Faces of Learning

Inspirational stories of engaging, real-life educational experiences

Everyone has a personal learning story, a time when they became actively engaged in their own education. Maybe it was an especially challenging teacher, or a uniquely supportive environment, or a collaborative classroom. In Faces of Learning, both well-known public figures, such as Arne Duncan and Al Franken, and ordinary Americans recall the moments when they truly learned something.

• Includes stories from people of all different backgrounds and from all over the country
• The stories are grouped into categories by theme like "relevant" and "experiential" to help reveal the common characteristics of what works in education
• Each chapter ends with five things you can do to improve your own learning, that of your students, and of all Americans

Readers can visit the companion website www.facesoflearning.net to share their own stories of educational success and find out what else they can do.

Introduction 1

Chapter One Challenging

1. Jenna Fournel (Alexandria, Virginia) 6

2. Mark Rockeymoore (Montreal, Quebec) 8

3. Jan Resseger (Cleveland, Ohio) 10

4. Gloria Ladson-Billings (Madison, Wisconsin) 12

5. Loretta Goodwin (Washington, D.C.) 14

6. Bruce Deitrick Price (Virginia Beach, Virginia) 16

7. Arne Duncan (Washington, D.C.) 17

8. Angela Valenzuela (Austin, Texas) 19

9. Carl Glickman (Athens, Georgia) 21

10. Andrew Margon (Brooklyn, New York) 23

Challenging: Five Things You Can Do 24

Chapter Two Engaging

11. Renee Moore (Cleveland, Mississippi) 30

12. Amy Estersohn (Chicago, Illinois) 32

13. Maritza Brito (Brick, New Jersey) 34

14. Kevin McCann (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 36

15. Margaret Owens (Palo Alto, California) 38

16. Larry Mya_ (Boston, Massachusetts) 40

17. John Goodlad (Seattle, Washington) 42

18. Sitembiso Ncube Maduma (San Bernardino, California) 44

19. Elijah Cummings (Baltimore, Maryland) 46

20. Jill Vialet (Oakland, California) 48

Engaging: Five Things You Can Do 51

Chapter Three Supportive

21. Al Franken (Washington, D.C.) 56

22. Jenifer Fox (Austin, Texas) 58

23. Michelle Durange (Littlestown, Pennsylvania) 60

24. Zainab Ali (Los Angeles, California) 62

25. Susan Oliver (Waterford, Virginia) 64

26. Gary Cohen (Wayzata, Minnesota) 66

27. Chantale Soekhoe (Brooklyn, New York) 68

28. Emily Gasoi (Washington, D.C.) 70

29. Cassandra Carland (Keene, New Hampshire) 73

30. Carrie A. Rogers (Rancho Cucamonga, California) 75

Supportive: Five Things You Can Do 77

Chapter Four Relevant

31. R. Dwayne Betts (Washington, D.C.) 82

32. Robert McLaughlin (Concord, New Hampshire) 84

33. Deborah Meier (Hillsdale, New York) 86

34. Jamal Fields (Livermore, California) 88

35. Jenerra Williams (Boston, Massachusetts) 90

36. Patrick Ip (Chicago, Illinois) 92

37. Gerlma A. Johnson (Detroit, Michigan) 94

38. Anonymous 96

39. Ahniwake Rose (Washington, D.C.) 97

40. James Comer (New Haven, Connecticut) 98

Relevant: Five Things You Can Do 100

Chapter Five Experiential

41. Joel Ellio (Limpopo Province, South Africa) 106

42. Terry Pickeral (Bellingham, Washington) 109

43. Elizabeth Rogers (South Portland, Maine) 111

44. Steve Moore (Kansas City, Missouri) 112

45. Jill Davidson (Providence, Rhode Island) 115

46. Rachel Barnes (Chatham, Massachusetts) 117

47. Stedman Graham (Chicago, Illinois) 119

48. Stephen Vick (Chicago, Illinois) 121

49. Liz Lerman (Baltimore, Maryland) 123

50. Maya Soetoro-Ng (Honolulu, Hawaii) 125

Experiential: Five Things You Can Do 128

Epilogue George Wood

Ted Sizer (Harvard, Massachusetts) 133

About the Editor 135

About the Campaign 137

Acknowledgments 149

THE EDITOR

SAM CHALTAIN (www.samchaltain.com) is a Washington DC-based writer, educator, and strategic consultant. Sam has also been a classroom teacher; the national director of the Forum for Education and Democracy, an education advocacy organization devoted to restoring the public purpose of public education; and the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, a national program that helps K-12 principals create more democratic learning communities. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community. Everyone has a personal learning story–a time when they were challenged beyond their usual limits, when they actively engaged in the search for meaning, or when they first discovered the power and uniqueness of their own voices.

In Faces of Learning, fifty individuals–from well-known public figures to ordinary Americans–share inspirational stories about transformational teachers, powerful learning environments, and pivotal moments of self-discovery. Taken together, these authors' stories uncover a common understanding of what it feels like and what it requires to discover one's purpose, passion, and capacity for greatness. Edited by Sam Chaltain, this important book is designed to engage us all in a thoughtful consideration of what powerful learning, highly effective teaching, and equitable school systems must look like – and what they can provide for children as a result.

Faces of Learning is divided into five sections–challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential–each of which illuminates a core condition of the optimal learning environment. From social workers to students to the Secretary of Education himself, the individuals whose stories are gathered here help add to the collective wisdom, and help us get closer to answering the only question that really matters: "How can we best support educators in their work to create schools that are more challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential?"

To learn more, to get involved, and to share your own story, visit www.facesoflearning.net.

FACES OF LEARNING

EVERYONE HAS A PERSONAL LEARNING story—a time when they were challenged beyond their usual limits, when they actively engaged in the search for meaning, or when they first discovered the power and uniqueness of their own voices.

In Faces of Learning, fifty individuals—from well-known public figures to ordinary Americans—share inspirational stories about transformational teachers, powerful learning environments, and pivotal moments of self-discovery. Taken together, these authors' stories uncover a common understanding of what it feels like and what it requires to discover one's purpose, passion, and capacity for greatness. Edited by Sam Chaltain, this important book is designed to engage us all in a thoughtful consideration of what powerful learning, highly effective teaching, and equitable school systems must look like—and what they can provide for children as a result.

Faces of Learning is divided into five sections—challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential—each of which illuminates a core condition of the optimal learning environment. From social workers to students to the Secretary of Education himself, the individuals whose stories are gathered here help add to the collective wisdom, and help us get closer to answering the only question that really matters: "How can we best support educators in their work to create schools that are more challenging, engaging, supportive, relevant, and experiential?"

To learn more, to get involved, and to share your own story, visit www.facesoflearning.net.