Deborah Meier Quotes

Some people thought that if you put pressure on kids, parents, and teachers and schools, the pressure alone would produce results. It appealed to people who think the quick fix for education is to threaten people. It's not a left-right division.

The only thing they [government] want is better data. But data doesn't tell people someone is well educated. It's a vicious circle. There is some myth involved. Some of this attitude has a long history.

We are all carriers of our own stories. We have never trusted our own voices. Reforms came, but we don't make them. They were presented by people removed from schools, by 'experts'. Such changes bi passes school. School by school changes, however slow, could make a powerful difference.

There's no way to guarantee that any particular system will work, will work forever, or will not need endless revising. But until we get over the idea that there is a one-size-fits-all solution to schools, above all for schools that are trustworthy enough to do the job well, we won't allow ourselves to do the difficult long-term work of redesigning the system, not just the schools.

Only secretly rebellious teachers have ever done right by our least advantaged kids.

If you ask me, taking on risk and being more daring is a real important part of creativity.

It's the curiosity that drives me. It's making a difference in the world that prevents me from ever giving up.

A passion for learning ... isn't something you have to inspire with; it's something you have to keep from extinguishing.

Good schools, like good societies and good families, celebrate and cherish diversity.

Teaching is mostly listening, and learning is mostly telling.

If you define yourself as someone fixing education, there's nothing short-range you can do to fix education directly. It's labor intensive. You have to change the way people act. You have to convince people, and change people.

The art of good teaching begins when we can answer the questions our students are really trying to ask us, if only they knew how to do so.