Greetings from PEN

Education must amplify students’ voice, agency, conscience, and intellect to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world

Greetings, PEN community!

I think back to a moment etched in my memory from December 2020 that captured the essence of what it meant to be teaching through a pandemic. I was on a Zoom call with my 8th grade English students, wary of the wobbly Wi-Fi that was chipping away at my already shaky levels of confidence; around the corner from my cozy little office that was doubling as my classroom was my high school freshman daughter, on her own Zoom class, making the best of a situation that she was relegated to endure; while upstairs was my other freshman daughter, experiencing college from her bedroom after her university’s dormitories were abruptly closed for the remainder of the academic year. We were all doing school in ways that weren’t how things were supposed to be. And I’m sure each of you has similar stories, similar memories, of teaching in the time of COVID.

Now, after we returned to what we do best, after weathering Omicron and staff shortages and students learning how to be together again, we continue to face an uncertain future. Where safety has become politically charged, where the teaching of honest truth is met by some with fear and disinformation.

When the call for submissions went out in the Spring issue of the newsletter, we asked you to reflect on the experience of teaching and learning Progressively during the COVID pandemic, with an emphasis on connecting your stories to the PEN Principles of Progressive Education. Our hope was that by drawing upon the experiences and learning gained, we could share in our collective struggles and unexpected joys. And you responded. We are pleased to share with you a recollection of one’s coming to understand the meaning of progressive education as a student teacher; musings on what it means to care in the age of COVID; an essay on rethinking the purposes of homework; a look back from a veteran teacher on the importance of experiential learning; and finally, a thoughtful consideration of how our students can be challenged to contemplate American Democracy.

We hope these reflections by our generous colleagues will encourage you and spur you forward as educators in this continued pandemic landscape. For me, so much has changed, yet so much feels familiarly unknown. My daughters and I completed the year on our respective campuses, still vigilant and aware with COVID on our minds, but with hopeful anticipation for richer experiences. We hope the same for you all wherever this finds you.

— Onward, in solidarity, David Fuder on behalf of the PEN Board