[RSCT] NYCoRE Announces 2009 Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs)

[NYCoRE]

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New York Collective of Radical Educators
Inquiry to Action Groups 2009
Registration Open Now
2009 groups:
1) Social Justice in Teacher Ed
2) Learning about Labor
3) Transforming Mainstream Curriculum
4) A Space for Beginning Teachers
5) Integrating Media and Youth Culture
6) Rethinking Discipline
NYCoRE

New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE) is a group of public  
school educators committed to fighting for social justice in our  
school system and society at large, by organizing and mobilizing  
teachers, developing curriculum, and working with community, parent,  
and student organizations. We are educators who believe that education  
is an integral part of social change and that we must work both inside  
and outside the classroom because the struggle for justice does not  
end when the school bell rings

Frequently Asked Questions

ItAG Kick-off Meeting

A general kick-off meeting for all ItAG participants will be held  
Friday, January 16th, 6:00- 8:00 p.m. at NYU, 3rd floor Pless Lounge,  
82 Washington Sq. East between Greene and Washington Square Park.    
Dinner provided.  A closing ceremony will be held 3/13 at the same  
location.


Please Spread the Word

We encourage you to download a flier and share it with teachers at  
your school.  Teachers that sign up together are eligible for  
registration discount.

Dear NYCoRE Member,
We are pleased to announce that registration for our 5th ANNUAL ITAGS  
is open.  ItAGs' offer an opportunity for teachers to build community  
and develop as activists.  Educators will participate in Inquiry to  
Action Groups linking social justice issues with classroom practice.   
Small groups will meet weekly (for a total of six, two-hour sessions  
plus a kick-off and finale) between January and March to share  
experiences, respond to readings, exchange ideas and develop plans of  
action.

1. Social Justice in Teacher Education
In an era where NCATE standards are narrowing teacher education to  
mechanistic dispositions and have eliminated the social justice  
language from its conceptual framework, this group will come together  
to share how teacher educators can navigate the space within radical  
teaching practices that promote social justice in the world of NCATE  
requirements. We will explore the different ways teacher educators can  
include issues of Social Justice in their curricula and we will  
discuss pedagogical approaches that can enhance student's critical  
consciousness and empower them to activism. Participants are  
encouraged to bring their course(s) syllabi to share ideas on how  
issues of discrimination and privilege can be included in any teacher  
education course.

Facilitators: Shelly Chin is Assistant Director of the Peace Corps  
Fellows Program at Teachers College, an alternative teacher  
certification program preparing teachers to serve in low-income  
schools. Jolie Medina is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education  
at Borough of Manhattan Community College/City University of New York  
where she teaches Social Foundations of Education.

Location: Teachers College, 525 West 120th St Room TBA
Dates: Tuesdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10,  
2/24*, 3/3, and the finale on 3/13.
*tentative date may change depending on group availability.

REGISTER NOW


2. Learning about Labor
This inquiry to action group will provide a setting for educators to  
reflect on and discuss how we teach about labor and our own position  
as teachers within the labor movement.  As the voice of organized  
labor is pushed further and further outside of circles of power and  
our collective consciousness, it is a crucial time to educate others  
and ourselves about the role the labor movement has played in the  
struggle for social justice throughout history to the present. We will  
share readings, ideas, materials, to help us find new ways to bring  
these ideas into our classrooms and connect our students to current  
movements.  It is equally important for progressive and radical  
educators to reflect on our own role within the labor movement. We  
will explore some turning points in the history of the UFT and  
challenge ourselves to reflect on our own orientation to the union as  
individuals and as part of a collective of social justice educators.

Facilitators: Rosie Frascella is a former labor organizer, a teacher  
at the High School for International Business and Finance and a member  
of NYCoRE working group NYQueer.  Seth Rader is a teacher at the James  
Baldwin School and a core member of NYCoRE.

Location: James Baldwin Academy, 351 West 18th St between
Dates: Thursdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12,  
2/26, 3/5, and the finale on 3/13.

  REGISTER NOW

3. Revolutionizing the Classroom: Transforming Mainstream Curriculum  
into Social Justice Teaching
In this study group, participants will explore what social justice in  
teaching means to them and how to achieve this in the current  
standards crazed context of NYC. Participants will examine mandated  
curriculum for opportunities to incorporate cultural relevance and  
social action. Teachers will work together to transform their own  
curriculum while still reaching the required standards.

Facilitators: Natalia Ortiz is a born and raised New York City Latina.  
She currently teaches Social Studies to 16-20 year old students at  
West Brooklyn Community High School. From Boston to Brown to Brooklyn,  
Adam Manson Weinstock is in his 6th year at Tompkins Square Middle  
School, now as co-Dean of Students, exploring restorative justice  
models of discipline, and formerly as a 7th grade Humanities teacher  
and Advisory coordinator.

Location: TBA- Manhattan.  Check www.NYCoRE.org for update
Dates: Mondays 5:30-7:30 PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9,  
2/23, 3/2, and the finale on 3/13.

REGISTER NOW
4) What does it Mean to be a Radical Educator? A Space for Beginning  
Teachers to Explore and Learn
This ITAG is designed to explore and extend the definition of what it  
means to be a "radical educator" through the perspective of new  
teachers (yrs 1 - 3).  The goal of this ITAG is to empower new  
teachers with the language, skills, and mindset that it takes to  
transform classrooms into communities for change. Radical teaching  
happens not only in the content of our curriculum, but also in the way  
we speak about, view, and interact with the world, our community, and  
the students in our classroom. In both theory and practice, we wish to  
radically re-write the stories that our students hear about the world  
and tell about themselves.

Facilitators:  Marissa Torres works with Elementary students at the  
Hamilton Heights Academy in Harlem.  Annie Schmutz works with Middle  
and High School students at the Henry Street School for International  
Studies in LES, as well as being a part-time instructor at City  
College of New York.

Dates: Thursdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12,  
2/26, 3/5, and the finale on 3/13.
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th st. -  
Room TBA

REGISTER NOW
5) Combating the Banking Mentality: Integrating Media and Youth  
Culture into the Classroom

This ItAG, so-sponsored by Urban Word, explores the integration of  
media and youth culture in the classroom to provide educators and  
activists the tools to create interactive spaces for engaged critical  
thinking.  Participants will create a vision of the kinds of classroom  
environments they hope to create through the integration of youth  
culture and will be introduced to a variety of strategies and  
methods.  Participants will gain a better understanding of what  
resources and strategies they can use to create interactive classrooms  
that build on students' interests.

kahlil almustafa is a performance poet currently developing a  
Multimedia Performance to promote his collection of poetry Growing Up  
Hip-Hop. www.kahlilalmustafa.com.  Charan P. Morris is a poet/ 
performer/educator transplanted from Chicago to New York. She has  
taught race, class & politics through literature in New York City  
public schools for the past 5 years.  www.charanp.com

Dates: Tuesdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10,  
2/24, 3/3, and the finale on 3/13.
Location: Urban Word, 242 W. 27th Street, Suite 3B btwn 7th and 8th http://www.urbanwordnyc.org

REGISTER NOW
6) Rethinking Discipline/Building Community
How can we create truly democratic schools that empower young people  
and give them opportunities to collaborate in making just communities?  
How do we do this in the face of a reactionary school system that too  
all too often suspends or criminalizes young people? We can do it but  
we must rethink our core understanding of discipline.  Much evidence  
shows that suspensions lead students on a downward spiral that forces  
many to get left back and drop out. This first step often introduces  
them to the criminal justice system. This ITAG will be to look at the  
theory and philosophy behind alternative systems of discipline. We  
will examine whole school systems of discipline that shift the  
question of what did the student do to what does the student need and  
consider the value of restorative justice approaches, drawing on  
examples from schools in or near New York City. These approaches teach  
moral development, a missing ingredient from most schools. They offer  
opportunities for students to take responsibility for misbehavior and  
allow them to address the needs of those harmed. And depending on the  
interest of the participants, we hope to investigate student centered  
classroom practices as well.

Facilitators: Daniel Jerome is the Dean at the Banana Kelly School in  
the Bronx, is a founding member of NYCoRE and board member of Teachers  
Unite.  Josh Heisler teaches at Vanguard High School and is also a  
board member of Teachers Unite.

Dates: TBA. Kick off on 1/16th and the finale on 3/13.
Location: TBA- Manhattan. Check www.NYCoRE.org for update

  REGISTER NOW
Register Now
The registration fee is $30.
Multiple teachers from the same school can register together for the  
same ItAG for a reduced rate of $25 each.

Payment must be received at the kick-off


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