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Featured Event
Democracy is under siege at home and abroad—but history shows that authoritarianism can be stopped, and democracy can be rebuilt through courageous, strategic movements and the actions of everyday people. Thus the Albert Shanker Institute, in partnership with the AFT, launched a series of webinars featuring experts and strategists of resistance and people-powered movements from around the world, exploring how we turn the tide through education, organized labor, and strategic coalition-building.
Featured Past Event
Hungarian Democracy Defenders: A Report of the AFT/ASI Solidarity Mission to Hungary
In the wake of the Hungarian Election in which the electorate stood against and voted out the authoritarian regime of Viktor Orban, a distinguished delegation of AFT and ASI officers traveled to Hungary to listen and learn first hand about Hungary's political and social transition. This webinar features members of this delegation discussing how the mission informed the work we are currently undertaking to consolidate our own democracy.
Featured Past Event
Defending Democracy: South Africa: The Legacy of Youth Activism in the Fight for Global Democracy
In this the fourth in the series of the AFT/ASI Defending Democracy webinar series we heard from South Africa and U.S. youth who are mobilizing youth movements today while recalling the legacy of those who led 50 years ago. AFT and ASI President Randi Weingarten and Dr. Mugwena Maluleke, General Secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union led off the discussion with their reflections on the historic anti-apartheid movement and what it teachers today in our FIGHT FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL.
Featured Past Event
Defending Democracy: The Hungarian Elections and the Future of Hungarian Democracy
From educators and students to journalists and civil society leaders, activists in Hungary have found the courage to stand up to autocracy and sustain a reform movement. Where democracy is under pressure, the fight to defend it requires understanding how movements are built, how they endure, and what lessons can carry across borders. Watch this post-electoral analysis with three highly regarded political analysts who were on the ground during the election cycle, as part of the third in a series of webinars on Defending Democrats.
Featured Past Event
Defending Democracy: The Role of South Korean Labor Unions
This webinar, part of the Albert Shanker Institute’s Defending Democracy series, and in partnership with APALA and AFT’s AAPI Task Force, focused on the role of labor unions in mobilizing protests in response to the South Korean president's martial law declaration; the call for the resignation of the president and the move to elect a new government.
Featured Past Event
Defending Democracy: Latin American Resistance to Authoritarianism
This is the third in a series of ASI’s virtual dialogue sessions on Defending Democracy. In this session, Latin American Resistance to Authoritarianism, leaders experienced with hands-on organizing and mobilizing from education unions in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Honduras, were questioned by AFT leaders on the tactics and political muscle that sustain the scale of the democracy movement throughout the continent.
Featured Past Event
Democracy is under siege at home and abroad. In this webinar, AFT and ASI President Randi Weingarten moderated a discussion with experts and strategists of resistance and people-powered movements, exploring how we turn the tide through education, organized labor, and strategic coalition-building.
Featured Past Event
Antisemitism, Democracy, and the Assault on Knowledge & Education
AFT and Albert Shanker Institute President Randi Weingarten and Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick discussed how to confront antisemitism and broader hate, protect our democracy, and fight back against this assault on knowledge and education. This conversation was moderated by Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and a Shanker Institute board member.
Past Events
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Jul292024
Past Event
International Conversations on Democracy and Education
From July 29-August 2, 2024 the Albert Shanker Institute had the opportunity to offer Shanker Conversations as part of the Education International World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This followed ASI’s inaugural participation in the 2019 World Congress in Bangkok, Thailand.
May292024
Past Event
Defending Our Democracy: The Crucial Role of the AANHPI Vote in the 2024 Election
Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have been active participants in democracy and their stories and contributions are both part of American history and current American life. In celebration of AANHPI month, this panel explored the historical context and current trends of AANHPI democratic participation as well as real solutions to the key issues that resonate with AANHPI voters.
Mar212024
Past Event
PASSION MEETS PURPOSE: Promising Pathways Through Experiential Learning
Apr192023
Past Event
Dec82022
Past Event
AFT in Solidarity with Ukraine
Watch a discussion with AFT President Randi Weingarten who recently traveled to Ukraine; Bilingual Special Education Teacher Alexandra Hernandez, who spent the summer teaching Ukraine students in Poland, and Dr. Irwin Redlener, co-founder of the Ukraine Children's Action Project. Contribute to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund at: https://www.aft.org/aft-disaster-relief-fund. Watch the video.
Nov172022
Past Event
Teaching About Tribal Sovereignty
This session is part of the series: A More United America: Teaching Democratic Principles and Protected Freedoms.
Available for 1.5-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval. Watch on Demand.
Oct272022
Past Event
Constitutional Voting Rights: Teaching the 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments
Oct202022
Past Event
How Book Banning Prevents Literacy for All
Oct132022
Past Event
Teaching the Civil War Amendments: Reconstruction's 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments
This session is part of the series: A More United America: Teaching Democratic Principles and Protected Freedoms.
Available for 1.5-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval. Watch on Demand.
Oct62022
Past Event
This session is part of the series: A More United America: Teaching Democratic Principles and Protected Freedoms.
Available for 1.5-hour of PD credit. A certificate of completion will be available for download at the end of your session that you can submit for your school's or district's approval. Watch on Demand.
Sep292022
Past Event
Constitution 101: How to Teach the U.S. Constitution in K-12
Jun212022
Past Event
A New Presidency in the Philippines, the Continued Fight for Democracy, and Labor’s Work
Watch this special Shanker Conversation exploring the intersection of democracy and the labor movement with an international perspective, featuring Annie Enriquez Geron, Randi Weingarten, Brian Atwood and Jessica Tang.
Apr262022
Past Event
Educating for Democratic Citizenship Conference
The Shanker Institute, the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University and Share My Lesson held a virtual three-day conference on Educating for Democratic Citizenship. Participants will be eligible for professional development recertification credit for these on-demand webinars.
Apr12022
Past Event
Working for the Common Good at the Bargaining Table and Beyond
National Union Presidents Mark Dimondstein, Christopher Shelton and Randi Weingarten discussed their common good victories in the courts, in the legislature and at the bargaining table.
Mar212022
Past Event
Literacy: Systems Matter. An Infrastructure Approach To Reading Achievement
Watch a discussion highlighting the importance of a reading infrastructure to create the conditions for effective, science-based reading instruction.
Mar32022
Past Event
In this Q & A style session, AFT President Randi Weingarten and Steven Brill discussed the misinformation trends NewsGuard’s analysts are encountering in the field, and the tactics educators can employ in their classrooms to counter these trends.
Dec82021
Past Event
Why Voting Rights Matter for People with Disabilities
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and a distinguished group of experts discussed the threat to voting rights and why it is critical to protect them, especially for people with disabilities, and what Congress is considering doing to protect voting rights for all Americans.
May262021
Past Event
RE-UNION: A Book Discussion About Sectoral Bargaining
Book discussion on sectoral bargaining with David Madland, Larry Cohen, Lynn Rhinehart and César F. Rosado Marzán.
May202021
Past Event
Breaking Barriers: A Conversation with Stan Litow and Randi Weingarten
Conversation with Stan Litow, author of Breaking Barriers, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
Mar92021
Past Event
"Mutualism" Book Discussion with Sara Horowitz and Randi Weingarten
Discussion of "Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground UP" with author Sara Horowitz and Randi Weingarten
Feb32021
Past Event
A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door Book Discussion
A virtual conversation with Jack Schneider and Jennifer Berkshire, authors of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, and discussant Andy Smarick.
Jan252021
Past Event
Strike for Common Good Book Discussion
Strike for the Common Good Book Discussion with editor Rebecca Givans and Joe McCartin, Georgetown University. Monday, January 25, 2021, 5:00 pm ET.
Dec92020
Past Event
The Teacher Insurgency: A Conversation with Leo Casey and Randi Weingarten
In The Teacher Insurgency, Leo Casey addresses how the unexpected wave of recent teacher strikes has had a dramatic impact on American public education, teacher unions, and the larger labor movement.
Oct152020
Past Event
Where Teachers Thrive: Organizing Schools for Success - Lessons for Educators in a Covid-19 World
Dr. Susan Moore Johnson discussed her new book Where Teachers Thrive and its lessons for educators in a Covid-19 world.
Featured Past Event
Defending Democracy: Latin American Resistance to Authoritarianism
This is the third in a series of ASI’s virtual dialogue sessions on Defending Democracy. In this session, Latin American Resistance to Authoritarianism, leaders experienced with hands-on organizing and mobilizing from education unions in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Honduras, were questioned by AFT leaders on the tactics and political muscle that sustain the scale of the democracy movement throughout the continent.