Who is the \u201cpublic\u201d in \u201cpublic education\u201d? Future teachers in this class tease apart that question, using history and current events to examine the inequities in our educational systems and to posit real-world fixes.<\/p>\n
The Instructor:<\/strong><\/p>\n At just 4 years old,\u00a0Violet Jim\u00e9nez Sims \u201902 (SFA), \u201905 MA, \u201911 6th Year<\/strong>\u00a0told her mother she wanted to \u201cbe one of the little people that lived inside the television.\u201d Today, she laughs and says she\u2019s learned that no one lives inside a TV, and instead of being an actress, she spends most of her time in front of a different audience: college students.<\/p>\n \u201cGood teachers have to be good actors,\u201d Sims says. \u201cYou have to be entertaining enough to capture students\u2019 attention and use improv skills sometimes when things don\u2019t go right.\u201d<\/p>\n Her path took a turn from fine arts to education during her senior year at UConn, when she was homecoming royalty representing the Puerto Rican\/Latin American Cultural Center. \u201cAs part of that process I met a lot of people on campus,\u201d she says. \u201cOne thing led to another, and there was an opportunity in the Dean of Students\u2019 office.\u201d Sims took the role and quickly knew she was on to something: She liked working with students. After earning her master\u2019s, she taught Spanish and ESL (English as a Second Language) at Connecticut public high schools in New Britain and Manchester before becoming an administrator at a Montessori magnet school in Hartford.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was nothing else I had done before that seemed so impactful to individuals,\u201d she says of teaching.<\/p>\n Now an assistant clinical professor in the Neag School of Education, Sims teaches \u201cPower, Privilege, and Public Education\u201d as a way to remedy an issue she saw frequently in public schools. \u201cEquity work, diversity and inclusion \u2014 there were a lot of people in the field who just did not have any training connected to that,\u201d Sims says.<\/p>\n Filling that gap when teachers are already leading a classroom is \u201calmost a little too late,\u201d she says, and that\u2019s why she wants to help train students from the beginning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Class Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe talk about educational equity and justice \u2014 the historical, social, cultural, philosophical, and legal frameworks of education \u2014 and connect it to current events,\u201d Sims says.<\/p>\n Categorized as both a general education and service learning course, it gives students an introduction into schooling in America while encouraging them to go out and experience it firsthand. By the end of the course, students pick an education topic to center an advocacy project around.<\/p>\n But first, students must understand the development and structure of education. As with most courses, there\u2019s plenty of assigned readings, podcasts, and guest speakers. But many points are driven home through reflection exercises. One early assignment asks students to evaluate their own K-12 education in a five-page narrative. Students are often left surprised, Sims says. They\u2019ll pinpoint things like dress codes, school demographics, and teachers, evaluating how those may have positively or negatively impacted their own education and how they see the world today. \u201cThis work is a journey, not a destination. If you\u2019re into social justice work and you want to make sure that you\u2019re having an impact, you are constantly learning about it,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd in order to actually be good at it, you have to be extremely reflective at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n