Am I Patriotic? Learning and Teaching the Complexities of Patriotism Here and Now. Occasional Paper Series 40

This issue of the "Bank Street Occasional Paper Series" seeks to grapple with the complexity of patriotism, particularly in relation to its workings in the lives of teachers and students in schools. Like it or not, schools teach (about) patriotism implicitly if not explicitly. Therefore, much consideration needs to go into what schools should teach about and how they should enact patriotism. Patriotism is neither simplistic nor arcane, two common tropes. Rather, it is dynamically messy and as relevant as ever, in the present moment of rising populist and nationalist sentiments in the United States and across the world. As the pieces in this issue show, patriotism--and the learning and teaching of it--is complicated and contested, loved and hated, seemingly straightforward but entirely complex. Contents included: (1) Learning and Teaching the Complexities of Patriotism Here and Now (Mark T. Kissling); (2) "That's Quite a Tune": An Interview with Bruce Springsteen (Mark T. Kissling); (3) Loving America with Open Eyes: A Student-Driven Study of U.S. Rights in the Age of Trump (Margaret Nell Becker); (4) Patriotism and Dual Citizenship (Patricia Gándara); (5) Fostering Democratic Patriotism through Critical Pedagogy (Hillary Parkhouse); (6) On Patriotism (William Ayers); (7) This Is about Us: Toward Democratic, Patriotic Pedagogy (Samuel J. Tanner); (8) Military Patriotism and the JROTC (Jenna Christian); (9) Constructed Patriotism: Shifting (Re)Presentations and Performances of Patriotism through Curriculum Materials (Nina Hood and Marek Tesar); (10) Patriotism for People in Diaspora Is Love of Humanity (Ming Fang He); (11) A Love-Hate Relationship: Personal Narratives of Pride and Shame as Patriotic Affects (Mark Helmsing); and (12) Patriotism? No Thanks! (Madhu Suri Prakash). [Individual articles contain references.]