Book Review: Educational Disobedience, by Anise Mabry
Reviewed by Yvonna Graham
Not Just a Biography
This book is not just another biography! Any parent who has struggled to help their child complete a high school education will resonate with and learn from this journey.
High School Disruptions
Poverty, homelessness, pregnancy, illness, bullying, frequent moves, and neurodiversity can all result in disruption of a standard high school education. Without a diploma, you can hear the doors slamming shut all the way down your future life.
Dr. Mabry, a single black parent, has faced almost all these showstoppers, but she turned that trauma into great good for her community. This is her story. It shares hard truths, and it is inspiring.
Mabry Doesn’t Give Up on Her Kids
Dr. Mabry is clear about her motivation for writing the book. She says, “I’d like to tell
you the stories of students who defied expectations, and ultimately,
about a movement that reduced the crime rate from 69 percent to
13 percent in one community, increased the high school graduation
rate of an entire school district from 70 percent to 90 percent, and
transformed communities while revolutionizing the way we think
about learning.” (Mabry, p. 3)
Terrified to Leave a System that Wasn’t Working
Anise Mabry didn’t start out trying to buck the educational system. She was, in fact, a part of that system. But her children were not only failing to thrive, they were in danger. She could not pretend all was well. Mabry admits to being terrified to leave traditional academia in which she had overcome great obstacles to become successful and respected. She knew about homeschooling, but her family was not like any homeschool family she’d ever met or heard about.
Mabry tried online public school but found it was not designed to honor individual student needs or work with a student who has been traumatized at school.
She discovered that she “needed to use a strengths-based approach that recognizes and builds on each student’s unique abilities and interests. I also wanted to implement restorative practices to address conflicts and behavioral issues in a constructive manner, emphasizing empathy and understanding over punishment.” (Mabry, p. 68)
If It Doesn’t Exist, Build It
Nothing like Mabry’s dream existed. The local GED program was almost impossible to negotiate for students who needed to work to survive. Poor families with little education were completely unequipped to homeschool their children and terrified to even consider such a thing. She realized she had to build a program that met the needs of her community. Her children weren’t the only ones being ground down by a system that reinforced failure.
Mabry’s concept of Educational Disobedience extends beyond homeschooling. It is about questioning the status quo in all educational settings with the students’ needs always in sight.
After reading about Tiers Free Academy and how Mabry built this program I was amazed and impressed. I wished for thousands of Dr. Mabry clones to spread out across the country and rescue our kids!
In the Words of the Students
But the story wasn’t quite over. I read the appendix – speeches by students graduating from the Tiers Free Homeschool Academy. Right at the start of the section Mabry included the essay from her oldest son detailing the family trauma that birthed the academy but also took all his mom’s time and energy, so that he felt emotionally abandoned during his childhood. Including this in the book signals both bravery and humility far beyond the normal autobiography.
Educators, parents, community builders – read this book. It’s a gem. I’m glad Dr. Mabry found time to write this so we can learn from her journey.
Book Review by Yvonna Graham, www.dyslexiakit.net