Rethink Learning Now

As a child of immigrant parents, neither of whom graduated from high school, I have often wondered how it was possible that all six of their children graduated from college and earned advanced degrees from some of the best colleges in the country - Harvard, Brown, UC Berkeley, Cornell, Colu...

This year was very unique and it was something that we did not expect. Sixth grade was a challenge to us, because of the academic responsibilities that our teachers and parents expected of us. We had to keep up with school work and homework for three different teachers and as the seniors of the school we weren't prepared for this drastic change and strict rules of the sixth grade. It was imperative that shirts were tucked in, having silent lunches, no recess, and we had to be...

Mr. Ward created a 60-member chorus and a 60-member marching band from a small high school student body in a DOD (Department of Defense) school in Berlin, Germany, during the days of the 'Cold War' - and he did so in only 4-5 years' time. Mr. Ward was from California, and for military kids who identified each other by the state they were from, California was considered a beacon of coolness. It didn't hurt that Mr. Ward had a handsome boyishness about him, either, although he was...

Our mama taught us how to be simultaneously brave and pliant, and we found ourselves in this winning combination.

Mama Annie was my only teacher for much of my childhood. She home-schooled me through several formative years spent in Central Java, my father's birthplace. There I made note of the traditional preference that a woman not laugh too hard or be too assertive. There my peers were taught to wait, be patient, and to duck and look down when passing adult men.

Great teachers share one common goal -- the audacity to believe that children can and will go as far as ultimately capturing the mysteries of outer space. This audacity is woven in a memorable motto known as "Pride."

Pride was the common thread that connected my classmates to our teachers. We were regular everyday children driven to succeed but because of countless negative newspaper or media depictions of our small community, we began to ask questions. For...

In the fall of 2003, I started my junior year of high school with an 8th grade education level and a serious case of "broken home" syndrome. I was a high school drop out about to enroll in GED classes when fate stepped in and led me to Urban Academy.  

"Hi, are you a new student?...I'm teaching Short Shorts this semester. . . You should take it." 

His name was Alex White, and he was teaching a literature course about short...

I often return to the site of my childhood elementary school in South Baltimore. As I sit there, next to railroad tracks and an elevated expressway, I thank God for the leaders, during the 1950s and 1960s, who showed their faith in us and invested in our future.

For the children of our neighborhood, our teachers and parents were our Moses, leading us through a wilderness of prejudice and teaching us how to forge better lives. Five decades later, shining in a corner of...

I grew up in a space in-between. A mixed race child who predominantly spoke Mandarin and "Chinglish" until about the age of four or five, I remember having a really difficult time in school. I must have sensed the discrimination from the parking lot. Once my parents and I passed through the doors and into the hallways, I wanted to run right back out of elementary school. I was curious enough to stay, but I started crying, which my teacher disliked; she responded by...

Learning is a lifetime necessity that is increasingly subtle with the aging process. Behavioral scientist Ralph Tyler, one of my mentors, was chair of my doctoral committee at the University of Chicago. At that time, he was dean of the arts and sciences division, chair of the department of education, and university examiner. (By passing a comprehensive batch of tests, overseen by the university examiner, able students could secure the bachelor's degree in less than the usual...

The press badges on two junior high reporters caught the president's eye at the steps of Air Force One. "Oh, I see you're starting early," Richard Nixon told the students as he stepped forward to shake their hands.

The two student reporters, wearing the same press credentials as the half dozen professional reporters also at the aircraft, were the only ones who got to talk with the president. He was in Rockford, Illinois to deliver a campaign speech. It was...