Message to New TED 3380 Students

Welcome to TED 3380! I hope you enjoy your stay! But of course you will, because Dr. T makes this class so delightful. This course has been very helpful to me in causing me to think critically about the complex issues that face future educators. The six issues we covered were race, class, gender, sexuality, power, and privilege, and while these are common themes in history, literature, and current events, this class and the assigned readings really caused me to think about these controversial issues differently.

The novels we read offered new and distinct perspectives. Jonathan Kozol’s Shame of the Nation was probably my favorite. His account of the disparities of US schools was eye-opening and heart-wrenching. Kozol spoke through this context about the worth of the individual child, and I identified with so much of what he said. Next, we read Race Matters. This book was even more eye-opening. It was absolutely crazy to me that the conflict that inspired the writing of this book, the beating of Rodney King and the race riots that ensued, happened in the 1990’s. I was previously unaware of much of what Dr. West had to say about how race is still an issue in America. The next book, Teaching to Transgress, was definitely interesting. hook’s insights into engaged pedagogy and the importance of open dialogue in the classroom were new to me, but I learned several things about how the identity of individual students should play a role in the classroom. We also took a look at issues of sexuality with The Laramie Project, which led us to discuss the humanity of all of our students. Tim Wise’s book White Like Me was very interesting to me, exposing me to new truths and points of view. He really caused me to think about white privilege and all the things that I take for granted. Wise inspired me to fight for all of my students to have equal access to opportunity. Freire was a little bit harder for me to understand, but I did enjoy Pedagogy of the Oppressed. A lot of what he said reminded me of things I learned in my Educational Psychology courses. The themes Freire discussed were consciousness, humanity, and liberation of the student.

I think that the Baylor School of Education offers a good balance of practical and pragmatic courses, and this class definitely plays a role in maintaining that balance. Social Issues in Education has offered me the opportunity to think about my future in an elementary classroom in the context of the big issues that will affect my students, their situations, and our nation.