The Goodlad Occasional Papers: A Call to Action, revised
John Goodlad had a long history of prodding, cajoling, and even demanding us to think and to act; to come together with others and take back the agenda of public schooling. John was impatient with the lack of action in our communities concerning the current direction of public schooling. He developed a series of Occasional Papers cajoling us to organize, enlist others, form “Renaissance Cafés,” and to take back the schooling agenda. He hoped educators, parents, and other community leaders would join together to put a stop to the “federalizing” of the school agenda, to push “the market” out of controlling schools, and to return schools to their rightful owners: The communities in which they reside.
John would have liked you to read these papers, share them with friends, hold focus groups, use them in classes, organize a Renaissance café: in short, to take action and become engaged.
Gene Edgar, Chair
Board of Directors
Institute for Educational Inquiry