A 2012 discussion of teaching among faculty and graduate students at UMASS-Amherst led to the manifesto that follows. Enjoy the text below – then decide how you will further commit to and spread opportunity for education that supports ecological sustainability, social justice, and a diverse democracy. And Happy New Year!

Teaching Matters—A Manifesto

pdf version

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We are members of the UMass Amherst community committed to fighting for the soul of the public university, preserving a space that practices and promotes the education that a free people need to govern themselves. We are committed to education that engages us in understanding the world and acting purposefully and effectively within it. We promote a process of teaching and learning that leads to

1)    Living with compassion, empathy, and integrity that acknowledge our shared humanity,

2)    Inquiry, curiosity, and creativity,

3)    Becoming active learners and co-creators of our own education,

4)    Challenging and disrupting assumptions and asking new questions of ourselves, others, and the institutions of which we are a part,

5)    Reflecting on experiences, exploring values, and acting on our idealism,

6)    Knowledge, skills, and vision necessary to work for social justice in an ecologically sustainable society, &

7)    Knowledge, skills, and vision necessary to work towards a more equitable distribution of power in a diverse democracy.

Join the conversation.

Manifesto Signatories

Join us by doing any of the following:

• Read this website and steal this manifesto
• Meet with us in person in monthly conversations and workshops
• Post the statement of principles on your office door, bulletin board, cubicle
• Sign the statement of principles (we’ll post the names)
• Put the principles in your syllabi and claim them to your students
• Link your website to this one
• Add to the online forum (coming soon)
• Share this information with others