Curtis Lewis believes Michigan’s education system can change to better serve students, but it might take thinking outside the box and a little bit of experimentation.
Lewis, 47, an assistant professor of teacher education at Michigan State University, has spent decades inside the education system. He got his start as a teacher in Lansing, where he taught elementary, middle and alternative education. He taught incarcerated teens at the Ingham County Detention Center. He was asked to run a program for students who were expelled from their district so they could still earn credits and graduate on time when their expulsion was over.
Those experiences, along with his own time as a student in Chicago, taught him just how “screwed up” parts of the education system were, he said.
“I realized I needed to spend some time away from teaching and just figure out what we’re doing and what role did I play in trying to make things better,” Lewis said.
Lewis returned to Michigan State, where he originally earned his undergraduate degree, to pursue his Ph.D. He spent time teaching and eventually taking on leadership roles within the University Prep Schools, a network of charter schools in Detroit. He made his way up to the central office and worked as the chief academic officer.
But Lewis felt he could have a stronger impact on the success of students and teachers, especially those who were underrepresented in education. In 2017, he started the Black Male Educators Alliance to recruit and retain Black male teachers, who were needed in schools with higher proportions of Black students.
That focus eventually shifted as Lewis realized he might not be fully addressing the problem. BMEA expanded to Chicago and New York City and eventually became Boldly Moving Education Ahead to better incorporate Lewis’ new focus.
Lewis conceptualized an education system that was less of a “system.” Instead, he began thinking about how “liberatory spaces” could be used within educational settings to encourage better connections and growth for students, teachers, parents and the community.
“I want to create spaces where students have a voice,” Lewis said. “There’s innovation. … Teachers have the authority to be creative. Leaders have the autonomy and also the courageous mindset, the courage to make the necessary shifts and think outside the box. And I also think we have to create a structure that supports all this.”
This philosophy led Lewis to create a small, private school called the BMEA Independent School to test out his ideas. The multi-grade school has around 40 students, with a long waitlist and possible plans to expand slightly in the future.
“This is a lab for me on what I think schools should look like,” he said. “We don’t go right into class, we do emotional check-ins, there’s opportunity for them to build community.”
Academic standards remain important to Lewis. But instead of an individualized approach, Lewis values project-based and collaborative learning. Students learn all of the core subjects (math, language arts, science and social studies) through them and also learn how to work with each other across grade levels. The school days are slightly shorter and he leans on community resources to lessen the amount of teaching time teachers have.
Lewis also works at Michigan State, where he’s developed undergraduate and master’s level classes in the Department of Teacher Education focused on restorative practices that build and repair positive relationships. He also developed a teacher induction program to support early career teachers.
“I’m really trying to think creatively about how we shift our programming, our curriculum, that matches the support that (teachers) need today,” he said.
Curtis Lewis
Age: 47
Occupation: Founder and president, Boldly Moving Education Ahead; assistant professor, Michigan State University
Family: Four children
Education: Michigan State University, bachelor of education, doctorate of education
Why honored: For being a nationally and globally recognized leader in education reform, equity and innovation with work spanning over 25 years across classrooms, districts and international landscapes.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU professor redefines equity, experiments with own school to help kids
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
