Skip to main content
News

Fighting for Education, and Nation

It’s exciting when Geoffrey Canada steps to the podium. The driving force behind the Harlem Children’s Zone, which the New York Times has called “one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time,” Canada unleashed his trademark passion and fire for his ongoing work on a captivated crowd Wednesday at Longfellow Hall.

“The country is in real peril,” cautioned Canada, who cited research that indicates the nation’s failing public education system is hurting a wide swath of middle-class families. “It’s not about a few kids anymore.”

He warned the future educators and administrators in the audience at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to get ready for the toughest fight of their lives, noting how his own work has been widely criticized by those who feel threatened by innovation.

“Be prepared to be attacked,” he said. “This is not for the faint of heart. This is hand-to-hand combat trying to save these kids.”

Canada was on campus to receive the Harvard Graduate School of Education Medal for Educational Impact, the School’s highest honor that recognizes those who demonstrate an outstanding contribution to the field of education.

For more, please visit the Harvard Gazette.

News

The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education

Related Articles