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To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher

About the book.

For those of you pondering the question of whether to teach or not, this book will help you figure out whether teaching is for you. For those of you already in the classroom, it can inspire you to remember why you chose to teach in the first place.”  —From the Foreword by Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and author of  Why We Teach  and  What Keeps Teachers Going?

“ To Teach  provides a wealth of tips, lessons, approaches, and ways to think about thinking. But it also provides a sense of the calling to teach. That is why we need today books like this one, to remind us of why teaching matters.”  —From the Afterword by   Mike Rose, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

To Teach  is the now-classic story of one teacher’s odyssey into the ethical and intellectual heart of teaching. For almost two decades, it has inspired teachers across the country to follow their own path, face their own challenges, and become the teachers they long to be. Since the second edition, there have been dramatic shifts to the educational landscape: the rise and fall of NCLB, major federal intervention in education, the Seattle and Louisville Supreme Court decisions, the unprecedented involvement of philanthropic organizations and big city mayors in school reform, the financial crisis, and much more. This new  Third Edition  is essential reading amidst today’s public policy debates and school reform initiatives that stress the importance of “good teaching.”

To help bring this popular story to a new generation of teachers, Teachers College Press is publishing an exciting companion volume:  To Teach: The Journey, in Comics . In this graphic novel, Ayers and talented young artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner bring the celebrated memoir to life. The  Third Edition  of  To Teach , paired with the new graphic novel, offers a unique teaching and learning experience that broadens and deepens our understanding of what teaching can be. Together, these resources will capture the imaginations of pre- and in-service teachers who are ready to follow their own Yellow Brick Roads.

The  Third Edition  of  To Teach  offers today’s teachers:

  • Inspiration to help them reconnect with their highest aspirations and hopes.
  • A practical guide to teaching as a moral practice.
  • An antidote to teaching as a linear, connect-the-dots enterprise.
  • A study guide that is available on-line at tcpress.com .

Quotes and Reviews

“An imaginative, elegant, and inspiring book . . . essential reading for anyone who believes that teachers can change lives. —Michèle Foste r , Claremont Graduate University

“ To Teach  is one of the few books about teaching that does not disappoint.”  —From the Foreword by Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“William Ayers creates a wise and beautiful account of what teaching is and might be. . . . He leaves us with fresh awareness of what the teaching project signifies. He provokes us, each in our own fashion, to move further in our own quests.”  —Maxine Greene, Teachers College, Columbia University

“No one since John Holt has written so thoughtfully about the things that actually happen in the classroom. Ayers has been there and he knows, and he shares what he has learned with tremendous sensitivity. The book, I’m sure, will be required reading in every school in the nation.”  —Jonathan Kozol

“ Bill Ayers speaks as teacher, parent, and student: as compassionate observer and passionate advocate of his three sons and of all of our children. What is unique is the way in which the personal and professional merge seamlessly. . . . Ayers is a wonderful story teller.”  —Herbert Kohl

“Ayers’s riveting description of his unfolding journey as a teacher will be a helpful guide to teachers at all stages of their careers.” — Teaching Education

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Learning and Knowledge Analytics in Open Education pp 1–11 Cite as

Learning Is a Journey, not a Destination

  • Phillip Harris 3 &
  • Donovan R. Walling 3  
  • First Online: 27 July 2016

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2 Citations

The assertion—learning is a journey , not a destination—grounds this examination of learning, instructional design, teaching, and evaluation. It begins by focusing on self-understanding as key. Understanding and then guiding learning accordingly requires not only keen observation and responsive instruction but, more fundamentally, deep self-examination to understand one’s own ingrained theories of learning coupled with the ability to move fluidly among alternative theories—whether or not they can be articulated. From this basis, the examination moves through discussions of the nature of teaching, designing learning , aligning evaluation, and considering what constitutes “normal.”

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Curry, D. (2001). The Pareto principle. Field Notes , 10 (3). System for Adult Basic Education Support, or SABES. Retrieved from http://www.sabes.org/resources/publications/fieldnotes/vol10/f03curry.htm .

Goertzel, T. (1981). The myth of the normal curve: A theoretical critique and examination of its role in teaching and research. Humanity and Society, 5 , 14–31. (A condensed adaptation of this article, titled “The Myth of the Bell Curve.”) Retrieved from http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/normalcurve.htm .

Maddux, C. D., Johnson, D. L., & Willis, J. W. (2001). Educational computing: Learning with tomorrow’s technologies (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

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O’Boyle, Jr., E., & Aguinis, H. (2012). The best and the rest: Revisiting the norm of normality of individual performance. Personnel Psychology, 65 (1), 79–119. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744‐6570.2011.01239.x/full .

Suri, J. F. (2008). Informing our intuition: Design research for radical innovation. Rotman Management Magazine (Winter), 53–57.

Walling, D. R. (2006). Teaching writing to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Bloomington, USA

Phillip Harris & Donovan R. Walling

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Correspondence to Phillip Harris .

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Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

Feng-Qi Lai

Purdue University , West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

James D. Lehman

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Harris, P., Walling, D.R. (2017). Learning Is a Journey, not a Destination. In: Lai, FQ., Lehman, J. (eds) Learning and Knowledge Analytics in Open Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38956-1_1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38956-1_1

Published : 27 July 2016

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-38955-4

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-38956-1

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

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Introduction to the Article by Andrew Stremmel

Now, more than ever, we need to hear the voices of preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers during this pandemic. How has the pandemic affected them? In what ways has the pandemic enabled them to think about the need to really focus on what matters, what’s important? What were the gains and losses? These are very important questions for our time.  In this essay, Alyssa Smith, a senior studying early childhood education, attempts to address the lessons learned from her junior year, focusing on the positive aspects of her coursework and demonstrating an imaginative, growth mindset. This essay highlights the power of students’ reflection on their own learning. But I think it does so much more meaningful contemplation than we might expect of our students in “normal” times. Alyssa gains a new appreciation for this kind of active reflection—the opportunity to think more critically; to be more thoughtful; to stop, step back, catch her breath, and rethink things. As a teacher educator and her mentor, I believe this essay represents how the gift of time to stop and reflect can open space to digest what has been experienced, and how the gift of reflective writing can create a deeper level of thinking about how experiences integrate with one’s larger narrative as a person.

About the Author

Andrew Stremmel, PhD, is professor in early childhood education at South Dakota State University. His research is in teacher action research and Reggio Emilia-inspired, inquiry-based approaches to early childhood teacher education. He is an executive editor of  Voices of Practitioners .  

I’ve always known I was meant to be a teacher. I could feel my passion guide my work and lead my heart through my classes. So why did I still feel as if something was missing? During the fall of my junior year, the semester right before student teaching, I began to doubt my ability to be a great teacher, as I did not feel completely satisfied in my work. What I did not expect was a global pandemic that would shut down school and move all coursework online. I broke down. I wanted to do more than simply be a good student. I wanted to learn to be a great teacher. How was I supposed to discover my purpose and find what I was missing when I couldn’t even attend my classes? I began to fret that I would never become the capable and inspirational educator that I strived to be, when I was missing the firsthand experience of being in classrooms, interacting with children, and collaborating with peers.

It wasn’t until my first full semester being an online student that I realized the pandemic wasn’t entirely detrimental to my learning. Two of my early childhood education courses, Play and Inquiry and Pedagogy and Curriculum, allowed limited yet meaningful participation in a university lab school as well as engagement with problems of substance that require more intense thinking, discussion, analysis, and thoughtful action. These problems, which I briefly discuss below, presented challenges, provocations, possibilities, and dilemmas to be pondered, and not necessarily resolved. Specifically, they pushed me to realize that the educational question for our time is not, “What do I need to know about how to teach?” Rather, it is, “What do I need to know about myself in the context of this current pandemic?” I was therefore challenged to think more deeply about who I wanted to be as a teacher and who I was becoming, what I care about and value, and how I will conduct myself in the classroom with my students.

These three foundations of teaching practice (who I want to be, what I value, and how I will conduct myself) were illuminated by a question that was presented to us students in one of the very first classes of the fall 2020 semester: “What’s happening right now in your experience that will help you to learn more about yourself and who you are becoming?” This provocation led me to discover that, while the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light (and at times magnified) many fears and insecurities I had as a prospective teacher, it also provided me with unique opportunities, time to reflect, and surprising courage that I feel would not otherwise have been afforded and appreciated.

Although I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I had never deliberately pondered the idea of what kind of teacher I wanted to be. I held the core values of being an advocate for children and helping them grow as confident individuals, but I still had no idea what teaching style I was to present. Fortunately, the pandemic enabled me to view my courses on play and curriculum as a big “look into the mirror” to discern what matters and what was important about becoming a teacher.

As I worked through the rest of the course, I realized that this project pushed me to think about my identity as an educator in relation to my students rather than simply helping me understand my students, as I initially thought. Instead, a teacher’s identity is formed in relation to or in relationship with our students: We take what we know about our students and use it to shape ourselves and how we teach. I found that I had to take a step back and evaluate my own perceptions and beliefs about children and who I am in relation to them. Consequently, this motivated me to think about myself as a classroom teacher during the COVID-19 pandemic. What did I know about children that would influence the way I would teach them?

I thought about how children were resilient, strong, and adaptable, possessing an innate ability to learn in nearly any setting. While there were so many uncertainties and fear surrounding them, they adapted to mask-wearing, limited children in the classroom, and differentiated tasks to limit cross-contamination. Throughout, the children embodied being an engaged learner. They did not seem to focus on what they were missing; their limitless curiosity could not keep them from learning. Yet, because young children learn primarily through relationships, they need some place of learning that helps them to have a connection with someone who truly knows, understands, and cares about them. Thus, perhaps more than any lesson, I recognized my relationship with children as more crucial. By having more time to think about children from this critical perspective, I felt in my heart the deeper meaning children held to me.

My compassion for children grew, and a greater respect for them took shape, which overall is what pushed me to see my greater purpose for who I want to be as an educator. The pandemic provided time to develop this stronger vision of children, a clearer understanding of how they learn, and how my identity as a teacher is formed in relationship with children. I don’t think I would have been able to develop such a rich picture of how I view children without an in-depth exploration of my identity, beliefs, and values.

In my curriculum course, I was presented a different problem that helped me reflect on who I am becoming as an educator. This was presented as a case study where we as students were asked the question, “Should schools reopen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?” This was a question that stumped school districts around the nation, making me doubt that I would be able to come up with anything that would be remotely practical. I now was experiencing another significant consequence of the pandemic: a need for new, innovative thinking on how to address state-wide academic issues. My lack of confidence, paired with the unknowns presented by the pandemic, made me feel inadequate to take on this problem of meaning.

To address this problem, I considered more intentionally and reflectively what I knew about how children learn; issues of equity and inequality that have led to a perceived achievement gap; the voices of both teachers and families; a broader notion of what school might look like in the “new normal”; and the role of the community in the education of young children. Suddenly, I was thinking in a more critical way about how to address this problem from the mindset of an actual and more experienced teacher, one who had never faced such a conundrum before. I knew that I had to design a way to allow children to come back into a classroom setting, and ultimately find inspiration for learning in this new normal. I created this graphic (above) to inform families and teachers why it is vital to have students return to school. As a result, I became an educator. I was now thinking, feeling, and acting as a teacher. This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed.

John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” Learning may begin in the classroom, but it does not end there. Likewise, teaching is not a role, but a way of being. The ability to connect with children and to engage them meaningfully depends less on the methods we use than on the degree to which we know and trust ourselves and are willing to share that knowledge with them. That comes through continually reflecting on who we are in relation to children and their families, and what we do in the classroom to create more meaningful understanding of our experiences. By embodying the role of being an educator, I grew in ways that classroom curriculum couldn't prepare me for. Had it not been for the pandemic, this might not have been possible.

Dewey, J. 1916. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education . New York: MacMillan.

Alyssa Marie Smith  is currently an early childhood education student studying at South Dakota State University. She has been a student teacher in the preschool lab on campus, and now works as a kindergarten out of school time teacher in this same lab school. In the fall, she plans to student teach in an elementary setting, and then go on to teach in her own elementary classroom.

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My Student Teaching Experience: Lessons Learned

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The student teaching experience allows you to put everything that you’ve learned about education and your subject matter into action. You get to test the waters under the supervision of an experienced teacher who can guide you along and help you become the kind of teacher that you want to be. If you embrace the opportunity, you can learn a lot from the experience. In fact, here are some things that I learned during my time as a student teacher .

Student Teaching Lessons Learned

Prepare for the Unexpected While Student Teaching

During my student teaching experience, I spent a lot of time preparing each lesson plan . I worked hard to research different ways to present the information for each lesson. I looked for activities that my students would enjoy, and I made sure that I had all of the materials and other things that I needed before class started. Even then, there were always things that would go wrong. Technology would fail. Students would complete activities quicker than planned. Or students would require much more time and explanation than expected.

As such, I realized that I needed to be prepared as much as possible, but, more importantly, I needed to prepare to be flexible. You never know what’s going to come up or what will catch the students’ attention. When creating lessons, remember that you need to be prepared for changes. Figure out alternative activities in order to help your day go as smoothly as possible and allow your students to gain the most from the lessons.

Make Friends

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Teaching is difficult. You’re going to have rough days, and you’re going to need help sometimes. Introduce yourself to the librarian, cafeteria staff, administrators, custodians, secretaries, and other teachers. Of course, finding a teaching mentor is always a good idea. As I talked to other teachers about lessons that I was working on, they had plenty of suggestions for activities that I could use. I loved getting ideas for tried and true activities for my students, but I also enjoyed the tips and ideas that they could provide to help me grow as a teacher. They could also help you land a teaching job, too.

Not only can making friends prove to help you as a teacher, but it can also make your day more fun. Rather than eating lunch in your room every day to catch up on work, go to the lunch room and mingle with other teachers. Talk to teachers on the playground. Use the time to get to know others, and you just might end up making a friend for life.

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“dare to disturb the universe:” be fearless as a student teacher.

In high school, I had a teacher who always encouraged us to “dare to disturb the universe” as quoted from T.S. Eliot’s poem, “ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock .” To me, this meant that we shouldn’t be afraid to do something different or to think outside of the box. When it came to student teaching, I found that I needed to listen to this advice again. I wanted to excel. I wanted to get great recommendations from my cooperating teacher, and I wanted my students to really learn the concepts.

What I found was that student teaching was the perfect time to think outside of the box and try different things. If they didn’t work, they didn’t work. At least, I got to try them in a safe environment. And in the process, I got to work on vital skills for teaching, such as classroom management. Luckily, I had an awesome cooperating teacher who set me free to try new things. Of course, it was always helpful to have my cooperating teacher review my lesson plans and advise me on things that I could do to improve my ideas to ensure that they were viable in the classroom.

Show Confidence

Confidence is crucial for a great student teaching experience. Students need to see that their teacher knows what he or she is talking about. They need a teacher that demands respect. When I first started as a student teacher, I was awkward and unsure of myself. I wasn’t sure what my cooperating teacher would think, and I worried about how my students would perceive this teacher who didn’t look old enough to teach in the first place.

As I fell into my groove and gained more confidence as a teacher , I found that my students not only respected me but felt more comfortable talking to me, too. Confidence meant I could be myself while still demanding respect from my students and colleagues.

Get Involved

Immersing yourself and taking advantage of every opportunity afforded to you can really enrich your student teaching experience. One of my biggest regrets as a student teacher was that I didn’t get involved more. Sure, I attended all of the meetings and met with parents. With the amount of work I put into creating lessons, I chose not to volunteer in after school activities, for example. I wish that I would have taken the opportunity to get more involved. You can gain more experience, meet more people, and find a new niche within the teaching community.

Seek Feedback on Your Student Teaching

One of the most important lessons that I learned was the importance of feedback. During your student teaching experience, you want to find ways to improve your teaching skills. Don’t be afraid to ask your cooperating teacher for advice. When observing you in action, he or she will notice things that you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe you use too many filler words, look at the floor too often, or stand in one place the entire time. Your cooperating teacher can point out these things to you, so you can make the necessary changes to improve.

More than just asking for feedback, you need to have a good attitude about the information that you receive. What will you do with this information? I found that when I was teachable and willing to hear criticism, I saw greater improvements in my teaching and increases in my confidence.

Student teaching was a great experience. It had its ups and downs, but I became a better teacher by working to make the most of my experience and looking for opportunities to learn.  

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Finland’s Education System: The Journey to Success

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Hello and welcome to Joy in the Journey! My name is Jessica Lawler and I'm an elementary teacher-turned-stay-at-home/homeschooling mama to my three young kiddos. I am passionate about integrating Bible into all areas of life and helping my children see evidence of God's handiwork everywhere. My goal with this blog is to share helpful tips, resources, and freebies with you so you feel both encouraged and equipped. I'd love to connect with you ... Read More about meet jessica

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‘I became a role model’: Mother completes the third-level journey only 1.4% of her community makes

Pamela cullotty left school early with no expectations. now, she hopes to inspire others in the traveller community to embrace education.

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Pamela Cullotty at a recent graduation ceremony at South East Technological University. Photograph: Maura Hickey

By her own admission, Pamela Cullotty had little self-esteem or belief in herself when she started a degree programme at South East Technological University (SETU) a few years ago.

After leaving secondary school in her mid-teens, it took 12 years from her return to education, at the age of 23, to finally reach graduation day.

At a recent graduation ceremony, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in applied addiction studies and community development, all that self-doubt melted away.

“As a Traveller woman who left school at an early age with no expectations for myself or from the system, this has been a huge achievement,” Cullotty says.

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“Not only do I stand here today with higher expectations for me; I now have much higher expectations for my children. As I took this journey, I became a role model for them, and also for others in the Traveller community.”

It wasn’t an easy journey. Primary and secondary school were difficult, she says, where she struggled with friendships. It wasn’t so much because of the teachers or the schoolwork – it was, she says, because she felt she didn’t belong.

“We were a well-known Traveller family, so it wasn’t unusual to be discriminated against,” says Cullotty, “I did have some lovely teachers who really believed in me and kept pushing me on, but the hardest thing was feeling that your culture wasn’t recognised, and you didn’t belong. I hated it.”

Cullotty left school after she completed her Junior Cert.

[  Expelled from school at 14, now she is an associate professor in education  ]

This is not unusual for students from the Traveller community. Figures from an Economic & Social Research Institute report show 28 per cent of Travellers leave school by the age of 13.

A Department of Education report indicates that retention rates for Traveller pupils are rising, but the high dropout rate after junior cycle confirms that Cullotty’s experience in school was part of a bigger picture.

The report shows that although 90 per cent of Travellers from the 2015 cohort of students remained in school until third year, only 27 per cent remained until Leaving Cert year.

Cullotty later joined a Traveller training project in Donegal, where she completed the Leaving Cert Applied. “I felt like I belonged there,” she says.

Cullotty’s education stopped for a few years when she became a young mother. Her decision to return to education was made while attending women’s groups in the Donegal Travellers’ Project, where she began to learn more about her Traveller culture.

“I had role models that I believed in and that I wanted to be like, I really felt like I belonged there,” says Cullotty. “It gave me the confidence and belief that I could go on to education, that I could go further in life.”

Cullotty was participating in a programme delivered by An Cosán, an organisation based in Jobstown, in Tallaght, in partnership with SETU Carlow, which aims to empower through education.

“What we’re trying to do is provide progressive pathways whereby a learner might complete an unaccredited foundation course and decide to move on and undertake an FET level-five programme and keep moving up if they so wish,” says Adelaide Nic Chárthaigh, adult community education manager at An Cosán.

What sets the educational facility apart from others is the level of support and flexibility available to the learners.

You just have to believe in yourself and be your own biggest motivator

“Our job is to facilitate the learner’s growth, from return to learning to BA if they choose to go that route, providing appropriate supports along the way,” says Nic Chárthaigh.

An Cosán says it supports learners with wraparound services including one-to-one tutoring, the provision of childcare and monetary supports.

“Our community education model is resource-heavy, time-heavy and costs money,” says Nic Chártaigh. “But it has been proven to work and we know that’s what is required to meet the needs of our learners.”

Research by the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Galway has examined the social return from investments made by projects delivered by facilities such as An Cosán. It found that for every euro invested, €9 of social value was created.

One of the supports funded is the blended-learning approach; students can access the courses online, through their community network and workshops delivered in Jobstown. Cullotty says this blended format helped her succeed as a regular commute from Donegal to Tallaght was not possible.

“It’s about meeting learners where they are at,” says Nic Chartáigh. “Flexibility is essential in meeting the needs of our learners. Attending class in their own locality without the hassle of travel or attending class online from their homes.”

Accessing the programme via An Cosán was different from Cullotty’s experience of education at school in one key way.

“From day one I felt that my culture was recognised, it was on the curriculum, I belonged,” says Cullotty. “They spoke about Traveller culture in the materials, in the class and they spoke about other cultures too, it was very inclusive in that sense.”

An Cosán says a key principle of its educational ethos is recognition of the important role a mother plays in role modelling the benefits of education.

“We are a firm believer in the ‘one generation’ solution, in that, if you educate a mother, you educate a family,” says Nic Chártaigh. “Role modelling is incredibly powerful. If kids see their mum on a laptop, or doing homework, it does have an effect on them.”

Cullotty has witnessed the impact her return to education has had upon her own children and believes it will now continue to ripple out throughout the community.

“Now that I have higher expectations for myself, I have higher expectations for them,” says Cullotty. “The ripple effect is that today I will change things for both of them, and then they’ll change for their children and so on and so forth and that will keep rippling out as time goes on.”

Cullotty says this change in expectations must come from both within the Traveller community and without.

“If the world has no expectations for you then it’s very hard for you to have expectations for yourself. The more something is projected on to you, especially as a child, you start to believe that’s just the way it is,” says Cullotty. “It becomes normalised within the community and across the education system.”

In the meantime, Cullotty believes there are things that could change now in the education system that could help stem the tide of early school-leaving among the Traveller community.

She believes all teachers should participate in cultural diversity awareness training so that greater openness around different cultures becomes normalised in schools.

Cullotty says teachers can play a powerful role in fostering expectations and changing mindsets.

“A gentle push from a teacher, a little recognition can support Traveller children to have higher expectations for themselves and to think about their future,” she says.

Kevin Shortall, principal at St. Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght, has seen positive changes in relation to Traveller participation in education but believes there is still a lot more that needs to change for participation to translate into success.

“The strongest advocates within the Travelling community for the preservation of the culture are those who have the best education,” says Shortall, “A very strong education is a good protective factor for Traveller culture.”

Cullotty says anyone considering following her lead should know that, although it seems daunting, it is worth the challenge.

“You just have to believe in yourself and be your own biggest motivator,” she says. “Getting to the top of it can seem like such a struggle but once you get to the top, you can slide on the other side to the finish line.”

Education gap: Travellers vs general population

  • Primary: 57 per cent of Traveller men are educated to primary level only in contrast to 14 per cent of the general population
  • Second level: Only 13 per cent of Travellers versus 92 per cent of non-Travellers completed senior cycle at second level in 2016
  • Third level: 1.4 per cent of Travellers have a college degree, compared with about 50 per cent of the general adult population

Source: CSO census data for 2016

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School Counseling Research Feature

Empowering Voices: Two School Counseling Graduate Students’ Journey to Enhance Family Engagement in Schools

March 19, 2024

In an era where diversity in education demands innovative approaches, two school counseling graduate students from Attallah College of Educational Studies have emerged as beacons of change and inclusivity. Andres Rocha and Taryn Hastie, both passionate about transforming how schools engage with non-English speaking families, recently shared their insights at the past California Association of School Counselors conference (CASC). Their presentation, “Increasing Engagement with Non-English Speaking Families,”  not only highlighted the gaps in current engagement practices but also offered a roadmap for more inclusive communication strategies.

Andres Rocha, MA School Counseling ’24, co-presenting at CASC.

Andres Rocha, MA School Counseling ’24, co-presenting at CASC.

Andres Rocha, MA School Counseling ’24: Bridging the Gap

Andres previously served as a dedicated college advisor with the USC College Advising Corps and brought personal and professional experiences into his research. “I became interested in this topic when I began connecting with families…learning that families were instilling the importance of education with their students but were increasingly unfamiliar with how to navigate the education systems in this country,” he explained. Contrary to the stereotype that non-participation equates to a lack of interest, Andres’s work reveals a different narrative. His passion lies in “working with parents to uplift school counseling programs and school communities as a whole,” making school environments more conducive to partnerships with parents.  

Highlighting effective engagement strategies, Andres pointed out that providing tools and asking for input from non-English speaking families are crucial steps toward making them active participants in their children’s education.

Taryn Hastie, MA School Counseling ’24

Taryn Hastie, MA School Counseling ’24, co-presenting at CASC.

Taryn Hastie, MA School Counseling ’24: Cultivating Connections

Taryn Hastie, motivated by her future role as an English-speaking counselor, seeks to make all families feel heard and supported. Her approach to research is driven by the desire to “become better versed in effectively amplifying what families are already doing to support their students.” Taryn’s work at Chapman University’s Student Psychological Counseling Services, alongside her educational journey at Attallah College, has emphasized the importance of connecting with the diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of students and their families. Through the guidance of professors Dr. Randelle Kirkemo and Professor Darwin Vega , and inspired by Dr. Stephany Cuevas’s research , Taryn and Andres crafted a presentation that champions cultural sustainability and confronts pervasive stereotypes at the annual CASC conference.

A Path Forward

As both students prepare to graduate in the Spring, their paths reflect a shared commitment to serving communities with empathy and innovation. Andres aspires to return to Long Beach Unified School District, hoping to support low-income BIPOC communities through enhanced parental engagement practices. Taryn looks forward to a career as a school counselor or therapist in Orange County, focusing on supporting students in identifying and achieving their mental health goals.

Their work serves as a powerful reminder of the vital role school counselors and educators play in bridging the gap between schools and non-English-speaking families. Through research, engagement, and a deep commitment to inclusivity, Andres Rocha and Taryn Hastie are not just preparing for their futures—they’re shaping the future of educational engagement in our diverse society.

School Counseling Research Feature

(L-R): Dr. Randee Kirkemo, Taryn Hastie, Andres Rocha, and Professor Darwin Vega at CASC.

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Empowering Change Through Education: The Journey of a Ph.D. Candidate

March 11, 2024 by Ronda Kalaji | News

In an inspiring showcase of academic dedication and a profound commitment to social change, Stacy Eldred, a Ph.D. candidate in Education with an emphasis on Disability Studies, stands out at Chapman University. Eldred’s journey, marked by a relentless pursuit of equity and inclusion for adults with disabilities, has recently been highlighted due to her selection

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February 6, 2024 by Ronda Kalaji | News

In recognition of academic excellence, we are proud to announce the Attallah College Dean’s List at Chapman University for the Fall 2023 semester. This select group of students has a grade point average of 3.6 – 3.799 in at least 12 credits of in-residence coursework taken for a letter grade with a declared major in

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Sadhguru's Educational Journey: Yoga Apprentice to Global Leader

Experience Sadhguru's journey from a humble upbringing to global spiritual leader. Explore his education, entrepreneurship, and Isha Foundation. Witness his passion for yoga, travel, and social initiatives in this captivating narrative.

Image Source: Getty-Images

Family Background

Born on September 3, 1957, in Mysore, India, Jagadish Vasudev, commonly known as Sadhguru, is the youngest of five children. His father, B.V. Vasudev, served as a doctor at the Mysuru Railway Hospital, while his mother, Susheela Vasudev, was a homemaker.

Early Education

Vasudev attended Mahajana Pre-University College and Mysore's Demonstration School before pursuing his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Mysore.

Introduction to Yoga

At the age of 13, Vasudev began studying yoga under Malladihalli Raghavendra, though spirituality did not initially capture his interest.

Academic Achievements

In 2017, Vasudev was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, for his contributions to social welfare.

Career Beginnings

Vasudev's entrepreneurial journey commenced with a chicken farm in Mysore, followed by the establishment of Buildaids, a construction firm, while still managing his farm.

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Pursuit of travel.

At 25, Vasudev leased out his businesses to embark on a year-long journey, driven by a passion for exploration and discovery.

Teaching Yoga

In 1983, Vasudev conducted his first yoga class in Mysore, initiating a journey of teaching yoga across Karnataka and Hyderabad.

Motorcycle Expedition

In 2022, Vasudev embarked on a 100-day, 30,000-kilometer motorcycle expedition across Europe and the Middle East to raise awareness about soil conservation.

Establishment of Isha Foundation

In 1992, Vasudev founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on spiritual practices and rural development.

Social Initiatives

Through initiatives like "Action for Rural Rejuvenation" (ARR), the Isha Foundation aims to uplift rural communities and enhance their standard of living, particularly in Tamil Nadu, India.

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What Is Education For?

Read an excerpt from a new book by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson, which calls for redesigning education for the future.

Student presentation

What is education for? As it happens, people differ sharply on this question. It is what is known as an “essentially contested concept.” Like “democracy” and “justice,” “education” means different things to different people. Various factors can contribute to a person’s understanding of the purpose of education, including their background and circumstances. It is also inflected by how they view related issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social class. Still, not having an agreed-upon definition of education doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it or do anything about it.

We just need to be clear on terms. There are a few terms that are often confused or used interchangeably—“learning,” “education,” “training,” and “school”—but there are important differences between them. Learning is the process of acquiring new skills and understanding. Education is an organized system of learning. Training is a type of education that is focused on learning specific skills. A school is a community of learners: a group that comes together to learn with and from each other. It is vital that we differentiate these terms: children love to learn, they do it naturally; many have a hard time with education, and some have big problems with school.

Cover of book 'Imagine If....'

There are many assumptions of compulsory education. One is that young people need to know, understand, and be able to do certain things that they most likely would not if they were left to their own devices. What these things are and how best to ensure students learn them are complicated and often controversial issues. Another assumption is that compulsory education is a preparation for what will come afterward, like getting a good job or going on to higher education.

So, what does it mean to be educated now? Well, I believe that education should expand our consciousness, capabilities, sensitivities, and cultural understanding. It should enlarge our worldview. As we all live in two worlds—the world within you that exists only because you do, and the world around you—the core purpose of education is to enable students to understand both worlds. In today’s climate, there is also a new and urgent challenge: to provide forms of education that engage young people with the global-economic issues of environmental well-being.

This core purpose of education can be broken down into four basic purposes.

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. In Western cultures, there is a firm distinction between the two worlds, between thinking and feeling, objectivity and subjectivity. This distinction is misguided. There is a deep correlation between our experience of the world around us and how we feel. As we explored in the previous chapters, all individuals have unique strengths and weaknesses, outlooks and personalities. Students do not come in standard physical shapes, nor do their abilities and personalities. They all have their own aptitudes and dispositions and different ways of understanding things. Education is therefore deeply personal. It is about cultivating the minds and hearts of living people. Engaging them as individuals is at the heart of raising achievement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Many of the deepest problems in current systems of education result from losing sight of this basic principle.

Schools should enable students to understand their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. There are various definitions of culture, but in this context the most appropriate is “the values and forms of behavior that characterize different social groups.” To put it more bluntly, it is “the way we do things around here.” Education is one of the ways that communities pass on their values from one generation to the next. For some, education is a way of preserving a culture against outside influences. For others, it is a way of promoting cultural tolerance. As the world becomes more crowded and connected, it is becoming more complex culturally. Living respectfully with diversity is not just an ethical choice, it is a practical imperative.

There should be three cultural priorities for schools: to help students understand their own cultures, to understand other cultures, and to promote a sense of cultural tolerance and coexistence. The lives of all communities can be hugely enriched by celebrating their own cultures and the practices and traditions of other cultures.

Education should enable students to become economically responsible and independent. This is one of the reasons governments take such a keen interest in education: they know that an educated workforce is essential to creating economic prosperity. Leaders of the Industrial Revolution knew that education was critical to creating the types of workforce they required, too. But the world of work has changed so profoundly since then, and continues to do so at an ever-quickening pace. We know that many of the jobs of previous decades are disappearing and being rapidly replaced by contemporary counterparts. It is almost impossible to predict the direction of advancing technologies, and where they will take us.

How can schools prepare students to navigate this ever-changing economic landscape? They must connect students with their unique talents and interests, dissolve the division between academic and vocational programs, and foster practical partnerships between schools and the world of work, so that young people can experience working environments as part of their education, not simply when it is time for them to enter the labor market.

Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate citizens. We live in densely woven social systems. The benefits we derive from them depend on our working together to sustain them. The empowerment of individuals has to be balanced by practicing the values and responsibilities of collective life, and of democracy in particular. Our freedoms in democratic societies are not automatic. They come from centuries of struggle against tyranny and autocracy and those who foment sectarianism, hatred, and fear. Those struggles are far from over. As John Dewey observed, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”

For a democratic society to function, it depends upon the majority of its people to be active within the democratic process. In many democracies, this is increasingly not the case. Schools should engage students in becoming active, and proactive, democratic participants. An academic civics course will scratch the surface, but to nurture a deeply rooted respect for democracy, it is essential to give young people real-life democratic experiences long before they come of age to vote.

Eight Core Competencies

The conventional curriculum is based on a collection of separate subjects. These are prioritized according to beliefs around the limited understanding of intelligence we discussed in the previous chapter, as well as what is deemed to be important later in life. The idea of “subjects” suggests that each subject, whether mathematics, science, art, or language, stands completely separate from all the other subjects. This is problematic. Mathematics, for example, is not defined only by propositional knowledge; it is a combination of types of knowledge, including concepts, processes, and methods as well as propositional knowledge. This is also true of science, art, and languages, and of all other subjects. It is therefore much more useful to focus on the concept of disciplines rather than subjects.

Disciplines are fluid; they constantly merge and collaborate. In focusing on disciplines rather than subjects we can also explore the concept of interdisciplinary learning. This is a much more holistic approach that mirrors real life more closely—it is rare that activities outside of school are as clearly segregated as conventional curriculums suggest. A journalist writing an article, for example, must be able to call upon skills of conversation, deductive reasoning, literacy, and social sciences. A surgeon must understand the academic concept of the patient’s condition, as well as the practical application of the appropriate procedure. At least, we would certainly hope this is the case should we find ourselves being wheeled into surgery.

The concept of disciplines brings us to a better starting point when planning the curriculum, which is to ask what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education. The four purposes above suggest eight core competencies that, if properly integrated into education, will equip students who leave school to engage in the economic, cultural, social, and personal challenges they will inevitably face in their lives. These competencies are curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure, and citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student’s educational journey and nurtured throughout.

From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate Robinson, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by the Estate of Sir Kenneth Robinson and Kate Robinson.

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Vermont State Police announces arrest of Daniel Banyai

John lebron canned from wilmington planning commission, vermont legal aid claims state 'harmed' vulnerable people by kicking them out of hotels, twin valley reaches second settlement on racial bullying complaint.

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The Journey Away class visits Central Park in New York City.

  • Provided by Jessa Harger

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The Journey Away class visits with Sue Ruston of Idyll Acres Farm in Grafton. 

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Forester Dan Healey talks with the Journey Away class near Black Mountain and the West River in Dummerston.

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The Journey Away class speaks with Simon Renault at Scott Farm in Dummerston.

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United Nations Headquarters in New York City was another stop for Journey Away.

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Journey Away visits the Eastside Community High School garden and greenhouse on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, N.Y.

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Washington Square Park in New York City was another stop for the Journey Away class.

Journey Away class 'chews on questions' during 'massive expedition'

Chris Mays

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  • Mar 18, 2024

TOWNSHEND — Students in Journey Away are logging some serious miles as they learn about food systems near and far. 

Grace Wright, a sophomore at Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School, said the class began by organizing fundraising events and seeking grants during a period dedicated to project-based learning at the school. They tabled at local festivals and hosted a community dinner. 

A weekend trip to a guest house at Willow in South Newfane was seen as "a way to break the ice," said Marley Felker, sophomore.

"We're about to go on a pretty long, rigorous trip together," she said. "I think having a foundation of comfortability with each other is definitely going to be important, just for survival, so the weekend trip was a good way to bond. We were cooking meals together and just doing activities to bring the group together, so that was really fun." 

L&G's Journey Away program is "pretty new," Wright said. As a reboot of Journey East, which brought students to China before COVID-19 closed off opportunities, the new program started last year when the class studied the effects of climate disasters in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and New York City. 

"Expeditionary learning," said Jessa Harger, program director, "is experiential and place-based learning mashed together. This is obviously a massive expedition we're doing so this was a way to get grounded and centered in Vermont."  

This year, class members played in snow, made snow sculptures and talked about Vermont culture at Willow.

Soob Soobitsky, a senior, said the class went to Idyll Acres Farm in Grafton and learned how a small business runs, and then went to the town center. Students compared different experiences, summing them up as "real Vermont" or "Vermont fancy." 

Soobitsky said the class visited Miller Farm in Vernon to learn about a bigger operation. There, students learned how milk is processed and got to taste the product. 

Wright said the class went to Scott Farm to learn about soil practices at the orchard and the challenges from when a frost hit in mid-May last year. Farm owner Simon Renault is from France and gave students some advice about the culture since they will be going there soon. 

Other local visits included the Hazelton family's sugarhouse in Rawsonville, Grateful Greens, the Brattleboro Food Co-op and True North Granola. Students also met historian Bill Holiday, environmental attorney Tom Grasso, forester Dan Healey and geologist Roger Haydock.

Felker said Truth North talked with the class about "where they source stuff they need for their business, a lot of their business practices, and shed a light on what their values are when it comes to producing food."  

"So I thought that was cool because it is very relevant to our topic of talking about how food is produced," Felker said.

Harger described the class's trip to New York City earlier this month as a "prelude." 

Soobitsky said students met with the East Side Community High School's environmental club, and fixed up and cleaned garden beds before eating pizza together.

"It was crazy to me, because as a Vermonter, I think we all have beautiful nice gardens and this garden was pretty much all they had," Wright said. "They talked about how a lot of city kids haven't gotten to pick fruit. They think it comes from the store." 

The next day, the class went on a tour of the United Nations headquarters. 

"We were looking at the UN sustainable development goals then also their declaration of human rights," Felker said, "because the UN does talk a lot about food. They talk a lot about the hunger issues that we have, so that was kind of interesting to think about. It widened the perspective a little bit to think about food on a more global scale." 

Felker said the class learned a statistic that says about 40 percent of food produced worldwide is thrown away. Students also went to Central Park and Washington Square Park. 

The trip allowed the class to debate the effectiveness of grassroots efforts such as the environmental club versus organizational work such as the UN. 

"It's just a lot of food for thought," Harger said. "We're going to continue to chew on these questions." 

Students also witnessed food and supplies being distributed to immigrants. Many of them were from West African countries. 

Ely White, a junior, described immigrants being treated inhumanely by the city's system. If an immigrant doesn't receive a ticket providing housing for a limited period, he said, they are sent to stay in a hangar in the John F. Kennedy Airport in Jamaica, Queens.  

The class will leave for its big trip on March 25 and return May 9. Their itinerary includes the Gulf States, Vietnam and France.

The plan is to learn about the civil rights movement, food sovereignty, food justice, farming, rice production, cheesemaking and more. 

Wright encouraged donations to the class. Contributions can be made at app.99pledges.com/fund/journeyawa .

So far, about $30,000 has been collected. Harger said the goal is to raise another $10,000 before leaving. 

"For Journey Away to be sustainable at Leland & Gray, this program has to be successful," Harger said. "This is very different from Journey East."

In the future, Harger doesn't expect the trips to be as elaborate or long. However, she does hope to establish some connections in this round that could lead to future travels. She noted this year's class missed out on some trips in earlier years due to COVID-19. She called the West River Education District Board's support of the 18-month program "remarkable."

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    By Linda Darling-Hammond. July 1, 1997. Credit: George Abe. For as long as she could remember, Maria loved teaching. As a little girl, she would read to toddlers, play school with her friends, and explain the mysteries of the universe to anyone who would listen. As a peer tutor in middle school, she discovered there was no better feeling than ...

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    To help bring this popular story to a new generation of teachers, Teachers College Press is publishing an exciting companion volume: To Teach: The Journey, in Comics. In this graphic novel, Ayers and talented young artist Ryan Alexander-Tanner bring the celebrated memoir to life. The Third Edition of To Teach, paired with the new graphic novel ...

  8. Learning Is a Journey, not a Destination

    Abstract. The assertion—learning is a journey , not a destination—grounds this examination of learning, instructional design, teaching, and evaluation. It begins by focusing on self-understanding as key. Understanding and then guiding learning accordingly requires not only keen observation and responsive instruction but, more fundamentally ...

  9. To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher

    To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher. William Ayers. Teachers College Press, Apr 5, 2010 - Education - 192 pages. To Teach is the now-classic story of one teacher's odyssey into the ethical and intellectual heart of teaching. For almost two decades, it has inspired teachers across the country to follow their own paths, face their own challenges ...

  10. Book Review of To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher

    To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher is a wonderful book! It is inspirational in ways that remind me of Herbert Kohl's Growing Minds or Jonathan Kozol's The Night is Dark and I Am Far From Home. It communicates to the reader a sense of what life in classrooms is like and might become as in Tracy Kidder's Among Schoolchildren or Samuel Freedman's ...

  11. What I Love About Teaching

    March 24, 2009. There's a lot I love about being a teacher. Teaching is one of those rare professions that keeps your brain young, allowing you to continue your own journey as a student and a lifelong learner. We as educators speak often about creating lifelong learners, but if we aren't buying into it ourselves, then our students don't stand a ...

  12. To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher

    William Ayers is Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago (retired), education activist, and bestselling author of Teaching the Taboo: Courage and Imagination in the Classroom (with Rick Ayers), To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher, Third Edition, and To Teach: The Journey, in Comics (with Ryan Alexander-Tanner).

  13. 3 Steps for Teachers Seeking to Be Lifelong Learners

    3 Strategies for Evolving as Learners. 1. Reframe our mindset. Education reformer Dylan Wiliam says, "If we create a culture where every teacher believes they need to improve, not because they are not good enough but because they can be even better, there is no limit to what we can achieve.". One strategy to unlearning is to embrace the ...

  14. Becoming a Teacher: What I Learned about Myself During the Pandemic

    This case study made me think about myself and who I am becoming as a teacher in a way that was incredibly real and relevant to what teachers were facing. I now found inspiration in the COVID-19 pandemic, as it unlocked elements of myself that I did not know existed. John Dewey (1916) has been attributed to stating, "Education is not ...

  15. (PDF) My Philosophy of Teaching and Learning

    The teaching learning journey is a dynamic, continuous and challenging process. It is beyond the boundaries to what we learn in schools in our initial years of life. We learn from our environment ...

  16. (PDF) A Journey of Teacher Education….

    According to Goods Dictionary of Education Teacher education means, ―all the formal and nonformal activities and experiences that help to qualify a person to assume responsibilities of a member ...

  17. PDF Journey of Joy: Teaching Tips for Reflection, Rejuvenation and Renewal

    So, too, is the journey of joy in teaching. My personal journey of joy has entailed acceptance and even anticipation of the surprises along the way. This outlook brings greater satisfaction and pleasure. As a student of teaching for 35 years, I offer my individual perspective as a way to help others find joy along the way.

  18. Living and Teaching Internationally: Teachers Talk about Personal

    For example, teacher exchange programs have significantly altered the lives of educators as they move out of their local context and broaden their perspectives on teaching, which, in the long run, enriches the entire profession (Alred, 2003; Burman et al, 2006; Garson, 2005).Bodycott and Walker (2000) support the idea that being immersed in a foreign culture is a valuable opportunity to see ...

  19. My Student Teaching Experience: Lessons Learned

    The student teaching experience allows you to put everything that you've learned about education and your subject matter into action. You get to test the waters under the supervision of an experienced teacher who can guide you along and help you become the kind of teacher that you want to be. If you embrace the opportunity, you can learn a ...

  20. Remarks on an Educational Journey: Discovering Metacognition ...

    At this point in my educational journey, I am continuing to reflect upon my own experience and take deep dives into what pushes students to persist in education, achieve their goals, and become ...

  21. Finland's Education System: The Journey to Success

    The Government knew that education reform would take time, and planned for the comprehensive school reform to reach southern -more populated- Finland by 1978. During this time, teacher education was reformed radically to equip teachers with competences needed to take greater responsibilities, such as curriculum development and student assessment.

  22. Joy in the Journey

    Simplify Your Lesson Planning. Preschool Bible Lessons: God Created the World $ 5.00; God Made Me Special | Preschool Bible Lessons $ 5.00; Adam and Eve | Preschool Bible Lesson $ 5.00; Preschool Bible Lessons: Valentine's Day / The Good Samaritan $ 5.00; I Survived: The Attacks of September 11, 2001 Novel Study $ 4.95

  23. 'I became a role model': Mother completes the third-level journey only

    After leaving secondary school in her mid-teens, it took 12 years from her return to education, at the age of 23, to finally reach graduation day. At a recent graduation ceremony, where she was ...

  24. Empowering Voices: Two School Counseling Graduate Students' Journey to

    Empowering Change Through Education: The Journey of a Ph.D. Candidate. March 11, 2024. The New York Times: Snowplow Parents Are Ruining Online Grading - Attallah College of Educational Studies Dean Roxanne Greitz Miller, Professor Emeritus John Brady and Assistant Professor Jared T. Izumi, discussed their collaborative research and the impact of online grading.

  25. Sadhguru's Educational Journey: Yoga Apprentice to Global Leader

    Experience Sadhguru's journey from a humble upbringing to global spiritual leader. Explore his education, entrepreneurship, and Isha Foundation. Witness his passion for yoga, travel, and social ...

  26. Journey through diagnosis

    It reflects on how a diagnosis can heighten awareness that life is fleeting and precious. The accompanying digital artwork was generated using OpenAI's DALL·E 3 and modified using Adobe Firefly. It is a stark, black canvas, which can be seen as a metaphor for the profound and contemplative journey described patients go through.

  27. 4 Core Purposes of Education, According to Sir Ken Robinson

    Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. ... citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student's educational journey and nurtured throughout. From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate ...

  28. Journey Away class 'chews on questions' during 'massive expedition

    L&G's Journey Away program is "pretty new," Wright said. As a reboot of Journey East, which brought students to China before COVID-19 closed off opportunities, the new program started last year when the class studied the effects of climate disasters in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and New York City.

  29. Violence and xenophobia threaten access to education in Ecuador

    A recent surge in criminal violence in Ecuador has disrupted access to education for children including displaced Venezuelans living in the country, for whom school offers a welcome and important sanctuary from their daily struggles. ... My journey from playing football in Afghanistan to founding 'Girl Power' ...

  30. A Journey of Teacher Education…. Meaning of 'Teacher'

    Jamia Millia Islamia. A 'teacher' is a person who delivers an educational program, assesses student participation in an educational program, and/or administers or provides consistent and ...