Our Foundational Books

Our work is deeply grounded in the work of many brilliant loving thinkers and teachers who came before us. We are students of Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Carla Shalaby, Alfie Kohn and John Dewey among many others. The books above have deeply influenced our compasses as educators.

We have learned deep lessons from what Carla Shalaby calls “abolitionist classroom management.” A central aspect of The Freedom Community School is a deep belief that children’s behavior should not be rewarded and punished—and should not be responded to by the same principles the criminal legal system operates by—but instead should be responded to as a message about how they are feeling and what needs they may not be getting met.