How Black Americans Fought for Literacy
From the moment US Army troops arrived in the South, newly freed people sought ways to gain education—particularly to learn to read and write.
Stokely Carmichael, Radical Teacher
The civil rights leader who changed his name to Kwame Ture encouraged students in the Mississippi Freedom Schools to think critically.
Why Would Parents Oppose Compulsory Education?
In Victorian England, reformers thought all children should go to school. That didn't sit well with everyone—and not just kids.
Does Virtual Learning Work for Every Student?
Given Covid-19, schools have limited options for teaching kids. What’s working and not working in the era of online learning?
Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed at Fifty
The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s book, first published in English 50 years ago, urges viewing students as interlocutors or partners in the learning process.
The Brooklyn College Farm Labor Project of the 1940s
The coronavirus pandemic left farmers falling back on students to pick crops. But it certainly wasn’t the first time.
How Black Communities Built Their Own Schools
Rosenwald schools, named for a philanthropist, were funded mostly by Black people of the segregated South.
Three Centuries of Distance Learning
We will probably remember 2020 as the time when distance education exploded. But the infrastructure that enabled this expansion was years in the making.
How Public Schools “Americanized” Hawai‘i
Colonial education administrators recruited teachers from the mainland, but soon realized another strategy was in order.
The End of Men, in 1870
In 1790, U.S. men were about twice as likely as U.S. women to be literate. But by 1870, girls were surpassing boys in public schools.