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John Barnes, a school principal (video in two parts, and transcript): interview with John Barnes, Hartford

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@ Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library

Biggs, Julian Glascock, Baylis

Description

An interview with new Vine Street School Principal John Barnes begins as he looks through a window of the school toward children playing in the outdoor, above-ground pool. Barnes discusses the small efforts that have been made to break down some of the traditions and institutional structures that turn children away from the school system and from learning. Barnes, who had been a principal for only one year, had come from a white suburban school system thinking that ideas around individualized learning would work well in the city school system. But he found that the reality was that the institutional traditions of the city school system were difficult to overcome. And that being a new person in the community, it is hard for him to have a vision for the school outside of dismantling the current traditions that prove to not be working. Barnes describes working with parent groups including those living in the Vine Street project, working with Horace Bushnell Church, and the Clayhill Mothers group. Through these community connections, Barnes has been able to bring on seven community members to act as classroom aides to support classes that had a thirty-to-one students teacher ratio--too much for classroom teachers to handle. He also describes the support that the Clayhill mothers have provided while also making demands about what they want to see in the schools; They have come to volunteer and get hired by the Community Renewal Team (CRT) to support summer and tutoring programs, and have also put...
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Video
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Video Recordings Color
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Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library

Record Harvested From

Connecticut Digital Archive