NCRLL PRESENTATION (NCTE): The Education of Children is Out-of-Step With the State of the Planet

NCRLL PRESENTATION (NCTE): The Education of Children is Out-of-Step With the State of the Planet

2019 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL).

Full paper available as a PDF download below.

I wrote this paper in appreciation of receiving the 2019 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL). The paper will be presented on Saturday, November 23rd, 2019 at the NCTE Convention in Baltimore. The NCRLL session is entitled Stories of Possibilities, Generativity, and Humanity: Distinguished Educators Working for Change.

The paper focuses on seven observations that draw upon over 40 years of transdisciplinary research, which includes ethnographic fieldwork with families living in extreme poverty, impacted by opioid addiction, experiencing racism, and gender discrimination. The seven observations also reflect on-the-ground first response efforts in regions of armed conflict and catastrophic weather events.

Added to this foundation, the seven observations are also grounded in 20 years of research in both the social and physical sciences on the great acceleration of human activity that is negatively impacting all human societies and the planet.

Most recently, this research has included longitudinal field research at the U.N., which has resulted in a comparative analysis of the U.N. 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This research includes: 1) ethnographic observation and documentation of the U.N. 2018 and 2019 High-Level Political Forums; 2) participation in events during the 2018 and 2019 U.N. General Assembly; 3) attendance at planning meetings for the HLPF and UNGA; and 4) a sociolinguistic analysis of the extensive documentation pertaining to the SDGs and the HLPF, including email communications, website presentations, official reports and papers, scientific research studies, and media coverage and commentary.

The seven observations presented in the paper for NCRLL provide a rationale for a step-change in public education. We urgently need massive transformations to prepare children for the step-change that has already occurred in the climate and ecosystems of the planet. I hope that the paper contributes to a much larger conversation.

Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL)

Download the 2019 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL) full paper.