In Episode 22: we explore the power of student activism in a K-8 elementary school in Chicago, USA
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN TO MY CONVERSATION WITH – NAKISHA HOBBS
Show Guest – Nakisha Hobbs
Nakisha Hobbs
Nakisha is the Principal and Co-founder of Village Leadership Academy in Chicago, USA.
It’s a school that is founded on the principle of social justice, and student activism plays a key role in the life of the school and the students.
Episode Summary
In this episode – we explore student activism in a K to 8 elementary school.
Here students are critically exploring and unpacking the issues that affect their lives and the people they care about.
But that’s not all – they’re also coming up with Action Plans to make a difference on these issues.
Issues such as street litter, gun violence, homelessness, and police violence towards their communities.
We’ve also got the Lightning Round where we’re pushing the edges of teacher objectivity, standardization, achievement gaps, and being Young, strong and proud.
Episode Run-Down
- How Village Leadership Academy push the edge
- Exploring personal and community identity – from Kinder Grade onward (2:13)
- The importance of transformation in students’ lives (3:03)
- Getting beyond feeling ‘less than’ (3:50) | Understanding ourselves and our worlds
- GLBTI students – The importance of connection (5:14)Getting beyond under-estimating young people – Exploring gender with young people (6:30)
- The difference between the students’ community and other communities – Litter in our streets (7:30)
- Student Activism in education | The role of education (10:20)
- Teachers as allies to students (13:25)
- They don’t know about – They shouldn’t know about (15:24)
- The Information Model and African-American and Latino young people (16:47)
- Dealing with the realities of students’ lives (18:08)
- The practice of education and ignorance – Teaching world history (20:35)
- The benefits of critical literacy for students (22:19)
- From feeling powerless to powerful – A 3rd Grader’s story about homelessness (26:01)
- From being in a social-activist focused class to navigating society (31:05)
- Explicitly talking about Code Switching with students (34:35)
- Exploring police brutality towards transgender African-American women (39:10)
- The Lightning Round – Teacher objectivity – Achievement Gap – Young, Strong and Proud – Standardization – Student Leadership – Adult Allies – Defying The Odds – Pushing The Edge (40:09)
Links for People and Issues Mentioned in this Episode
- Nakisha Hobbs on Twitter
- Village Leadership Academy – Website – On Twitter
- Why every Education Leader in America needs to talk to William Jackson – Kendra Racouillat – Article
- Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Website
Social Justice Organizations
Related Pushing The Edge Podcasts
Listen to the previous episode of Pushing The Edge where I chatted to Silvia Gonzalez who teaches at Village Leadership Academy – Activating Student Voice with Silvia Gonzalez
For more Social Justice & Activism related episodes, listen to:
- Episode 3: Shake up your beliefs and values with Erin Stevenson
- Episode 7: Find your voice and really connect with Jenny Moes
- Episode 13: How to navigate social justice issues in the classroom with Rusul Alrubail
- Episode 15: Shaking up our mindsets about Indigenous Students with Surin McGrory
- Episodes 17 and 18: Making a Difference by Not Playing it Safe with Greg Curran (Part 1 and Part 2)
