TSJ 2014 Inquiry to Action Groups
An opportunity for teachers, educators and supporters of meaningful public education to build community, engage as learners, and develop as activists. All educators are invited to
participate in ItAGs that link social justice issues with their practice.
Kickoff Event: Saturday
February 15 6-8pm; Finale Event: Saturday April 5 6-8pm
In between events, individual ItAGS
meet weekly (for six, two-hour sessions) to share experiences, respond to
readings, exchange ideas, and develop plans of action. All locations TBD – once registered,
you will receive location information.
COMMUNITY CARE; MONDAYS 7:00-9:00PM
In
society, there's an emphasis on individual productivity and "getting the
job done" rather than building community. Community Care is a holistic and
evolving set of practices that emphasize building community, de-commodifying
contributions, supporting everybody and valuing all types of work. This can
include m/others, childcare providers, caretakers for the sick and elderly,
school nurses, domestic workers, mediators, counselors, healers, among others.
In this ItAG, we will explore how communities of care can be spaces for
everybody to participate, learn from each other and flourish.
GENDER VIOLENCE; MONDAYS 5:30-7:30PM
This
Itag will explore several social justice issues through the lens of gender
violence. We will engage literature and discussions that wrestle with topics of
interpersonal violence (i.e., sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking),
prison industrial complex, masculinity, bullying, as well as problematize
violence prevention curricula such as bystander intervention.
GRASSROOTS VISIONS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT;
TUESDAYS 6:30-8:30PM
Chicago
is said to be the city of Big Plans. But WHO made those plans and who benefits
from them? Many big-ticket projects have been proposed by City Hall over the
years in order to make Chicago a "world-class city." But what,
exactly, is a world-class city? This ItAG will review the history of community
planning in Chicago, starting with the 1909 Burnham Plan and will investigate
key players in the city's planning history in the present era. Who are they and
what, exactly, are they planning for us? This ItAG will seek to understand the
context and motivations and outcomes for these plans. We will look at the Right
To The City movement and other frame-challenging planning movements to see what
other sorts of visions can be surfaced for the future of our great city.
WALK THE WALK: CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN PRACTICE;
WEDNESDAYS 6:00-8:00PM
This
ItAG will explore the question, what does social justice education look like in
our daily work in classrooms? In particular, we would like to establish a rough
outline of participants' values and philosophies around social justice
education, and investigate how our values can be manifested in classroom
rules/norms, curriculum design, uses of classroom space, student roles in the
classroom, and classroom rituals.
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND IDENTITY IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION; WEDNESDAYS 10:30AM-12:30PM
It’s a pivotal time for early childhood education, with increasing political
and policy attention. States, including Illinois, have dramatically increased
funding for programs over the last couple decades. This creates tremendous
opportunity as well as substantial challenge, particularly as many advocacy
organizations have begun to push an "alignment" across early
childhood (birth though 5) and our K-12 education system. In this ITAG, we will
explore the question: how can early education – through the lens of language,
culture, identity – become a legitimately and widely recognized part of our
education system without being negatively impacted by a push down of corporate
education reform and a diminishing focus on developmentally appropriate
practice in the early years that could come with being part of the K-12
education system.
Registration is required and free.
Register Here
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