maymalone

Hey all! This is May, I went to the University of Chicago for undergrad. UChicago has a teacher education program called UTEP that’s been a lot more overt in its commitment to equity and anti-racist practices than most teacher education programs right now, I think. One of their alums also just published an op-ed about how her UTEP coach helped her stopped being the teacher she never swore she’d be — but ended up becoming once she was in the classroom. Does anyone else have experiences like this as a teacher? (She wrote: “It is a very different question to ask, ‘Does every student derserve patience and equity?’ when sitting with peers in a master’s program versus standing in front of a ten-year-old who has just rolled their eyes or a twelve-year-old who just cursed you out. I found myself resorting to poor practices—mirroring the teacher I had sworn against becoming instead of the one I envisioned being.”) She said her UTEP coach helped her a lot in getting back on track to being the teacher she always hoped to be, and actually advancing equity in the classroom. I know that UTEP briefly reopened its application window for fall 2020 enrollment until Aug. 1 because they explicitly want people who’ve been inspired by recent events to be able to make the change they want to see — they’re encouraging activists to become teachers. Anyone else view teaching as potential activism?