100 Days of Conversations About School

The Process

Advocacy + Art

Taking action by sharing stories and findings, propelling our partners to make a difference.

Design

Connecting with youth partnerships to make a plan for change through conversations.

Analysis

Engaging with partners in qualitative and quantitative analysis of collected conversations.

Catalyze

Collecting and transcribing conversations over 100 days across various communities.

What are the perceived meanings of a "good life"?

While our focus was on learning how to evolve school post-pandemic, in our 100 Days conversations the first question was not, “how would you change school?” Rather, we ask participants first to root in their own values, dreams, and beliefs by asking them to consider what makes a good life for them, and what makes the kind of thriving community they would want to inhabit.

What does equity in education mean?

Equity is on many people’s minds these days, particularly after the murder of George Floyd and millions more people joined the movement for more action to be taken in service of equity and justice in our justice, civic, and schooling systems (among others). In 100 Days, students, parents, and educators discussed what equity in education looked like to them.

What makes a thriving community?

Our schools are our primary public socializing institution. Yet, the collective purpose of school in creating thriving democratic communities has nearly been lost in today’s conversations. We at 100 Days of Conversations believe it’s important to bring back the conversation about how school creates the “we” - at a local level as well as nationally and even globally. How we do school shapes how we think about who belongs, who counts, how we work together, and even what we want to achieve.

What did COVID help us realize is actually most important about school?

While the current public narrative is largely about “learning loss”, this was not what was on the minds of 100 Days participants. The things they realized were most important included: social connections of all kinds; the ability to create engaging, differentiated classroom practices; and simply the physical infrastructure and the different kinds of supports available when school was in person.