Nonfiction / Education
Date Published: 10-06-2024
Educational Disobedience is a compelling and transformative guide for parents, educators, and advocates committed to reimagining traditional educational systems. Drawing from her extensive experience as an educator, homeschool advocate, and law enforcement professional, Dr. Mabry challenges the conventional paradigms of schooling that often fail underserved and marginalized students. With practical advice and deeply personal insights, she explores how parents can use homeschooling to reclaim their children’s education.
Dr. Mabry argues that educational disobedience is not about defiance but about empowerment—empowering parents to resist systems that perpetuate inequity and disempower children, particularly those from at-risk communities. She provides a roadmap for creating individualized, flexible learning paths that focus on student well-being, literacy, and personal growth. The book also highlights how cooperative educational models, like her own Tiers Free Homeschool Cooperative, can serve as community-driven alternatives to traditional schooling.
Educational Disobedience is not only a call to action but a beacon of hope for parents seeking to revolutionize their children’s learning experience. It’s a must-read for those ready to challenge the status quo and advocate for educational justice.
Interview with Dr. Annise Mabry
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing is both energizing and exhausting for me. It’s exhausting because sometimes I get stuck in my own head and then I struggle to get out of my own way to write. But then there are those moments when I simply start typing and everything has a flow. That’s what I call my writing sweet spot.
What is the first book that made you cry?
The first book that I remember crying as I read it was Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
The first book I published was my dissertation and I often joke that the process broke me but liberated me at the same time. It broke me because I was always wanted my writing to be perfect. Getting my dissertation published taught me there’s nothing perfect when it comes to writing and publishing—it just has to be done. It also taught me the value of having a great developmental editor, a phenomenal copy editor, and an outstanding proofreader. Now I don’t start to write anything without working through an outline with my developmental editor first.
What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
As a nonfiction writer, the real people in my story are the real people in my life. I know a lot of authors use fictional characters but I wanted to give me real people an opportunity to receive their accolades for the roles they played while they were alive to celebrate them.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
My mother gave me my love of books. Every Friday afternoon, she would let me go into the downtown district and she would settle her bills at the local stores. Mrs. Earlene Scott owned Scott’s Bookstore and I would go into the bookstore where I would sit criss crossed on the floor and I would read for hours. Many Friday afternoons, I would remain in that store until Mrs. Scott closed. I’d have my stack of books and Mrs. Scott would help me to decide which ones I could purchase that week as well as the ones that would be on hold for me until the following Friday.
What do you like to read in your free time?
I love to read historical fiction. I just finished The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek and The Book Woman’s Daughter on Audible. I love audiobooks. My guilty pleasure is I listen to books while I walk in the afternoons on my treadmill. If I don’t get on the treadmill then I can’t listen to the book.
Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
I didn’t research the book BUT I can share about the impact my students’ capstone essays have had on me as the founder of the diploma program. I started requiring capstone essays for the homeschool graduates in the cooperative in 2018. I wanted to show people that homeschool graduates were just as capable of producing quality essays as their public and private school counterparts. But what I was not prepared for was how some students unpacked their trauma and their triumphs in 1,200 words. I think the story that sticks with me the most was Tiara. She had spent her entire life in and out of the foster care system. Every program that she entered, they gave up on her because they felt she was too much, too difficult, too argumentative, and too abrasive. But I didn’t see any of those things when she entered the diploma program. I saw a broken student with some rough edges. I saw a student who wasn’t rough because she wanted to be but that was how she had to survive. She couldn’t allow herself to have any feelings because in her world, feelings could literally mean the difference between life and death. Now she wore me out at times and she even wrote in her essay about how I even locked her out of the online classes because she wasn’t doing her work. Even though I locked her out I never gave up on her. I made it her responsibility to let me know what she was going to do differently. Eventually the lightbulb came on and she realized that not only was I not going anywhere but she was more than capable of doing the work.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I wrote my academic memoir because I need those who are coming behind me to know what I really went through building my nonprofit and the diploma program. Many people who have now started following my work only see the finished product. They don’t see all of the years when I was labeled as a difficult parent or dismissed by traditional academia. The very tables that create a “Reserved” seat for me in 2024 are the same tables that denied me access in 2012.
How do you begin writing a new book? What challenges come with it?
My developmental editor, Stephanie Wilson actually is the catalyst for me developing new books. She will go through my writings and pull out entire chapters that don’t fit with the theme of the current work. Then we develop those chapters into new books.
Share a place that inspires you to write
The place that inspires me to write is Civitavecchia, Italy. This is a coastal town northwest of Rome and in a two-bedroom apartment with my family was where I finished writing Educational Disobedience.
Now where I began revising Educational Disobedience was at the Little Pink House in Sandersville GA. When I would get writer’s block, I would walk to Malone Street Books and browse the store. Sometimes this was just the mental reset that my mind needed to find my flow.
About the Author
Dr. Annise Mabry is an educator, advocate, and founder of The Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation. She specializes in alternative education and community engagement, with a focus on creating inclusive and empowering learning opportunities.
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