Mary's+Reflection

__Mary Palmer's Reflection__

This era coincides with my entire teaching career. I began teaching in 1980, just as the field of education was taking a turn away from everything I learned at Emory, and all the reasons I entered the field. //A Nation at Risk// came out, the huge gap between the rich and the poor began to grow, our President modeled hostility towards "welfare queens", the poor, and the homeless. The War on Poverty turned into a war against the poor, and a meaner, more judgmental, more punitive tone took over the media and the justice system.

Yet all during this time there were voices in education who stood fast against the rising tide of uniformity. Kozol, Gutman, Goodlad, Gardner, Giroux, Irvine,and others continued to write critically and constructively about the state of education. There were curricular and instructional trends, like the multiage concept, reading and writing workshops, student-centered instruction, and a renewed interest in constructivism, that inspired teachers to continue to view themselves as educators of children and not just robotic purveyors of the unreasonable demands of increasingly remote decision-makers.

Even though the assignment is finished, this wiki is definitely a work-in-progress. As much as I learned from what is on the page now, there are so many avenues I did not get to explore, and so many that bear deeper exploration. The interactive timeline is technologically basic, but full of information. To make it more visually appealing and easier to navigate would be exciting.

I personally do not want to get overwhelmed with the next semester's work and leave this alone. I agree with Jennifer--I want to see it keep growing as we keep growing throughout our time together on this program.