Friends
Council on Education Statement - August 15, 2017
Quaker education
is directly opposed to the violent expressions of hatred, racism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Quaker schools are committed to teaching students habits of heart and mind that
insist upon a disposition of openness and respect for every member of our
community regardless of race, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation,
place of national origin, gender identity or gender expression.
In
time of uncertainty, and deep distrust, Quaker school communities turn to the
Quaker values of peace, integrity, equality and community, as well as the
longtime practices of peaceful conflict resolution and nonviolence, as touch
points for navigating these turbulent waters.
William Penn founded the first Quaker school in 1689, one hundred years prior to the formal addition of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution. Penn directed that the school educate students from all walks of life, genders, religions, and ethnicities to prepare them to be moral leaders within the Commonwealth no matter what profession or trade that they might someday pursue.
Penn’s school created a program of study through which these young people might together imagine a more ideal society. Today all Quaker schools strive to serve this critical public purpose just a Penn imagined it in the earliest days of what would become the United States.
Each of the 78 Quaker schools across the United States is founded on core Quaker values and practices. These principles strive to address issues of societal injustice. Friends schools seek to create inclusive and diverse communities and to live into the Quaker values of peace, equity, and social justice.
It is our sincere hope that as children everywhere return to school that they may come together, in the spirit of respect for all, to find a way to listen deeply to one another, to value the gifts that all students bring with them to school everyday, that they might, together, imagine an ideal society.
Friends Council is offering the following programs for educators:
·
September 28, 2017: UnColumbus Day – Rethinking our
teaching about myths in U.S. History.
·
October 3, 2017: Teaching for Uncertainty – a ZOOM gathering for
educators to talk with each other about methods and strategies for addressing
issues of social justice, current events, and how to put Quaker values into
action.
·
Starting October 11, 2017: SEED Seminar (Seeking
Educational Equity and Diversity) – a series of workshops offering opportunities
for real and challenging conversations about identity factors, including race,
gender, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual identity, ability, age.
·
October 20, 2017: Sanctuary/Immigration – the topic for our
service-learning peer network, will feature Liliana Velasguez, a young woman who
fled her native Guatemala in pursuit of sanctuary in the U.S. How can Friends
school communities support those who come to the U.S. in search of freedom and
safety?
Friends Council offers the following resources for educators:
·
Building a Climate of Civility and Respect. Fall 2016 Chronicles
of Quaker Education
·
Living into the Equality Testimony. Spring 2017 Chronicles of
Quaker Education
·
Embracing the Tension: Moral Growth in Friends High Schools
·
Schooled in Diversity: Readings on Racial Diversity in
Friends Schools
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