Why Now? With the increasing visibility of racial injustice, the rise of high-stakes standardized testing, and the ever-increasing gap between wealthy and poor communities, the democratic principles of progressive education have never felt more important and critical to families and students today. Community, voice, play, choice, observation, learning by doing – these beliefs within the context of our world and society are some of the principles the original progressive thinkers espoused. With this network, we hope to build a shared understanding of these principles and what they look like in practice in our classrooms today. How Did We Get Here? In October 2015, the Progressive Education Network (PEN) hosted a conference on “Access, Equity, and Activism: Teaching the Possible.” Spurred by this conference, Manhattan Country School, Castle Bridge School, and Bank Street College began a partnership to create a progressive education collaborative, named PENNY, consisting of public, charter and independent progressive schools in and around New York City. Who Are We? PENNY is a group of public, independent, and charter schools and educators who are interested in progressive education. The organization will focus on two major areas: (1) professional development, with possible opportunities for school visits, workshops, speakers, mentoring, research, and curriculum development; and (2) policy and advocacy, with a voice of support for progressive education in local education policy discussions, advocating for access, equity, and activism. Role of the Founding Board Member
The founding board is made up of eleven members: five from district public schools, four from independent schools, one from a charter school, and one from a teacher education program. The founding board of PENNY will be charged with helping lead the organization and development of PENNY. Founding board members will serve on a voluntary basis. Specifically:
Some initial questions the founding board will focus on include:
How will schools and individuals become members of PENNY? What are the benefits of PENNY membership? What are the first projects we might work on together (i.e. Intervisitations, workshops, gathering, speakers)? What policy or advocacy work might we explore together? What are the next steps to grow the group?
