Dialogue with Dignity I’ve been thinking about issues of racial justice since I was a teenager. I’m not claiming to have done anything particularly significant or to have any impact, but the topic has been on my mind for a long time. This weekend, my reflections were sharpened by attending the Dalton Diversity Conference, an … Read more
“That woman is pursued by demons,” Wally Brigley, the Board chair, declared as he settled into Tim Endibel’s office, plonked his Starbucks cup down on the desk, and eyed the package of mince pies on the coffee table. “Have one,” Tim said. Wally didn’t hesitate, unwrapping the cellophane and taking a bite. “So, what did … Read more
The #1970 Club is starting tomorrow (October 14th) and I’m prepared with some reading and re-reading. 1970 offers a rich literary landscape, from Germaine Greer and Graham Greene to children’s classics like Mr. Gumpy. It ranges from Sexual Politics and Mog, the Forgetful Cat, to works by Susan Hill, Shel Silverstein, Iris Murdoch, and Toni … Read more
In Meaning Loss, Sanje Ratnavale has written a practical and timely contribution to an important debate that all schools should be having. It’s about curriculum and reimagining the sense of purpose that has too often become mired and muddled by ideological squabbles and all-out hot button culture wars. But first – a digression: Consider the … Read more
It has been nearly four months since the publication of the Independent Review of gender identity services for children and young people, known as the Cass Report. There has been no mention of it by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) or its member associations. There has also been no discussion on the NAIS … Read more
Midge Hazelbrow, the indomitable co-head of Wayward St. Etheldreda’s Academy, took herself for a brisk constitutional down Riverside Drive to the Eleanor Roosevelt statue. By the time she stepped back into the St. Etheldreda’s building that had been her professional home for almost thirty years, her mind was clear. Of course, she’d already apologized to … Read more
Before the eruption, it was a typical senior leadership meeting at Wayward. Head of School, Tim Endibel, was talking. On this occasion, he was explaining the new academic initiative for the lower school with a professional tone somewhere between evangelical zeal and a station announcement in the subway. John Swadely, Chief of Marketing, Outreach, and … Read more
When I taught fourth and fifth grade at a school that didn’t assign grades, the topic occasionally came up among the students. On the bus, they’d hear their peers from other schools boasting about their As on tests for spelling or naming all the state capitals. Grades seemed like fun and useful bragging points. We … Read more
When Claudine Gay resigned as President of Harvard this week the gloating by some conservative activists and commentators was unappealing to put it mildly. Their unseemly glee seemed vindictive and disproportionate. It said more about them and their agenda than it did about Dr. Gay and the dysfunction at Harvard. When Gay did herself few … Read more
My Wittgenstein project has entered a fallow phase but it is merely on furlough for a while and will be back. Meanwhile, I was invited to contribute to Intrepid Ed News – the online magazine of OESIS and they have published two of my pieces. Here is the first one if you want to take … Read more
The Dread of the Icebreaker Long ago, but not so far away, but decades before DEI rebranded itself as Divide, Exclude, and Intrude I too committed acts of diversity workshopping. I have no idea whether they were in any way useful but the intentions were good. But you know where those usually lead. I know … Read more
In his day, the Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko’ was something of an international rock star whose readings could fill sports stadiums. He was one of those A-List literati who make the front pages. His poem Lies was much anthologized in English teaching materials in the years following its publication in the Soviet Literary journal Novy … Read more
First Grade by Ron Kortgee Until then, every forest had wolves in it, we thought it would be fun to wear snowshoes all the time, and we could talk to water. So who is this woman with the gray breath calling out names and pointing to the little desks we will occupy for the rest … Read more
A six-point manifesto from psycholinguist Frank Smith – another of those items found in the basement. I must have prepared it as a hand-out for some long-forgotten purpose or another. I was happy to be reunited. Frank Smith – who died last year – was one of those essential giants in the land of learning, … Read more
As is ever the case, I found these images on the IWM site while actually looking for something else. They just seemed to have a little relevance today given the frothing of the anti-vaxxer minority. Apparently, Dr. Fauci has claimed he went to the North Pole personally to vaccinate Santa Claus against COVID-19. I don’t … Read more