Curated by the Bank Street Graduate School of Education, the Occasional Paper Series is a repository of work that seeks to promote discussion about what it means for teachers to educate in a democracy and to meet the interrelated demands of equity and excellence. Through a series of essays, interviews, and reflections from teachers, teacher educators, and other education stakeholders, the paper series offers examples and strategies for educators who seek to initiate delicate and thoughtful conversations in their classrooms and support children as they navigate their complex social, cultural, and emotional worlds. Recent submissions have interrogated themes of patriotism, social justice, and systemic racism.