All Of The Above Podcast

Increasingly, educators are pointing to the need to decolonize the classroom and the school system in order to truly meet the needs of Indigenous, Black, and other marginalized students. Although there is a clear need to rethink how we educate our students, there isn’t always much clarity about what it actually means to decolonize education or what that looks like. To help us explore this issue we’re joined by Carolyn Roberts, a super-dope Indigenous academic working in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. Carolyn’s work is grounded in educating about Indigenous people and the decolonization of the education system. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including new data about racial disparities in career technical education and a new plan in California to get all third graders reading by 2026. → Get your Teach the Truth T-Shirt here! → View this episode on YouTube! AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 6:45 - Racial gaps in CTE enrollment 22:10

This Week: the tiny hamlet of Central York, PA is making news this week as community activists were able to successfully pressure the school board to rescind their temporary ban on just about every book, essay, film, and website that ever said anything about racism, or people of color, or women, or LGBTQ+ people, or really just anything that the rabid “anti CRT'' crowd of fanatics has been led to believe they should fear. If it weren’t so dangerous, it’d be comical. The banned books list included 3 former #AOTAshow guests (go us, I guess?), along with a Sesame Street town hall, a book about boys wearing pink, a book about Black people liking their hair, and young adult biographies of the likes of Rosa Parks, MLK Jr, and Sonia Sotomayor.  Oh, and they also banned the entire collected works of Jane Elliot, and Learning For Justice.  So, it’s a hot mess. Manuel and Jeff get into it and talk about why this case is completely bonkers, and also so important for us to pay attention to. Get your All of the

Conversations around equity in education too often leave out the voices and experiences of Arab and Muslim students whose identities don’t always fit into the rigid social constructs of race in America. This week we’re joined by educator and scholar extraordinaire Dr. Sawsan Jaber to learn about how educators should understand the identities of the Muslim and Arab students they serve, and how these identities may impact the schooling experiences of these students. In the face of rampant Islamophobia and an aversion towards teaching about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, how might educators address these topics responsibly and advocate for their Arab and Muslim students? But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including a new media literacy graduation requirement in Illinois and an attempt to put school choice on the ballot in California. → View this episode on YouTube! → Get your Teach the Truth T-Shirt here! AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 8:00 - Media Lit becomes grad requirement

This Week: Huge, earth shattering news this week out of the nation’s second largest school district. Los Angeles Unified becomes the first major district in the country to issue a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students, which will effectively require all students 12 and over to be fully vaccinated by the end of the fall semester, in order to attend in-person school. LAUSD already has among the nation’s most robust COVID testing, contact tracing and prevention programs, and is requiring all district staff to be fully vaccinated by mid October. The lawsuits will be coming, for sure, and the news breaks just days before the CA gubernatorial recall election where republicans are running black Ron Desantis, who promises to spread COVID far and wide, in the name of freedom. Manuel and Jeff discuss their takes, and offer some timely reflections on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 as well. Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in

The concept of culturally sustaining pedagogies is resonating with a growing number of educators, but what does it look like in practice? And with so much vitriol being directed at educators who #TeachTruth and lean into curriculum that challenges racism, how does one embrace culturally sustaining practices in the face of the racist backlash? Lorena Germán, who is an educator extraordinaire, a co-founder of #DisruptTexts, and the author of the new book Textured Teaching, joins the show to help us explore these issues.  But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including vaccine mandates for students and a move towards abolishing the middle school model! Wait, what? → Get your Teach the Truth T-Shirt here! → View this episode on YouTube! AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 8:35 - School District Issues Vaccine Mandate 20:45 - Abolish Middle School? 36:13 - Textured Teaching w/ Lorena Germán 1:07:07 - #BlackGirlMagic and #TeachTruth FTW!! DO-NOW STORIES: Culver City Unified mandates Covi

This Week: In solidarity with the Zinn Education Project and educators across the nation who are pledging to teach the truthful history our students deserve to know, and resist the white nationalist push to enshrine white supremacist mythology in the curriculum, Manuel and Jeff share historical sites that highlight the importance of teaching truth in the classroom.  Jeff shares his experience in Fort Snelling State Park in Minneapolis, a site of massacre, imprisonment, and forced displacement of the Dakota people. Manuel shares his experience at UCLA’s Campbell Hall, the site of the murder of Black Panther leaders Bunchy Carter and John Huggins and the FBI’s COINTELPRO efforts to decapitate movements for Black liberation. To support the movement to #TeachTruth and take the pledge, go to the Zinn Ed Project’s website: zinnedproject.org/pledge Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you cover

This Week: The 2021-22 school year is officially in session in many parts of America, and the mass biological experiment has begun. We’ve got governors going full homicidal maniac in states like Texas and Florida with ICUs full, policies banning mask mandates, and threats to withhold salary from superintendents who follow public health science and impose masking requirements. And at the same time we’ve got districts with mask mandates in place, baseline testing requirements in effect, persistent low vax rates among children, and all the kiddos back in crowded halls and lunchrooms. It’s clear we’ve missed school, in so many ways, but given the COVID data, what’s about to happen? Let’s just say Manuel and Jeff have fingers and toes crossed, hoping for the best for all of the kids, educators, and communities we serve. Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-sto

With the sweeping passage of bills aiming to ban truthful teaching of America’s history and legacy of racism, educators across the USA are grappling with the spectre of being fired over something as simple as assigning a children’s book about integration. What’s really at stake when politicians strip away learning standards that uplift MLK and criticize the KKK? To help us understand the present culture wars and the increasingly rowdy scenes at school boards across the country, we’re joined by teacher, author, and activist Jesse Hagopian! Jesse is a high school Ethnic Studies teacher in Seattle, an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, director of the Black Education Matters Student Activist Award, and a campaign organizer for the Zinn Education Project’s “Teach the Black Freedom Struggle.” But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including a new report about the dwindling number of school librarians and new survey data out of California regarding how people feel about their p

This Week: About half of the adult population in the United States is now fully vaccinated, but the curve is again moving in a worrisome direction.  With daily cases and hospitalizations beginning to mirror what we saw this time one year ago - despite the fact that tens of millions of people are vaccinated - are we heading for another wave of the pandemic among the unvaccinated?  And what does this mean for the nation’s 74 million children, all of whom below the age of 12 are unvaccinated? All 50 states and Washington DC are, as of now, planning for a full 5 days of in-person instruction in the fall. Some states like CA, are allowing local officials to mandate masks. In other states, laws have been passed preventing mask mandates in schools. With just a few weeks left until school resumes in much of the country, Manuel and Jeff discuss. Articles and Data Cited in this Episode: NPR - American Academy of Pediatrics Says Everyone Should Wear Masks in School: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1018380783/ev

The schooling experiences of native youth are so often left out of conversations about educational equity despite the fact that indigenous youth are among the most marginalized and underserved groups in our school system. This week we have the great honor of learning from the super-dope Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle about the experiences of native youth and about what needs to be done to better serve this population of students. Dr. Big Eagle is the President of the Indian Education Parent Advisory Committee of Rapid City Area Schools and also serves as the Diversity Outreach & Engagement Director at South Dakota State University College of Nursing, Native American Nursing Education Center. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including teachers unions entering the culture war fray and a renewed look at the doomsday views of so-called learning-loss. Get your Teach the Truth Merch! https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com/ ...and subscribe to our YouTube channel! https:

This Week: It’s summer time, and the livin is easy. Kids are jumpin, and the humidity is high… and questions abound regarding the future of school next fall. Specifically, given the relatively low interest expressed in returning to in-person learning last year among Black and AAPI families, questions are being raised about what it would mean if a significant number of families opt out of traditional school this fall. Two fascinating articles from the Hechinger Report and the Wall Street Journal give fodder for this week’s discussion as Manuel and Jeff get into it. Is there reason to believe families - Black and AAPI families in particular - won’t return in the fall? What could school look like in order to affect families’ decision? Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Articles cited in this week’s episode: Hechinger Report: https:

Being a school leader is hard enough, but doing so in the midst of a pandemic and from the epicenter of a national reckoning around race and police violence makes the work doubly challenging and important. This week we’re joined by Yusuf Abdullah, principal of Patrick Henry High School in North Minneapolis, to discuss his experience leading in the wake of multiple traumas. Henry High School is considered by U.S. News & World Report the number one high school in Minneapolis Public Schools and is right next door to Brooklyn Center, where former student Daunte Wright was slain by an officer this past April. We explore how Principal Abdullah’s school community has managed during this traumatic year and what he has learned about being a school leader. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including two major Supreme Court rulings impacting student speech and college athlete compensation. ***Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel!*** AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 6:13 - Court

This Week: A heartwarming story of youth activism out of West Contra Costa Unified School District has resulted in a name change to a local middle school. Say goodbye Juan Crespi Middle School, and hello Betty Reid Soskin Middle School. Crespi, a Franciscan missionary who helped lay the foundation of California’s oppressive and genocidal mission system, will be replaced by Soskin, a community activist, named in 1995 California Woman of the Year by the state legislature, and currently the nation’s oldest national park ranger. Feels good, don’t it? Manuel and Jeff discuss not only this individual story of light in the darkness of the white supremacist mythology, but the wave of similar work being done across the country, and the urgent need to continue. Get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Passing Period is an AOTA Podcast Extra tha

As educators crawl out of this historically unprecedented, hot mess of a school year, what lasting lessons and changes should they be sure to carry on with them? This week we bring back EIGHT of the dopest educators and past AOTA guests to share their key takeaways from this wild school year. Hear from Julia E. Torres, Dr. Betina Hsieh, Larry Ferlazzo, Geneviève DeBose, Leo Glazé, Kevin Adams, Gerardo Muñoz, and Meghann Seril as they each look back on their experience in the year of pandemic pedagogy. Plus, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in the world of education! Get your “Teach the Truth” Shirts here!! Oh, and please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel! TODAY'S AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 5:48 - The Do-Now 7:50 - Takeaways from the 2020-2021 School Year 56:01 - Valedictorian speaks up in surprise speech Previous AOTA Appearances from our guests: Julia E. Torres - https://youtu.be/XA95BArRqZA Dr. Betina Hsieh - https://youtu.be/lYfcMsAcP8Y Larry Ferlazzo - https://youtu.be/ki5Gteo0

This Week: 21 states across the country have introduced legislation or enacted into law measures that restrict the teaching of truth about America’s history of racism, colonialism, and white supremacy. And meanwhile, videos of white fragility tears flowing at school board meetings with baseless claims of the teaching of “critical race theory” as the new boogeyman are flooding social media. How should we organize to oppose the banning of truthful teaching of America’s history? In the midst of inaccurate descriptions of what critical race theory is, how do we fight back against this dangerous onslaught of white supremacit propaganda? Also, there’s new #AOTAshow merch available on our website!  Get your hoodies, Ts, and more.  In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Passing Period is an AOTA Podcast Extra that gives us a chance to check-in, reflect, and discuss powerful stories in between our full epi

Bilingual dopeness in the building! After years of attacks and bans on bilingual education, so-called “dual language immersion” programs have become a hot ticket. How can we ensure that language minoritized children get access to quality bilingual education, and what should such education look like? This week we’re joined by Dr. Carla España and Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera, co-founders of the En Comunidad Collective and co-authors of “En Comunidad: Lessons for Centering the Voices and Experiences of Bilingual Latinx Students.” They help us explore the past, present, and future of bilingual education. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including the debate about whether districts should offer virtual schooling as an option this fall and renewed concerns over corporal punishment after a ridonculous video emerges showing a principal hitting a young student. ***Please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel! https://youtube.com/AllOfTheAbove *** AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 6:39

This Week: The white-lash is in full swing across America with states attempting--and some passing--bills to restrict the teaching of truth and the moral righteousness of racial justice. In the face of these trumped up claims against the 1619 Project and “Critical Race Theory,” wouldn’t you know it’s the white nationalists who are infiltrating schools and clandestinely working to pass on their hateful ideology under cover. A shocking story out of Boston of an elementary teacher who spends his time writing for various white supremacist and fascist publications under a pseudonym is just the latest revelation on this front. From law enforcement, to the military, to schools, white nationalists are forcing an important, but tricky conversation - how should we root out white supremacists from the ranks of educators? And how can we do so without creating a monster we can’t control? Also, there’s new #AOTAshow merch available on our website!  Get your hoodies, Ts, and more.  In this moment of relentless att

What role does racial literacy play in helping educators develop the capacity to respond to the  inequities that plague our educational system? And how should educators, school systems, and policymakers respond to the recent partisan backlash over racial justice efforts? To help us explore these questions, we’re joined by the phenomenally-dope Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz!! Dr. Sealey-Ruiz is an award-winning Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University whose research focuses on racial literacy in teacher education, Black girl literacies, and Black and Latinx male high school students. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including a new law that blocks district diversity plans and a new task force in South Dakota focused on boosting educational outcomes for Indigenous students. ***Please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel!*** AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 5:59 - Iowa law blocks desegregation plans 18:55 - Indigenous Ed Task Force in SD 33:10 - Racial lite

This Week: The pandemic hit the SAT and ACT with a hook to the temple, and now with a massive legal settlement in a case brought by California students, community groups and Compton Unified School District, the nation’s unofficial college entrance standardized tests are on the ropes. But does this mean they’re down for the count?  The settlement commits the University of California system - home to 6 of the nation’s top 11 public universities - to not using SAT or ACT in admissions or scholarship decisions until at least the spring of 2025.  What will the ripple effect be across higher ed? What, if anything, will replace SAT and ACT as admission criteria to these highly selective institutions? Is this the start of a new, more racially and economically just era of college admissions? Also, there’s new #AOTAshow merch available on our website!  Get your hoodies, Ts, and more.  In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-abov

One thing that teachers and athletes certainly have in common is the tired notion that they’re each supposed to be “apolitical” and avoid speaking out against injustice. Welp, we’re certainly not going to “shut up and dribble” today! This week we combine forces with writer, editor, sports journalist, and “Edge of Sports” host Dave Zirin to explore the intersections of sports, education, politics, and social justice! From Title IX to student-athlete free speech, municipal budgets, and fair compensation for college athletes, we discuss the work of advancing justice for our students in the classroom and on the field. But first, Jeff and Manuel take a look at recent headlines in education including (another) teacher under fire for assigning racist far-right nonsense and a district chief facing time in prison for his alleged inaction leading up to the mass shooting in Parkland. ***Please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel! https://youtube.com/AllOfTheAbove *** AGENDA 0:00 - Welcome! 5:06 - Teacher assign