Education 402: Diverse Classrooms, was a class that we took as a cohort during Block 4. It was instructed by Dr. Gretchen Vogelsang, who is widely regarded as the living angel of the program. As with the courses we have had previously with her, she brought a level of organisation, understanding, empathy, and grace to her learning space which I think was very much needed at the time. Gretchen has an ability to make coursework feel so personal, and challenging, yet overwhelmingly rewarding, and this remained true in my experiences with this course too.
As the name of the course suggests, the primary focus of study was looking at the various dynamics created within classrooms by any number of contributing factors. As professionals, one of the best things we can begin to develop is a flexibility to adapt to the needs of the learners in our space. For this reason, much of the activities in the class focused on using various lenses to see potential structures, decisions, plans, etc., which may work well or need to be modified based on the needs of the group. We spent much of our time in groups discussing procedural steps to an inclusive classroom we were creating, during which we were encouraged to be creative in our uses of technology – something that made my heart very happy as I finally got to talk about quantum teleportation.
The final project for this course was actually a synthesised project between 402 and 401. We were instructed to produce and present a “capstone” project representative in some way of our life and goal as a professional; Essentially it was “where did I come from?” “Where am I?” and “Where am I going?” that we were to address. I chose to draw on previous experience in my archaeological work in order to create a metaphor for the system in place to catch students who need help. It resonated strongly with me because I got to tell my own story while presenting, and I got a very powerful response from the panel of judges viewing my presentation.
Together, Sheila and Gretchen played a huge role in the ways I have been able to step outside of my proverbial shell during this past block. They also played a substantial role in contributing to the overall wellness of the cohort in their eagerness to be there for us and to help how they could. I really hope that my career continues to cross paths with these educators, as I know I still have multitudes to learn from them.