there had to be a better way. I’ve always credited my third grade teacher as the reason why I went into education: to find and be that better way. Now, having this new insight into math, I feel like I’ve finally arrived. It’s as if I have reached inside the concept of math and turned it inside out and am now shining a light on its secrets. I can say to the class, “Look, this is what math is really about and isn’t it beautiful, elegant, and playful?”

And they can say, “Yes, yes it is.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Emily Souther is the 2nd/3rd grade teacher and Elementary Education Program Manager in the Rivers Day Program at Village Home Education Resource Center, a nonprofit serving homeschool kids and families in Beaverton, Oregon. She also coaches families and leads classes and tutoring using rich, meaningful projects to bring joy and curiosity to learning. Emily can be reached at emilyrosesouther@gmail.com and you can learn more about her work at educatoremily.com

PEN NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2024

THE SPACE BETWEEN:

How Progressive Education Fosters Curiosity, Creativity, Community & Connection

COLUMBUS, OHIO

OCTOBER 18-19-20

(Pre-conference site- and place-based activities October 17 & 18)

CALL

FOR

WORKSHOP

PROPOSALS | Deadline: March 22, 2024

The PEN 2024 planning committee is looking for passionate educators who are ready to engage with colleagues from all around the country to introduce, renew, affirm and create progressive practices - come join us as a teacher-learner as we explore the space between. We invite hands- on, energizing, thoughtprovoking, and inspiring workshops for the participants and educators converging in this wonderful natural setting in Columbus, Ohio, in October 2024.

Our conference attendees are interested in practical, hands-on classroom approaches that embody a progressive educational philosophy and reach towards our shared vision of a more equitable and just world. Our theme for the 2024 year, The Space Between: How Progressive Education Fosters Curiosity, Creativity, Community, and Connection, speaks to this twin desire for big conversations and practical suggestions –how the space between is where both the opportunity and action of progressive education exist.

The SPACE BETWEEN embodies:

Growth & Discovery | Intentionality & Interconnectedness | Impactful Learning | Navigating Tensions Gray Areas & Nuances | Practical Considerations | Reflection & Emergent Curriculum

The SPACE BETWEEN assumes an ethical responsibility:

Creating a More Beautiful World | Advancing Sustainability Contributing to a Just & Sustainable World

All sessions are 80 minutes in length and occur on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20

www.ProgressiveEducationNetwork.org

Scan for the workshop proposal form

| July 29– Aug 1 in NYC

As part of the Progressive Education Network's Independent Workshop Series the Institute for Imaginative Inquiry will conduct a four-day training at Manhattan Country School in NYC this summer!

Imaginative Inquiry is a pedagogy that enrolls students as a team of experts who encounter complex, real-world problems in an imaginary context. Guided by inquiry and fueled by research, students are immersed in authentic, place-based learning that engages not only their intellectual capacities, but also their physical, social, and emotional selves. As active participants in a fictional context, students use their skills, knowledge, emotions, and moral instincts to analyze situations, make decisions, and understand their impact on others.

Join us this summer to experience examples of Imaginative Inquiry units for grades K-6 and explore how the conventions, techniques, and philosophy of Imaginative Inquiry strengthen students’ social imagination, allowing them to create, reflect, and practice becoming agents of change in our world!

This was a truly magical, transformative experience. The skills, ideas, and concepts we learned will shape the years ahead in my career.

Participants will…

enhance their progressive teaching practices

connect teaching to children’s innate ability to imagine and play

engage students in authentic inquiry and critical thinking skills

utilize active and creative methods to engage all learners

reflect on how to deepen their anti-bias, social justice lens

build a cohort of progressive educators and practitioners of Imaginative Inquiry

plan lessons around curricular units of study with support

The progressive values, the seamless facilitations by the facilitators, and the interactive elements made this workshop one of the BEST PDs I've ever had.

Being in the presence of other energized, passionate, enthusiastic educators was life-giving. Connecting with like-minded educators was such a gift!

SUPPORT PEN

These are unprecedented times, and our work at PEN continues. We would love your support at any level, which means giving financially, connecting with us online through our social networks and sharing this journal with your friends and colleagues. Amplifying the work, especially now, is powerful and important.

Thank you!

SOME OF THE WAYS YOUR DONATION SUPPORTS PEN

• Planning and executing our next national conference

• Creating and publishing this journal & other digital communications

• Keeping our dynamic website up and running

• Supporting our professional development workshop (NIPEN, NEW PEN and PEN Mondays) & Independent Workshop Series (Institute for Imaginative Inquiry)

PEN 2024 NATIONAL CONFERENCE  LEVELED SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Every two years, hundreds of  progressive educators from across the nation come together to channel the future of progressive education. Educators represent all sectors: private, charter, and public schools from pre-K through university levels. Scan the QR Code to take a look at opportunities to sponsor the full conference.

got ideas?

Do you have a story to tell but aren’t sure how best to frame it? Got an amazing idea for a feature article but not sure if anyone else will think it’s amazing? Got writer’s block... or fear of writing...or just want a writing buddy? We are here for you! We strongly encourage ALL readers interested in contributing to the PEN Journal to contact the committee with questions and/or suggestions. We would be delighted to collaborate with you to help get your ideas to publication. Want to connect before you send a piece?  Drop us a line at journalsubmissions@progressiveeducationnetwork.org, and we will reach out to you! OUR

MISSION: TO UPLIFT A DIVERSE RANGE OF VOICES!

MEET YOUR JOURNAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

THERESA SQUIRES COLLINS (she/her) is the PEN Program Director, and supports the work of the journal committee and all things PEN. Contact Theresa at progdirector@progressiveeducationnetwork.org

ANDREW WILLIAMS (he/him) is a 4th and 5th grade classroom teacher at Wickliffe Progressive Elementary School in Upper Arlington, Ohio. He has co-chaired the PEN Journal Committee with Sunny since 2020 and serves as the Co- Chair of the PEN 2024 National Conference Committee. He is passionate about helping classroom teachers share stories of the great learning they do every day with their students.

HEIDI BYRNES-CLOET (she/her) is a pre-K through third grade literacy specialist at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, IL. She has held teaching and leadership roles from preschool to middle school in Australia (her first home) and the US (her current home). She joined the PEN Journal Committee in 2021 and is excited to collaborate with educators seeking to share their ideas with the wider progressive ed community.

DAVID FUDER (he/him) lives in Chicago but still considers Michigan home. An 8th grade English teacher at Francis W. Parker School for 20 years, he also coaches basketball, softball, and slam poets. David joined the PEN Journal Committee in 2021 and is committed to amplifying the voices and stories of progressive educators.

The Peripatetically Published Journal of PEN SUBMISSIONS FOR SPRING ISSUE

Greetings, PEN Colleagues, and thank you for reading! Spring is on the way, and for the next edition of our journal, we invite you to share your ideas, photos, and reminders of what progressive education means and looks like in your school.

For our Spring issue, we invite submissions on the following Special Topics:

THE ART AND SCIENCES OF READING INSTRUCTION: we invite pieces that focus on reading and literacy, in particular the refreshed conversation about how best to provide reading instruction. What does reading instruction look like in progressive spaces? What should it look like?

HIGHLIGHTING HISTORIES: MOVING BEYOND A MONTH: with appreciation for the opportunities provided for elevating the histories of marginalized peoples during specific months of the year, we invite pieces that focus on the ways that educators invest time, effort and meaningful integration of such histories within and throughout the school year.

As in each of our issues, in the Spring 2024 issue, we will ground our thinking in any of the PEN Educational Principles, listed on page 2 of this journal.

Other submission guidelines and topics for consideration:

“ PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE”

Featured articles engaging our Educational Principles; what do the practices look like in your school community; what is the HOW of your progressive practice?

“ WHAT PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION MEANS TO ME.”

Short essays from students and/or from classroom-based educators articulating personal commitments and/or experiences (~500 words)

“ PRINCIPLES IN ACTION”

High-resolution photos from your work in schools, accompanied by extended captions (~100 words).

“ REFRAMING THE PROGRESSIVE PANTHEON”

Archival material and/or critical essays foregrounding the contributions of progressive educators and theorists of color to progressive education.

“ CONTEMPORARY CONTRIBUTIONS”

Featured pieces that foreground the contributions of an influential, contemporary progressive educator and explore her/his contemporary practice

The deadline for submissions for the next issue is FRIDAY, APRIL 19TH, 2024. Please provide written submissions as word.doc files. Please attach high-resolution images to your submission. If you wish to upload images via Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box, please share your link with us. Please direct all questions and submissions to jrnlsubmissions@progressiveeducationnetwork.org.

www.ProgressiveEducationNetwork.org