The Secret Lives of Teachers

Episode 3: According to Frank McCourt (Teacher Man), teachers are always wearing a "mask," a professional persona in the classroom. And sure, teaching is always, to some extent, a performance, but when can -- or should  -- teachers be "themselves" in the classroom? How do teachers' lives outside of school affect their roles with students and with fellow teachers? In this episode, we'll consider the tension between the public and the private lives of teachers. We'll hear from Jim Cullen, the author of The Secret Lives of Teachers (University of Chicago Press) and comedian Cate Freedman, whose TV show Teachers finds comedy in the intersection between the personal and professional lives of teachers.  

Politics in the Classroom

Episode 2: Should politics be present in the classroom? "Everything in the classroom is already political," according to our first guest, Bill Ayers, a longtime education professor and activist. We'll also hear from Jashen Edwards, a music educator currently working in Chicago-area schools. Edwards tried to teach the hymn and civil rights anthem, Amazing Grace, with a classroom of young students only to be told it was "too political."