A Call for Pitches on Education
A significant motivation in our recent (and ongoing) effort to take more questions from readers is a desire to identify The Atlantic’s blind spots in coverage. This input helps highlight the topics that could use more attention—those we might be able to explore from multiple perspectives, many of which will come from outside our newsroom.
There are plenty of stories we don’t know about, or don’t have the newsroom resources to cover well. These present wonderful opportunities for new contributors—journalists and civilians alike—to shed a little light.
That’s where you, dear writers, come in.
In the thoughtful responses to our call for questions about schools, we’ve noticed some thematic trends. So, shifting from the demand side of this equation to supply, these are some recent education-focused things on our mind. We’d love your pitches on them. Contributions might be anything from reported pieces, context-heavy historical retellings, or in some cases, personal reflections:
- historical instances of specific changes in education, whether it's how a certain subject is taught, educational space is designed, type of teacher is prepared and hired—you name it. Find the most interesting one to you, then tell us what happened, what makes it interesting, and whether it’s had a lasting impact.
- preparing students for the new world of work outside the classroom. What should schools be doing to anticipate how we’ll work in coming decades, and what are some doing already? As schools adjust to the changing nature of academia, what does it mean to be a teacher or professor with new technology and/or an increased reliance on adjuncts?
- experiences of learning abroad. Have you lived and studied outside of the U.S.? How did your education compare? I’m aiming to hear about experiences aside from the standard, pre-packaged college semester abroad.
- the school decisions made behind closed doors. Tell us about something happening out of sight, in a room or space where teachers aren’t part of the process. We’re looking for the people who came up with some obscure decision for a school or district (or even on a bigger scale than these), whether that’s money allocations, curriculum directives, or philosophical changes in approach. We want some illumination to parts of the education system that teachers, parents, and kids aren’t privy to.
You don’t need to be a practiced journalist for some of these—just someone with a fresh perspective that others can learn from. Want a little guidance? Check out these pitching tips from our Culture and Science, Technology, and Health sections, and here’s how not to pitch us.
Fill out this form with as developed a pitch as you can, and our Education editor will be in touch if it sounds like a good fit.