Joel Westheimer is university research chair in democracy and education at the University of Ottawa. He is also the education columnist for CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning show. He began his career teaching in the New York City Public School system before obtaining a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Westheimer’s award-winning books include Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America’s Schools (foreword by the late Howard Zinn) and Among Schoolteachers: Community, Autonomy, and Ideology in Teachers’ Work, both from Teachers College Press. Westheimer lectures widely and frequently addresses radio and television audiences nationally and internationally. He lives with his wife and two children in Ottawa, Ontario. Visit his website at joelwestheimer.org for more information, or follow him ©joelwestheimer.