As part of the University of Minnesota’s Teacher Education Redesign Initiative (TERI) teacher candidates are taking part in classes known as the Great Lessons; taught by Dr. Peter Demerath and Dr. Michael Goh. On Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 students gathered in St. Paul for Great Lesson #8: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. The focus of the session was to prepare the teacher candidates for the curricular vision of teaching, develop empathy for students, and to develop a culturally relevant pedagogical framework for teaching practice.
The idea that teaching is a profession that requires continued growth and learning was an idea that resonated with students. Social Studies teacher candidate Pete McKown reacted to the lesson after class, “Perpetual learning empowers teachers to continue growing, leading, and perfecting their art of teaching.”
Andrea Kay had a similar takeaway from the class about getting through the struggles of being new to the teaching profession, “There is a cycle in teaching because it is a profession (just like law or medicine) and I should feel comfortable that I won’t be a novice forever; I will be able to look back at my frustrations and see that they were resolved in some way or another.”