Adrienne Barberg

I am Adrienne Barberg, an elementary school teacher living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For the past 5 years, I have taught in Madison, Wisconsin at a variety of schools, including public, private, and research institutions. Throughout my time in the classroom, I experienced varying levels of curricular freedom and professional agency. Nonetheless, in each environment, I sought to teach through a lens of equity, provide my students with opportunities to exhibit voice and choice, cultivate brave spaces for students to explore hard history, support students' social-emotional growth, and nurture a sense of curiosity. While I found that doing so was easiest in spaces where I had more curricular freedom, I learned that it was also possible to take advantage of moments of professional discretion to support these aims even when I was expected to adhere to a given curriculum.

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As a scholar-practitioner, I aim to support other educators to expand upon existing curricula and practices to address issues like teaching to the test, rote curricula, content bans, marginalization of untested subjects, and the siloing of disciplines. I want to do this by examining what individual teachers can do, as I see this as the most practical way to address the problem while we advocate to address the issues on a more systemic level. My aim is to show that teachers are not powerless in the face of de-professionalization, political polarization, and curricular rigidity. Systemic change is necessary, but the cogs of bureaucracy turn slowly. Fortunately, teachers have the opportunity to effect change in big and small ways every day. That is worth a great deal and it is something that can start whenever a teacher chooses. I hope that the resources on this website can assist teachers looking to make that choice.