Our Schools/Our Selves: Fall 2011

The fall 2011 issue of Our Schools/Our Selves asks: “If schools are truly to be instruments of social change, how we can ensure that the change we build together is inclusive, empathetic, just and empowering; that it serves students, educators and communities; that it broadens horizons rather than narrowing them; and finally, that its “strings” connect and engage rather than bind and limit?”

“The violin is a powerful image — strings and bridges evoke the act of making connections between students and their classrooms, and between schools and wider communities — and is a useful starting point into an exploration of what we must help schools do in order to build progress in a range of areas: gender equity; creating sustainable communities; media education and analysis; a school system that values experience, and cultural and social relevancy over standardization and evaluation; social justice, and accountable public institutions.”