Joshua Block

Humanities Teacher at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Passionately believes that education is a tool to help people understand and transform their individual and collective realities.

Schools Must Use More Than Just Tests

This is a commentary I wrote that was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer in March, 2005: The March 6th front-page article “Teachers Feel Heat of Accountability” was both misleading and a missed opportunity to report on many of the true issues currently facing teachers and schools. The article is written as if it is a […]Read Post ›

Drama in the Classroom (not that kind…)

This is an excerpt from a chapter about using drama in the classroom that I was asked to write years ago: During the time that I have used drama projects in both English and Social Studies classrooms I have found that what it provides students is a way to explore course content while making a […]Read Post ›

School Culture in a First Year School

While I was in Graduate School I was involved with a brand new charter school. The experience was very eye opening for me. Below is part of a paper I wrote about the school culture and the connection between school culture and pedagogy: Feelings of teacher alienation and frustration are significant to this paper in […]Read Post ›

Writing Autobiography

This is the beginning section of the Writing Autobiography that I wrote in Graduate School. It’s amazing to think about how different my early educational experiences were from the early experiences of many of my students… When I was young writing was natural. It made me feel good. Words flowed. New ideas were constantly being […]Read Post ›

My foundations

This essay from Graduate School is fascinating for me to read again. My teaching has evolved so much yet I am still so rooted in the ideas that preoccupied me as a beginning teacher. Below is a section that reflects on my path towards teaching: The point of departure for my teaching career is more […]Read Post ›