52.051 - Community-Based Educational Activists and Teacher Educators Unite! Chicago as a Site of Change

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Chicago has been a site of significant organizing by students, parents, teachers and university professors on various hot-button issues, including the closing of community schools, the narrowing of the curriculum, and school safety. This session opens with a panel of Chicago educational activists describing the past, current, and future landscape for Chicago public schools. Next, audience members will be invited to tables around the room where groups of activists elaborate upon their work, including defending community schools, refusing high-stakes testing, working on school rejuvenation, and running for City Council. The session will end with participants and audience members sharing ideas for parent, teacher, and professor collaborations in their home locations.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education

Chairs

• Celia J. Oyler, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Julie Gorlewski, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Jessica Shiller, Towson University

Participants

• Jackson Potter, Chicago Teachers Union

• Michelle Gunderson, Chicago Teachers Union

• David O. Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Isabel Nunez, Concordia University - Chicago

• Jitu Brown, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization

• Eric Rico Gutstein, University of Illinois at Chicago