Bill Mckibben and Climate Change

"Very few people can ever say that they are in the single most important place they could possibly be doing the single most important thing they could possibly be doing." --Bill McKibben


Can you say this? Can I? If our education system is not responding deeply and powerfully to the reality of climate change, then our education system is not working. In our reevaluation of what we do in our education system--curriculum, resources, pedagogy, and discipline to name few--let us put climate change center stage. It is urgent. It is crucial. 

Watch Bill Mckibben's speech from April 16th (it's only 15 minutes). He is the founder of 350.org, the advocacy group doing some of the most important work of our time. How can we take these ideas, these truths, and merge them with the education reform movement? What happens if we don't? 

Teacher-Activists/Entrepreneurs

Tonight I spend almost three hours at the board meeting for my charter school, and was able to make a 2 minute pitch about the service learning program that I have launched and through which I am taking 30+ people to Spain. It was informative and inspiring to sit in a room with dozens of people who share the common goal of building an excellent school, and I was more energized after the meeting than when I went in.

To say that teachers should be scholars and researchers as well as educators would be to state the obvious; to say that they should be activists and entrepreneurs is to open up a more intriguing conversation. Having spent a considerable amount of time just today on an entrepreneurial project, and having watched a series of primary elections that teachers have influenced (especially in the Washington DC mayoral race), it is worth contemplating this identity of teachers.

One program that has come to my attention, and whose weekly emails I value, is called Educators 4 Excellence. Founded by a fellow Teach for America alum, here is an example of the educator-activist doing work that connects people and inspires actions. Kudos Evan!