A Pope Studios Publication
Reporting, commentary, satire and the daily column. Whatever deserves a closer look today.
Written by Mike Pope
Mike Pope is a former principal, educator, author, speaker, parent, and creator of Pope Studios.
Education is the dominant thread. The daily lead can also follow parenting, culture, work, small-town life or whatever Mike is thinking about.
The Pope Report, the daily column, The Daily Disagreement and The Sunday Disagreement share this archive. Video appears when it contributes; the writing stands alone.
About Mike Pope
Digital convenience can shift work onto parents, applicants and customers. Mike Pope asks who actually benefits when an organization makes a process easier.
Digital convenience can shift work onto parents, applicants and customers. Mike Pope asks who actually benefits when an organization makes a process easier.
One week with three clear jobs
Each piece stands alone. Together they create an intellectual progression that only becomes fully visible on Sunday.
Five distinct arguments move one central idea from its narrowest form toward the larger thing it affects.
Read the satireA complete small-town story makes the week's abstract idea human without announcing a thesis or explaining the lesson.
Read Maroa StoriesThe week zooms all the way out. The argument and the story become evidence for a larger consequence in public life or institutions.
Read SundaySubjects
Each category has its own permanent archive and metadata inside the Mike Pope publication.
Permanent archive
Search Daily Disagreements, Sunday Disagreements, satire, and earlier essays by format, subject, keyword, month, or year.
78 articles
Digital convenience can shift work onto parents, applicants and customers. Mike Pope asks who actually benefits when an organization makes a process easier.
Read the articleThree children. Three buildings. Newsletters, apps, links, logins, deadlines. Mike Pope asks how much unpaid administrative work schools expect parents to do just to keep up.
Read the articleSchool messages should make required actions easy to find. Mike Pope distinguishes publishing information from giving families clear, usable instructions.
Read the articleFresh eyes matter. So does what the people already there have learned. Mike Pope asks how schools can preserve the reasons behind important decisions when leaders change.
Read the articleIf leaders want different work, they need to make room for different work. Mike Pope argues that time and tradeoffs belong in the decision before another requirement is added.
Read the article
Signing a Maroa Stories book for a former teacher leads Mike Pope to ask how schools can give children honest feedback and real help while leaving room for the adults they may become.
Read the articleBring the ideas into the room
Live interviews, moderated conversations, public Q&A, book conversations, and substantive disagreement.