Building a Learning Culture in America

ISBN-13: 9781412864183 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 231 str.

Kevin P. Chavous

Opis

Building a Learning Culture in America takes an incisive, no-holds-barred look at how America embraced and cultivated a culture of learning in the past, how that culture declined in the sixties and seventies, and what must be done to regain it. From political gridlock to systemic discrimination, Chavous details the many ways education today is off track, and cites specific examples of what Americans might do to reform it.Part memoir and part manifesto, this is a frank, fascinating, and personal account of Chavous' experience as a politician working to enact school choice in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States. During the course of his political career, he has seen political skirmishes and party scuffles interfere with the United States' ability to improve its educational system. These conflicts did not cause the problem; they were merely a result. The true problem was more basic: the decline of America's learning culture.This pivotal work calls for Americans to unite in making the changes needed to re-establish a learning culture as an inherent piece of the American national fabric, and tells us how to begin.

Spis treści

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Endorsements

Introduction

Part 1. The Politics of Reform—My Struggle for School Choice

1 My Personal History of Learning

2 A Look at Education in America
The Creation of an Education System "For All"
1960s and 1970s: In the Midst of Great Change,
Our Schools Remained Stagnant

3 A Nation at Risk: Then and Now
A Nation at Risk
The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools

4 Equal Opportunity Education: A Civil Rights Issue
A Family History of Activism
Experiencing Racism Firsthand

5 Public Service in Our Nation's Capital

6 Heading Up the Education Committee

7 Running for Mayor and Growing Charter Schools in DC

8 School Vouchers in DC

9 Losing My Council Seat and Joining the Education Reform Movement

10 Glimmers of Hope

Part 2. Achieving Reform: Building a Learning Culture in America

Introduction

11 Establishing a New Brand of Nationalism

12 Removing Politics

13 All Children Can Learn

14 Encouraging Education Activism

15 Considering How Other Cultures Teach and Learn

16 Let Us Model Our Learning Culture Movement on Other Successful Social Change Movements
The Civil Rights Movement
The Environmental Movement
Gay Rights Movement
Public Health Movement
Technology's Role in Enacting Social Change
The Learning Culture Movement

17 Trusted Voices Championing the Cause

18 Celebrating Models and Teachers That Work

Part 3. Some Success Stories

19 Three Schools and One School District with Great
Teachers and a Learning Culture
Salemwood School
Houston Heights Learning Academy
Village Leadership Academy
The Lindsay Unified School District

Conclusion: Finding Hope

Bibliography

Index

O autorze

Kevin Chavous