Post by Teachers in Their Power

(7/8) “But not every student is given the same space to make mistakes. Too often, students who are labeled early are pushed out of classrooms instead of pulled deeper into them—removed, suspended, excluded. Over time, those patterns extend beyond school; they begin to shape life trajectories. Consequences have their place, especially for safety and a strong learning environment. But it’s important that philosophy drives practice. And if we want to live in a less punitive world, we need less punitive practices. We talk about the school-to-prison pipeline like it’s abstract. But it isn’t. It’s built through everyday decisions. In who gets a second chance, and who doesn’t. Who has the opportunity to resolve conflict, and who is left to carry it. And while those moments happen in classrooms, they don’t start or end there. They’re shaped by larger systems—by policy, by resources, by the communities schools are a part of. Making mistakes is part of learning. It always has been. While some students are given the chance to learn from them, others are left to live from them, carrying those moments forward as identity, as record, as limitation. That’s something I think about often as a teacher. Not just how I respond to behavior, but what I’m reinforcing in those moments. Whether I’m contributing to a pattern, or helping interrupt one. Maybe it’s shaped by my own experiences, but it continues to guide how I see education and its role in building a more just, more human world.” –Elizabeth Wallin Teacher at Paramount Cottage Home Indianapolis Teaching Fellows, 2023 Cohort Indianapolis, IN #teachersintheirpower #teaching #education #equity teachersintheirpower.com