The Question of Teaching Social Justice

Dear Friends,

I'm not a huge St Patrick's Day person. I prefer moss green to kelly, I don't love raisins in my bread, and I am more of a wine person than green beer gal. But I did grow up in a VERY Irish neighborhood in Philadelphia in the 1970's. I wore green to school every March 17th and one year my mom, who was not usually the hairdo kind of mom, put my long hair in braids with bright green ribbons, which I felt very good about.

Later, as an adult, I did get arrested at a St Patrick's Day Parade in New York City for protesting with ILGO (the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization). The protest was about the fact that the Ancient Order of Hibernians (cool name right? but they really aren't so cool...) would not allow Irish Queers to march in the parade. So, by disrupting the parade to protest this, on its way down 5th Avenue, we were dragged away by police and taken to jail.

I recently got to retell this story to Lucy and Millie, two of our inquisitive Middles, who were interviewing me because they were studying civil disobedience and had heard that I'd been arrested a couple of times for civil disobedience. They asked great questions and I answered to the best of my ability (e.g. Q: What was jail like? A: Uncomfortable with terrible food). One thing I am excited to tell them as a follow up is that, as of last Sunday, the LGBTQIA+ community was officially represented for the first time ever in the St. Patrick's Day parades of all five Boroughs of New York. It has been a long time coming.

Teaching children about social justice at a level they can understand, that engages them and builds agency, is a tremendous privilege. I remember when I started teaching I couldn't even be an out lesbian with my students or their parents, let alone teach about Queer rights. All these years later, the scope of what we can share of ourselves and teach, and how we share and teach, is so much more expansive and liberated. Now, the question is about what our students can really understand at what age, and how we teach it to them effectively, creatively, and responsibly, to promote a more compassionate and equitable world.

The faculty of the Center School will be teaming up with a research group within JED to look carefully at these questions. I am excited to be a part of this research team. Lifelong learning is alive and well here on Bernardston Road!

In collaboration,

Charlie Spencer, Head of School

P.S. And as our Irish friends say, "May the road rise to meet you,May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields."

Photo courtesy of the Archives of Irish America, Bobst Library, New York University.