A lot of people often ask me how I arrived at the position of ‘school abolition’ while still being a teacher, and I often point directly at the institutions that have employed me. The abuses that I have suffered as a teacher, combined with those I already experienced as a student, have led me to question the purpose of schools and to research their histories. As a queer and disabled anarchist, my experiences and research have constantly shown me that school isn’t the answer.

But I don’t often write about those experiences because they’re frustrating to think about. Yet, every time I have to interview for a new school and am asked to explain what I found most difficult about my previous positions, these memories are dredged back up. Of course, the people interviewing me never get the full answer (because the chances I’d get a job if I explained all of the things I hated would be close to nil).  Read more…