We partner with individuals, classrooms, schools, and organizations to foster new conversations and a new vision for schooling at the local and national levels.
Here we share the stories from students, educators, parents, leaders, and community members across the country. Each story is an expression of an individual's hopes, fears, joys, and aspirations. Each story is unique and powerful on its own. Together they are the collective dreams of a nation.
We hope you will enjoy browsing and sharing your thoughts. You can search for your state, or people you know by using the search bar. Intrigued, Inspired?! Sign up to be a Catalyst!
"Schools have a big role in preparing students to embrace change and differences, to have an open mind, and also build a love of learning without feeling insecure - low self-esteem for learning what they want to learn, for experiencing or exploring what they want to explore."
Read More""Another big role of education reform is just exposure to people really different from you. Different backgrounds, different views. Learning how to deal with that is really important."
Read More"Yes. Humanity. Schools should teach humanity, because if we would have humanity, we wouldn’t have present situations in the world which we have, which are above and beyond any reasoning. After the horror of the wars, we should have learned something. We didn’t learn anything.
Read More"The more I work in schools the more I realize that schools are the most social places on the planet—it’s just people interacting with people all day, whether it's adults and adults, kids and kids, or adults and kids. It’s just understanding how to approach others in ways that are not going to turn them off, that are coming from a place of inquiry. I’m trying to say that the more time I spend in schools, the more I realize it’s really about empathy."
Read More"But I feel like, jeez, isn’t it also a leap of faith if you send your child to a more traditional school, in which the risk there is that they might learn to hate learning? That they don't get to do things they care about, they just do things that they're asked to do? That they become really good unquestioning rule followers who think of themselves as human capital? That seems scarier to me."
Read More...My perspective is shaped by seeing the effects that working in the fields does to the body. And just how difficult it is, generally. And being the daughter of immigrants, as well, is another story. I remember something my dad told me. We’re so important to society, and yet we’re not treated as important. I mean, they are providing the food for the entire nation to eat, and yet they’re not provided with any other rights... So given that economic reality growing up, I think pretending that education is not for a more economically secure future is silly.
Read MoreI think that to a great extent schools are an extension of the society in which they evolve. They reflect the values of our society so it would be really shocking if our society had the values that it clearly has based on all the reality television shows out there, and yet our kids are raised to just think for themselves, to care about others, and to just do what makes them happy. I think that would be the greatest disconnect in the history of the world. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. I do think it could happen, but I don’t think that’s where we are.
Read MoreWe should make school a place where kids create because of school not in spite of school!
Read MoreBut I think the major things – the metrics for instance, – are evil. Evil, evil, evil – because it can be misconstrued. It’s so easy to go, “90%, yay!” But what does that 90% actually mean? And does that actually make you a better human being? Possibly. But it also may not make you a human being at all, it just makes you good at being valued in a larger system, a good result.
Read MoreI think formal schooling plays a vital role but it’s one of many factors of a good overall education. Students in school is like a chef at a grocery store. Teachers provide the educational tools and some recipes. Some students follow the recipe, and that’s okay. Some students are more creative to take the raw ingredients to deviate from the recipes to create something wonderful and new.
Read More"Sometimes schools can be so prescriptive and it’s hard to have that ability to adjust. You have to remember as a teacher that you need to be a great listener--responding to what they feel and what they want, rather than constantly making sure they’re hitting certain benchmarks, but getting more personal feedback from your students."
Read More"We came to live in the US as immigrants is because we want to give a better future for our kids. Although China has opulent opportunities for our generation to create fortune, it’s definitely not a place to raise future generations. Now we’re living in a blessed area with top schools in the nations, but I still see a lot of things that aren’t set up for creating a future world citizen. ...I also worry about the mentality of racing to nowhere here. In this environment, everyone is very competitive on reaching goals. Well, I don’t want her to conform to this competitive culture without knowing what she should be running for."
Read MoreI worry that because he’s been sheltered a bit by living an upper middle class life that his reality is different from a lot of other people who look like him. Finding your balance in that is difficult - I grew up similar – to figure out where you fit in as a black person in this world when society tells you one thing and you experience something completely different is hard. It’s probably easier for kids now because minorities are becoming the majority. But I worry that he won’t carry his identity with him in the way I do. It’s the first thing I say when people ask me to say a little about myself - I’m a black woman. Kids these days don’t carry that with them in a way they’re proud of.
Read More"I supposedly went to one of the best schools in the world and I felt like I got very little out of it. I felt a sense of shame because I didn't take 5 advanced placement courses or go to one of the top schools in the country. When everyone gets accepted to schools, they would list all of the colleges everyone went to--Brown, Stanford, etc. And then they listed my school, which was misspelled. They never expressed that it’s okay to not go to one of the top of schools in the country."
Read MoreWhat I see is a lot of little things being addressed but the whole child outcome isn’t really changing. That’s a common view with people I talk to. It’s highlighted in this area: there’s a huge percentage of kids who just don’t make it through, or they make it through and then what? What is the path? If there’s no path that helps them to that life of choice and independence and healthy relationships, then what has been the point of the 18 years?
Read MoreI want them to appreciate that financial security can give them an element of freedom in their lives, while also recognizing that buying things isn’t where that joy is going to come from. Another way to look at it is that stability starts with balance. So really, a balanced life is what I want for them.
Read MoreThe useful lesson was that you’re not just consuming a world created by other people – you’re living in a world that you’re creating and what you create is just as good as what other people are creating. That really affects my life – feeling like you’re creating parts of the world with people around you, not just living in a world created by others.
Read MoreI think that school should make them feel comfortable thinking about what a good life is for themselves, and encourage them to value their own perspective on what it means to be successful, and pay attention to what it is that makes them feel the most satisfied. That doesn’t mean necessarily that school will allow them to feel satisfied all the time, but it should help them understand how to listen to that within themselves.
Read MoreShouldn’t that be the goal of education?....To make you grow up – and become a productive adult member of society. At the time you finish college or whatever school experience you want to do, that’s what you should be – someone who’s contributing to society.
Read MoreYour education is not just facts – those change all the time – especially when your career is on the edge of science. In 2-3 years, everything I know will be outdated, but the mechanism of how I got to the knowledge I have now is what’s valuable.
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