Additional thoughts and Invitation to further dialogue:
From Chris:
I didn’t plan to be conducting much of my dissertation research during a global pandemic, but that’s how things happened. I also didn’t plan to attend graduate school during a period of American history where we would be grappling with how our democracy will or will not persist moving forward. But here we are.
I am very fortunate to be able to participate in the conversations that are documented here: both my original interview with Dr. Petersen and in the subsequent discussion with Ben & Adria. But I think what makes them even more valuable is that they are occurring at this specific moment in time. The idea that education is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy is suddenly much more real and urgent in this country.
Conversations like these can inform how we act moving forward. For early career scholars like ourselves, the practices and ideas we grapple with now will inform how we shape the field of teacher education. American schooling reflects and shapes our broader society: it has always fallen short of the promises that our republic was founded on, but it has also been an institution that can foster ideas and actions for change.
I find that engaging in these conversations with other teacher educators and scholars from abroad is useful for several key reasons. By learning how other systems work, you understand your own system infinitely better in all regards: its history, current iterations, strengths and weaknesses. When you have something to compare against, it helps you see the contours of your own space. Second, working with scholars abroad gives you a sense of how others in the world are grappling with the same global issues. I was surprised, but in retrospect I likely shouldn’t have been, as to how often the topic of preserving, strengthening and adapting democracy is coming up, and the role schooling plays in this. The same can be said for climate change. Given the international consequences of these problems, they will not be solved if we try to keep the answers “in house.” Education, and therefore teacher education, will play/is playing a crucial role moving forward. Nobody can be an expert in all areas, so by establishing connections with those who have different experiences & expertise, we can build an effective team to make a better system.
From Adria:
Chris had the idea to extend our kitchen table conversation (which itself was an extension of Ben and Chris's conversations with Ushiwata sensei and Dr. Petersen) with a few written comments from the three of us. To be honest, I wasn't sure I could handle one more thing on my doctoral student To Do list. However, my curiosity and revived inspiration after editing the kitchen table talk got the best of me. I figured, if Chris or Ben write something, I can too. (I promise my comments are not all about dragging my feet).
I am in a very unique position as a student, a scholar, an elementary educator, and (currently) a Graduate Student Researcher with CTERIN. Part of my duties are to edit, revise, and prepare video footage of interviews with renowned scholars and other teacher education topics for dissemination to the public. Since the summer of 2020, it has amounted to 45 videos. If I've learned anything from participating in the creation of this collection, it is that starting and keeping conversations alive takes a LOT of work. It takes attention to detail and conscious, constant surveillance of the voices that we hear from and speculation as to perspectives that are missing, muddled, or muted. Without continued conversations, the lived experiences and lessons learned from our collective pasts, across the globe, will be for naught.
I have been thinking alot about how my doctoral experience has helped me develop a more macro view of education, a greater understanding and appreciation for the complexity of the historical, social, and cultural threads of our systems of education. These conversations – those that Chris and Ben had with international scholars, those between us doctoral students, as well as those among my former colleagues and friends who are still in elementary classrooms –these conversations, when I make time to engage, when I stop dragging my feet and listen to responses and ask questions–these conversations help me continue to piece together how I have come to be a part of systemic challenges and how I hope to be a part of substantive solutions.
Education can be a lonely and isolating professional field. Chris wrote that conversations like these can inform how we act moving forward, and I agree. But how do we enter into these conversations? How are they sustained? If we, as educators, continue to proactively and actively seek and engage in conversations with diverse partners, across the globe, then perhaps we can more effectively work together, learn from each other, and build institutions and structures that are maintained and sustained in response to opportunities and obstacles that arise in subsequent generations. Like Chris, I know that these conversations are particularly valuable because they are salient in our political, biological, and global contexts. A question I'm left with is how we, as emerging scholars, maintain this momentum of seeking and entering conversations, especially when there are so many other things in our lives that encourage us to drag our feet… (Turns out, my comments were about feet dragging….)
We'd love to hear from you: who should we be talking to? Whose voices are missing? What do YOU have to say? Leave a comment/question/thought below – keep the conversation flowing!
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