Linda Oehler-Marx, PhD

Axiom: The lower the status of the student population, the more traditional and teacher-centered the education they're likely to receive Corollary: When this proves counterproductive, it will be assumed the problem is with the kids...prompting adults to double down on the control

Engaging student voice is not just being willing to hear what students have to say. It's about reimagining and transforming education in response to what students have to say. If all we're doing is hearing what they have to say, we're manipulating, not engaging.

@KMBressler Congratulations!

Official First Day as #SullivanWest’s Superintendent! I’m so excited for this journey to begin! Let’s go Bulldogs!

It's challenging but essential for parents and teachers to celebrate kids who have the gumption to question what they're told, and, indeed, to actively support them in becoming reflective rebels. Alas, too many adults seem to prefer the child of least resistance.

What might we be if only we tried. What might we become if only we’d listen.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” 💜

I don’t have to diminish you in order to shine. And I don’t have to render you powerless in order to be powerful.

Being “colorblind” is not the solution to racism. Nor does it get us to true peace, which, as my father said, “is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” See people fully. Love people deeply.

“These jobs are 24/7…to get to a place where they are sustainable…focusing on health & wellness—as much as overall compensation—is going to continue to be a trend.” ⁦Thanks for being such a champion for female superintendents, @juliarafalbaer⁩. edweek.org/leadership/why…

The more that students must "work at storing the deposits [of knowledge] entrusted to them" - e.g., by studying for tests - "the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world" -Paolo Freire

"Learning should be seen as a qualitative change in a person's way of seeing, experiencing, understanding, conceptualizing something in the real world - rather than as a quantitative change in the amount of knowledge someone possesses" -Paul Ramsden

The purpose of pedagogy is to elevate student VOICE while cultivating critical consciousness and confidence. It should NOT be to slow drip endless facts, condition students to compliance, diminish their ways of being & learning, &/or engage in spirit murdering (@BLoveSoulPower).

Be kind to people. You never know what they are carrying. That’s all. That’s the tweet.

When I was a high school English teacher, I was constantly blown away by how willing and how eager my students were to grapple with the difficult topics and questions that arose from books we read. Young people are capable of far more than many adults often give them credit for.

1/ Maus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors. On the eve of International #HolocaustRemembranceDay, it is more important than ever for students to learn this history.

“…More devoted to order than to justice.”

Your annual reminder that Dr. King believed in guaranteed universal basic income that gave all people a dignified life, guaranteed housing for all, guaranteed access to a high quality education, & said that “no one should be forced to live in poverty while others live in luxury.”

Every principal, school leader, and district office staff person I know feels like they are in the wild wild west dealing with COVID, too.