We Want to Do More Than Survive #2 by Ben Nakamura https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294 Made with a quick smile en-us 2020-11-19 15:08:31 UTC 2025-10-16 15:24:35 UTC hello@padlet.com Calling Out & Dismantling bnakamura1 https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941748709 Love spends a significant time explicitly calling out KIPP charter schools, character education, specific superintendents, school districts, US presidents, and others.
Question: What do you feel are some of her intentions behind doing this?
Question: To what extent does her “calling out” specific people, policies, practices and organizations align with this idea of being an abolitionist educator?
Question: What things specific to your context need to be called out and why?

]]> 2020-11-19 15:19:58 UTC https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941748709 Spirit Murdering bnakamura1 https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941755803 Love uses this term “spirit-murdering” several times throughout the text to refer to pedagogical practices that oppress and suppress our dark children.
Question: What kinds of pedagogies are most-spirit murdering toward the dark children at your school?]]> 2020-11-19 15:21:13 UTC https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941755803 Abolitionist Teaching bnakamura1 https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941761073 Chapter 5 begins to define this idea of Abolitionist Teaching.  Love states the following: “Abolitionist teaching is as much about tearing down old structures and ways of thinking as it is about forming new ideas, new forms of social interactions, new ways to be inclusive, new ways to discuss inequality and distribute wealth and resources…” She goes on to say “abolitionist teaching is not a teaching approach: it is a way of life, a way of seeing the world, and a way of taking action against injustice. It seeks to resist, agitate, and tear down the educational survival complex with teachers who work in solidarity with their schools’ community...the ultimate goal of abolitionist teaching is freedom. Freedom to create your reality, where uplifting humanity is at the center of all decisions” (pp.88-89)
Here are some of the traditional ‘problems’ in all our schools: (a) low academic performance as measured by standardized test scores, (b)  chronic absenteeism, and (c) student behavioral issues.” Choose one of these that you feel are a challenge at your school(s). And then be prepared to discuss the following:
Prompt: Provide a cursory overview of the traditional ways this ‘problem’ has been addressed in your school or similar schools
Question: From an abolitionist teaching lens, what do you plan on doing or are you currently doing to attack this ‘problem?’

]]> 2020-11-19 15:22:07 UTC https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941761073 Coconspirators bnakamura1 https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941796976 After laying the groundwork through the actions of Bree Newsome and her coconspirator James Tyson, on pp. 117-119 Love spends a significant time delineating between an ally and a coconspirator. She identifies 5 characteristics of coconspirators:
  1. Understanding where we stand in relation to systems of privilege and oppression, and unlearning the habits and practices that protect those systems
  2. Authentic relationships of solidarity and mutuality, which are not possible when we try to avoid or transcend power imbalances
  3. Honestly acknowledging and confronting those imbalances to create authentic relationships
  4. Social change work is always rooted in collaboration, humility and accountability
  5. The interior journey into silence, meditation, inner wisdom and deep joy is inextricably linked to the outer work of social change.
Question: Which of these resonates with you most?
Question: Which of these five do you feel you need to develop further and why?

]]> 2020-11-19 15:28:20 UTC https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/941796976 Black Joy bnakamura1 https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/943191523 Towards the end of chapter 5, Love brings Black Joy into the conversation as a critical element of the abolitionist teacher. She argues on p. 120 that "abolitionist teaching is not sustainable without joy."
Question: What are some reasons why abolitionist teaching is not sustainable without joy?
Question: How are you bringing about and maintaining joy in your personal, professional work and in the work of those who surround you? ]]> 2020-11-19 19:48:13 UTC https://padlet.com/bnakamura1/qmjhfbxe7wxvd294/wish/943191523