“If you don’t understand the entire picture of your students' lives/communities, this can be problematic. I think that doing this type of work is relationship building and gives pre-service teachers the training for how to build and engage outside of the school walls. Because what happens on the outside affects what happens on the inside” – Dr. Anjale Welton
Educational Professionals Engaging in Local Communities
In forming relationships and working with local organizations, educational professionals will develop a better sense of the community. For example, if a teacher works in a lower-income area but has grown up in a higher-income area they may not understand the different problems that arise. By spending more time in that community they would then be able to better understand different problems that are present in the classroom. Understanding and being a part of a community will help education professionals find more efficient ways of teaching.
The Golden Apple Perspective with Stephanie Flores
Golden Apple helped aid my growth as a future educator through community engagement. They emphasize the importance of community involvement. I was granted the opportunity to student teach a summer school Spanish course at a school in need last summer. I was able to hear students’ feelings about certain topics, and see what teaching methods were working well and which ones weren’t. I got to know all the students on a personal level, which I credit to the fact that I understood their background. I acknowledged and included their heritage in my class lessons and allowed them to speak about themselves and their opinions. I was quickly hit with the fact that if students aren’t provided with a positive and engaging classroom, they will lose interest.
It was through this experience that I learned, in order to connect with their students, a teacher needs to know what they’re in for, and what to expect out of a class full of unique individuals. In order to do this, they need to be engaged in their students’ communities. This applies to all types of school settings, not just low-income schools. A teacher needs to know what type of students they will have and how to both teach them and learn from them.
It was through this experience that I learned, in order to connect with their students, a teacher needs to know what they’re in for, and what to expect out of a class full of unique individuals. In order to do this, they need to be engaged in their students’ communities. This applies to all types of school settings, not just low-income schools. A teacher needs to know what type of students they will have and how to both teach them and learn from them.
University Students in the Community
"It allows them to get involved on campus, meet new people, branch out, and go outside their comfort zone if they are not from this community.”
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“Participating in the local community allowed me to have hands on experience in the classroom and a chance to meet an amazing group of kids. It is also beneficial because we are apart of this community and it helps if you get involved and step out of your comfort zone in order to feel more comfortable in the new community we are now staying in.”
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“When you come to a new place, there's a whole different set of rules. Finding your way around the university campus is just a portion of the community being impacted. Getting involved in the community as a whole helps you become more aware and more comfortable of the new place you are in. It helps establish a sense of value and purpose that helps you grow as a person and as a future educator.”
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Faculty Spotlight with Dr. Anjale Welton
Dr. Welton is currently at the University of Illinois doing research on youth perspective and their voices in school improvement— specifically, the voices and perspectives of minority youth. With this, she is also interested in issues of race and how they’re talked about and not talked about within our schools and the effects that dialogue has on students. She came from a lower income neighborhood that fed into a lower income school, but when she transferred into a different school in the same district that was predominately white and wealthier, she was shocked as to how different the environment was. From there, her interest in minority youth and school improvement began to grow. In college, she majored in Psychology, later attending graduate school at University of Maryland and receiving a degree in Higher Education Administration and Policy. With her work in the U.S. Department of Education , she has had tons of amazing experiences in the educational world that eventually led her here to the University of Illinois to continue her amazing work!
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Important Skills as TeachersIt is extremely important to be adaptable in the classroom. Students, policies and your school change quite frequently and you need to be able and willing to handle that. It is also important to have the ability to change your ideas and beliefs over time. Due to the fact that things are always changing, there are times when it is important to change your ideas, and it is important to do so. Finally it is extremely important to be a lifelong learner. As educators, one should always be open and willing to learn new things, and that will only allow one to grow as an educator and person.
Benefits to Students Participating in CommunitiesBeing a community member is part of the teacher job description. When a teacher is not in the particular community they teach in, they do not fully understand the problems and concerns that reside there. As a result, it is harder to connect with students. It is important to see that what’s outside impacts what happens inside. Furthermore, a teacher’s community involvement helps make parents more comfortable coming into schools, where they can serve as a helpful resource that removes some barriers and stereotypes.
Goals of Methods CoursesI want to share that I think there should be classes that push you to do things that cause you to take action. I want to call for methods courses that forces students that took EDUC 201 and 202 to apply what they learned, which we as past students agree would be very helpful and important!
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Objectives of EDUC 201 & EDUC 202For EDUC 201, the creators really wanted students to understand their own identities and how they are shaped by many contexts around them. Furthermore, for students to see how their identities relate to the students that they come in contact with.
For EDUC 202, the creators wanted to give students the background needed to understand large historical events that influence education. The big picture of education is seen through our past and history, and it is important that future educators get that information of this background. Connecting Community Placements to EDUC 201Your personal experiences are very important— be a good listener and keep your eyes open. Be willing to be uncomfortable. Recognize that others might think differently than you. You’re learning from the community, not just “helping them”.
Advice for Incoming Pre-Service EducatorsI encourage incoming pre-service teachers to be ready and willing to have their world view changed. Once you’re getting ready to graduate, be willing to teach in places that need really good teachers. Also be honest with yourself, if it’s not for you it’s not for you. They will definitely need to step out of their comfort zone to achieve what they want to achieve.
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Top 10 Reasons You'll Love 'EDUC 201: Identity & Difference'
1. You gain experience in the classroom
2. Helps you realize if you actually want to become an educator
3. You make amazing connections with community members
4. The volunteering looks great on resumes
5. Gives you a chance to do service within the community
6. You get to reflect and breakdown useful philosophical readings
7. You explore diverse topics that have to do with race, gender, and the LGBTQ community
8. It helps you become more open minded because you are meeting new people with different perspectives
9. It helps you explore and deepen your knowledge in order to give insights on the realities of being a teacher
10. A chance to discuss current issues in the schooling system
The Current State of Education with Kathryn Heller
Kathryn Heller received a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Music from Augustana College. In addition, she has completed a Master’s Degree of Science in Elementary Education from Western Illinois University. She has been teaching elementary school for 31 years and always strives to show her passion through educating and facilitating all of her students’ learning experiences.
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Student Voices with Kim Guse
On Why She Wants to Pursue a Career in Education
My mom has always been a huge impact in my life, let alone the fact that she literally gave me life. She has held multiple jobs while raising my brother and me. When I was about 3 until first grade, my mom was a community outreach manager at our local library. There, she created bilingual reading programs for families throughout the area. She also taught English in the local community center and was a volunteer reading specialist at the elementary school that my brother and I attended. After we moved from Hanover Park to Bolingbrook, she started working as a bilingual secretary at an elementary school in the area. Throughout all of her jobs, I have been amazed by her skill of incorporating education and learning without stepping foot in the classroom. She has really shown me that there is always more than one way to do something and that is why I am excited to pursue a career in creating programs for museums. I think museums are a great place to combine community involvement and learning, something that my mom has always been able to do while raising me and my brother.
For the longest time, I thought I wanted to be a teacher because I had so many great teachers throughout my schooling. But I felt like I was making that decision because that was one of the only careers I had ever seen firsthand, through my mom and through my teachers. I felt biased, but I was still drawn to education. Now that I’ve had time to reflect on my career goals and who I am, I feel like I know a little bit more of what I want to do. Not completely, but I’m sorting it out.
From watching my mom all of my life, I know that I want to be involved in my community. I want to play to my strengths and give back in those ways. My mom was able to bring together two communities by translating and creating English classes for Spanish speaking families to learn English a few nights a week. As a kid, I remember coming with her to the library on these nights and watching her teach and work with different families in the community. She made lifelong connections with these families and I hope to do similar community outreach in my own career.
For the longest time, I thought I wanted to be a teacher because I had so many great teachers throughout my schooling. But I felt like I was making that decision because that was one of the only careers I had ever seen firsthand, through my mom and through my teachers. I felt biased, but I was still drawn to education. Now that I’ve had time to reflect on my career goals and who I am, I feel like I know a little bit more of what I want to do. Not completely, but I’m sorting it out.
From watching my mom all of my life, I know that I want to be involved in my community. I want to play to my strengths and give back in those ways. My mom was able to bring together two communities by translating and creating English classes for Spanish speaking families to learn English a few nights a week. As a kid, I remember coming with her to the library on these nights and watching her teach and work with different families in the community. She made lifelong connections with these families and I hope to do similar community outreach in my own career.
The Current State of Education with Anonymous Educator
This teacher has requested to stay anonymous. They have received their Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Augustana College, along with completing an additional Master’s Degree after teaching for several years. They have taught for 23 years. Every day they strive to provide the best education they can to their students and has a caring, stimulating classroom atmosphere despite the difficult obstacles they have had to face.
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Conversations with a Former Educator with Karie Brown-Tess
Karie received her B.A. in Religious Education form Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis. She has an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois and is currently completing her first year in the PhD program for Curriculum and Instruction in Math, Science, and Engineering. Karie has worked for five years as a middle school math teacher in Orlando, FL and in Urbana, IL. As a classroom teacher and as a researcher, her interests are in student agency, equity, and mathematics education.
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Topics Covered (Time)
Educational Policy (00:00) Racial Issues in Education (02:42) Parent Involvement in Education (11:35) Rethinking Educational Policies (15:44) Advice For Pre-Service Educators (21:14) The Struggles of Teaching (29:45) The Effects of 'No Child Left Behind' (36:17) |
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