P. L. Thomas, EdD
Professor of Education
Furman University, Greenville SC
paul.thomas@furman.edu
P.L. Thomas, Professor of Education (Furman University, Greenville SC), taught high school English in rural South Carolina before moving to teacher education. He is a former column editor for English Journal (National Council of Teachers of English), current series editor for Critical Literacy Teaching Series: Challenging Authors and Genres (Brill), and author of How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students (2nd ed.; IAP, 2022) and Teaching Writing as Journey, Not Destination: Essays Exploring What ‘Teaching Writing’ Means (IAP, 2019). NCTE named Thomas the 2013 George Orwell Award winner. He co-edited (with Chris Goering) Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-Truth America (Brill, 2018), receiving the 2019 Divergent Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies. Follow his work @plthomasEdD and the becoming radical (https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/).
dr. p.l. (paul) thomas 
I am about to return to live in SC after living abroad for 25 years. Actually I have not lived in the South for over 35 years. This site makes me think that there are people like me around. I’m an artist and filmmaker and I wonder if any other like minded folks might be interested in making another film? I’m thinking that those who want to see change come to SC education should try as hard as they can to get the facts out. What do you think? Ron Hagell – r.hagell@gmail.com
I love your handle. “The pedagogy of kindness” – both poetic and direct.
I had to post your blog address on my Facebook feed, again, today. I fear for public education, in Iowa as well as nation-wide, since analyses I’ve seen don’t have a broad-enough base to be valuable. I value your emphasis on socioeconomics. Don’t quit raising dust.
Your entry: “Education Reform: Warnings Confirmed, But Lessons Learned?” was spot on.
I’m local editor of a small Midwestern weekly, about to go part time, who attends the local public school-board meetings, a parent of two bright kids who successfully navigated the waters of home-school/public/private education (You’ll have to ask them, since my opinion is skewed, I’m sure) and one who has vowed to keep learning. You’re experience in education (and as a bicycler) has given you the kind of insight most needed: socio-economic realities are a huge part of the process of cultivating learning, not to mention the results of research into the learning process.
I’ve railed for years (going on 30) about “quick fixes” handed down from the thin air of state and national capitals, editorialized and sympathized with educators who are burdened with top-down approaches that evaporate, only to be replaced with other misguided notions about how kids learn and the environments we need to encourage to cultivate that learning.
Dang, there I go editorializing (and heavens, such long sentences!). I meant to ask if I could post a link to this entry on my Facebook page.
Keep up the good work.
I thought you might like to know there’s a word for your column today(Sept 18, 2019): mondegreen, coined by the local SF (now retired) columnist, Jon Carroll:
https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/Lean-Mean-And-Mondegreen-3317608.php
A thought today as I read about adult plagiarism – How prescient you were in naming your blog “Radical Eyes for Equity. I can’t remember when I began reading your posts, but over the years, I’ve nodded in agreement or talked to my computer about our differences, never anything major. Thank you for keeping on, and applying your scholarship and passion for equity to “the passing scene.”