Alan Shapiro (January 15, 1926 – January 28, 2011) was an American educator and educational reformer who became a leading contributor to Teachable Moment, a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

-based teacher education project of the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility which is an important proponent of effective, universal education. A graduate of

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

he also attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

before serving as a combat infantryman in the American Army in World War II. Shapiro taught for many years in the public school system of New Rochelle, New York. It was as an English teacher at Isaac E. Young Junior High School (now Isaac E. Young Middle School) in the New Rochelle public schools that Shapiro, a founder and leader of the local unit of the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 per ...

, began a collaboration with

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

education professor

Neil Postman Neil Postman (March 8, 1931 – October 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic, who eschewed digital technology, including personal computers, mobile devices, and cruise control in cars, and was critical o ...

and Charles Weingartner to develop a model "school without walls" high school. This "Program for Inquiry, Involvement, and Independent Study " ("3Is") began operation within

New Rochelle High School New Rochelle High School (NRHS) is a public high school in New Rochelle, New York. It is part of the City School District of New Rochelle and is the city's sole public high school. Its student body represents 60 countries from around the world. I ...

in 1970. The school eliminated grades, required courses, and required times of attendance and offered credit through seminars, community projects, and independent study efforts. (see

Inquiry Education Inquiry education (sometimes known as the inquiry method) is a student-centered method of education focused on asking questions. Students are encouraged to ask questions which are meaningful to them, and which do not necessarily have easy answers; t ...

) After retiring as a high school teacher Shapiro became an adjunct instructor at the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline O ...

and

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

. He also was a founder of Educators for Social Responsibility - Metropolitan Area ("ESR-Metro"), which became Th
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
There, much of the focus of Shapiro's work became the development of critical thinking in students and the introduction of complex subjects into schools, ideas which he developed through a decade's worth of writings at th

website. He and his wife Sue moved from New Rochelle, NY after his retirement and resided in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Selected publications

References

External links

Alan Shapiro, Teachable Moment cofounder and writer
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility {{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Alan American education writers University of Illinois alumni Adelphi University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni College of New Rochelle faculty Vassar College faculty 1926 births 2011 deaths Writers from New Rochelle, New York