This past August I graduated with a M.S.Ed. in Education Policy from Penn GSE. I’ve just begun work on my Ph.D. as a Moorman-Simon Fellow for Penn GSE and couldn’t be more excited to keep learning. Prior to attending Penn, I studied political economy and philosophy at Tulane University in New Orleans. I really value interdisciplinary studies and in this blog I strive to connect diverse fields to education, showing how intertwined philosophy, neuroscience, economics, sociology, education, etc. are.
I became interested in education policy during my freshman year at Tulane when I volunteered as a reading tutor at a local Recovery School; I was fortunate enough to work with the same group of students for four years. Bonding with these students, watching them both struggle and grow academically has been a true inspiration for me. My sophomore year, recognizing the challenge to re-build a strong education system in post-Katrina New Orleans, I became active within the school district, enrolled in teacher certification classes, and additionally created a volunteer reading program–Students Improving Literacy Abound (SILA)–that was implemented at a New Orleans public school. In my last semester at Tulane, I formed a student board that will continue to work to expand university-partnered reading programs across the city. I’ve stayed involved with the program and hope to inspire other university students start reading programs in their communities.
I miss New Orleans and my students very much, but have enjoyed getting familiar with a new school district. Over the past year in Philadelphia, I worked with a senior class at West Philadelphia High and volunteered as a mentor/TA at Alexander Wilson Elementary School. Due to political reasons I will be unable to continue my work at WPHS, but I look forward to collaborating with a group of students at University City High School and continuing to volunteer at Wilson.
If you haven’t already guessed, my favorite educational philosopher is John Dewey, hence the ‘experiential continuum.’ I believe that all learning should be experiential, and that we must get our students more engaged with their educations. In the words of John Dewey, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. The bottom line is, I love education and I LOVE learning. It’s my hope that I can inspire more students to get engaged with learning. I’ll always be working to improve and innovate our nation’s public education systems in one way or another.
Hello Kirsten!
My blog was linked to your through our mutual love of experiential education. Happy to meet a like-minded soul in the blogosphere. I was struck by your quote, “It’s my hope that I can inspire more students to get engaged with learning. I’ll always be working to improve and innovate our nation’s public education systems in one way or another.” It inspires me to see such passion and true love. All my best to you in your quest.
Josette
Thanks so much Josette! I’m always happy to find a fellow supporter of experiential education! I’d love to check out your blog!
Kirsten: Good to see your interest in using GIS as a research tool. My focus here is on using it in educational contexts to improve teaching and learning across multiple disciplines in an inquiry-driven environment–asking questions, gathering data, solving problems, and acting on issues. That could include investigating last week’s tornadoes all the way through neighborhood demographic change in Philadelphia to world biomes. We have worked with Hopeworks across the river from you in Camden for GIS for the students to gain valuable job skills as well. Best wishes; keep in touch.
Hi Joseph! I would love to hear more about your work with GIS. I am just getting into it and think it has incredible potential in the education field. I’m a huge supporter of interdisciplinary learning and am thrilled to learn of your use of technology to drive inquiry, engage, and solve problems
Hi there. I stumbled upon your blog in my ongoing search to help a young man who dropped out of high school and needs help learning to read. I think the Wilson reading system may be the right approach for him. I’m trying to teach myself how to deliver it, but fear that will take too much time. Do you know anyone who is able to tutor him using this system or anything else that is demonstrated to work with older learners?
Honestly, I have never used the Wilson reading system before. I’m not sure where you are located, but you could try contacting the local school district to get the contact of reading specialists employed. Many teachers and school district employees don’t have work over the summer and may be available for tutoring, or they could consult you on materials to use. Most areas also have non-profits dedicated to helping high school dropouts which would should look into. In my experience, I have only worked with older learners who couldn’t read very well in a school setting. They were pulled out of class for reading by a specialist, and then also by me once a week. I would use books at the level they could read comfortably at (sometimes this was kindergarten) and also that were about a subject of interest for the student–non-fiction books are great for this. I would then work with them on reading in a very traditional way: reading the books together, helping him/her sound out words, talking about vowels, consonants, different sounds they make, etc. and then asking questions about the story to check for comprehension.
Kirsten,
I love your blog! I stumbled on it by accident, but will definitely come back often. I’m in the midst of writing my dissertation on Dewey and university pedagogy, but I’m active in educational issues across the board (I’m also married to a fourth grade teacher). Perhaps there will be an opportunity for us to collaborate at some point. I’m interested in trying to get young Dewey scholars to become more active in the national educational discourse, perhaps by starting a consortium of sorts. Cheers –
Aaron
Hi Aaron!
Thanks so much! I would love to hear more about your dissertation on Dewey and to collaborate in the future. Please keep me posted on your idea for a consortium. I’m excited to learn of your work and our shared passion for John Dewey’s philosophy.
Sincerely,
Kirsten