Inspired in Seattle
In Context: Inspired in Seattle
In The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations, Toni Morrison acknowledges then proclaims: “Our past is bleak. Our future dim. But I am not reasonable. A reasonable man adjusts to his environment. An unreasonable man does not. All progress, therefore, depends on the unreasonable man. I prefer not to adjust to my environment. I refuse the prison of ‘I’ and choose the open spaces of ‘we.’” Morrison’s inspiring words have me remembering my 19 colleagues and my trip to Seattle, Washington to participate in the 2022 Progressive Education’s National (PEN) Conference in early October. We traveled to the Land of We.
My colleagues and I learned alongside the unreasonable: Progressive educators from across the country –from Hawaii to Wisconsin, Ohio to NYC, Massachusetts to Maine – who commit themselves to children, justice, and hope. We joined the grapplers, the dreamers, the critical and creative thinkers, and the doers. We were with educators who refuse to give up on our nation’s children and the notion of making the world a better place.
When I read the newspaper each morning, I experience our world as troubling. Examples of disturbing anti-semitism in our very own city; another school shooting yesterday as I write this piece; the LA City Council hateful leaked tape; violence against the protesters in Iran who are yelling, “Woman, Life, Freedom”; the war in the Ukraine; a very visible housing crisis; fentanyl-laced pills; a climate crisis; a political climate noted for either/or thinking and the digging in of heels. And in response, there are patterns of cynicism, listlessness, and avoidance.
It’s a lot.
So it was fortifying and inspiring to be among a national landscape of progressive educators. (I remembered having the sensation of feeling my feet solidly on the ground while simultaneously having my head up in the clouds as I wondered and asked, What if?) The lectures, field trips, workshops, panels, and even the casual conversations reminded me to continue to center children’s questions, center justice, center nature, center the exchange of ideas and questions, center active listening, and to never forget just how much all children are capable of. We learned alongside and heard from educators who hold up democracy and the power of participation in their local communities. We heard from artists and activists who are willing to get in a little bit of trouble to combat the trouble. We met teachers who opened up their classroom and shared their action, research and best practices. We met practitioners who shared their scholarship on topics such as school leadership, evaluation, professional growth, and inquiry-based learning.
Following our trip to Seattle, a colleague was asked if the school year will be extended by two days to make up for the educational time students lost while teachers/staff were at the PEN conference. We typically take 1 to 2 professional development days per year. In PEN years, these days are used in the fall so our staff can attend the conference.
I invite a reframing of the question, though, as I don’t think anything was lost. I believe children will directly benefit from this time the teachers took away from their classrooms, visiting other classrooms, learning alongside fellow progressive educators, digging into challenging issues, discovering creative solutions, and dreaming up original ideas. I could argue instructional time was somehow found! Teachers – and teaching – have been invigorated and reinvigorated because of PEN. Our pedagogy is boosted through the pursuit of questions and curiosity.
My colleagues and I got to disrupt the patterns of our COVID context, shifting away from and out of silos into collective systems of support and togetherness. We innovated intellectually. A colleague recently reflected on the importance of refreshing ourselves on the scholarship of progressive theory and pedagogy of the past and also staying relevant with new scholarship. Together too, we regenerated hope. We all thank Westland parents and guardians for the sacrifice it took to make this trip happen for us during a regular school week. It was transformative. One colleague called it humanizing. Yes! This is ultimately Toni Morrison’s original message. To be human is to be in the we. I am reminded of the poignancy that the first two letters in Westland are We.
To further bring to life our experience, here are a handful of excerpted reflections from staff just below. (Shared with permission.)
→ I was able to find a lot of valuable tools in the workshops that I attended at the PEN workshop. Some of these tools are more practical and useful for classroom management. Some were more big picture, like generating an essential question for a social studies unit. Some were more deep into curriculum, offering valuable insights and tools to build a solid foundation for our DEI curriculum.
→ PEN was a reconnection to education, and a reinvigoration in the process of growing and bringing new ideas to explore and translate into our community.
→ Ours was a compelling professional trip to observe different school cultures and share teaching practices in a deeply meaningful and reflective way. And it was during the PEN Conference that we learned from Hawaiian progressive educators (Hanahauʻoli School) that such a multi-faceted, observational approach can also be distilled into a single word: KILO. This approach is reinforced in other theories of reflection: “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience” (Dewey) and “Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice” (Freire). As always, it is inspiring and necessary to weave in and unite ideas both old and new, familiar and different: a strong, pedagogical double helix. Back at home, we as Angeleno/a progressive educators (Westland School) will continue to experiment, reflect, and hone our teaching practice in culturally responsive ways, and to do KILO.
→ We played, which has been a collective focus of our staff meetings since the beginning of the school year, focusing more on how children played. Well, we experienced adult play – we laughed, we bonded, we scooted, we learned about one another and shared an unforgettable experience which makes life at Westland, simply put, better. I come back regenerated as a person and reinvigorated as an educator.
→ My PEN experience was definitely centered around the theme: Disruption. Although I believe we as progressive educators are thoughtful and responsive to our students' needs and the changing world, I believe having the empowerment to disrupt ways in which are not serving our students, or ourselves, is powerful. Having a new lens to view what is working, or what could be changed is empowering and invigorating. Even the most progressive angles have the right to be disrupted! All for the good of US.
→ We are now a week since the conference and the word “disrupt” continues to linger in my mind. I continue to digest, process, and apply a new connotation to the word; to disrupt means to “make change,” to challenge the systems so deeply embedded in our day-to-day lives. So how do I provide children with the tools to “disrupt,” the confidence to be advocates for themselves and others, and instill a positive sense of self-efficacy to do so? While in Seattle, I found myself among fellow educators with similar questions, equally affirming as it was exciting. At the Seattle Art Museum Field Trip, I was inspired by the power of untold histories, the nuances of culture and varying perspectives, and the idea that one single event or work of art can inspire various, yet equally valid, interpretations.
→ I experienced an acute synchrony of my past, present and future while there. My path has forever been rooted in social justice and the pedagogy of love. As bell hooks so powerfully wrote, "Love is an action, never simply a feeling." There was a clear call for action to tell the truth, to disrupt oppression, to transform and liberate.
→ Traveling with the majority of Westland School’s staff was only the beginning to a series of enriching, hopeful, healing, and productive learning encounters. Personally, I sensed true, honest, and sincere interactions with each and every person I met. This feeling found its relevance when I heard The Northwest School’s Head of School Ray Wilson say: “Progressive education isn’t something that comes from the mind, but from the heart.” These weren’t just words thrown up in the air. These words were being applied right at the moment through each person I exchanged a word with, asked for support from, or ended up in the same workshop/field trip as them.
→ It was inspiring to see more progressive schools beyond the scope of California and also in a setting that is different from ours. In the case of Hazel Wolf, it is a public school that focuses on a ESTEM program with storylines weaved in for each grade level. An example for the first-grade class is, "How does our food get from a farm to our table?" I immediately thought, “Ohh we do this at Westland too with our curriculum in setting a foundational question/s that will guide the study for the year.” Noticing the amount of plants and trees that surrounded the school and how it was incorporated into play as well brought joy and ideas that could fit Westland and what we are trying to accomplish with play.
→ With time to reflect on the “wholeness” of the time spent in Seattle, I am most struck by the opportunity provided by a shared experience for the Westland Staff. As Progressive educators we are tasked with the responsibility of creating and co-facilitating a community of learners where social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills are nurtured and developed. The 2022-2023 school year also marked our return to a more openly connected school wide community and one that has welcomed several new staff members in the last few years. We are seeing one another in new ways and exploring the changes that come with shared reflection. In many ways the emphasis of the 2022 PEN Conference mirrors conversations that require us to delve deeply into our mission while checking for relevance and purpose. I am hopeful that this shared experience opens up new conversations and recommits our focus on supporting children, families, and staff as active members in a democratic society.