Student News

How can schools move from being a source of inequity and harm to a source of community resurgence?

Intrigued by this question, Meixi (PhD ‘19) found that building relationships between communities and schools is the key to unlocking new ways of teaching, learning and knowing.

Originally from Singapore, Meixi spent childhood years at an indigenous hill tribe school in northern Thailand, which is where she saw the deep need to explore diverse methods of teaching and learning.

Growing up in New Orleans, Elzena McVicar (MIT ‘10) was surrounded by a family filled with teachers. Years of family conversations about education convinced McVicar that teaching was not for her.

While working on her bachelor's degree in anthropology, however, McVicar took a work study job as a tutor. Then, after graduating from college, she found herself working in an elementary school as an AmeriCorps volunteer. These two experiences changed McVicar’s perceptions of education, ultimately leading her in a new professional direction.

When Luke Reichley was in elementary school 20-odd years ago, paint and clay were his primary tools for making.

While children have long used their imaginations to create toys and art from whatever is at hand, digital technologies are opening new opportunities for educators to bring making into their classrooms. This summer, Reichley and his fellow elementary teacher candidates at the University of Washington College of Education are experiencing a glimpse into that future.

While working as a high school English teacher, Lisa Sibbett (PhD ‘18) became aware of a disconnect between social justice-focused teaching and its real-world application.

From her formative years in Buenos Aires to pursuing a PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle, Patricia Ferreyra has combined her passion for both music and education to build bridges between cultures.

As a high school student, Ferreyra’s love for the guitar introduced her to teaching, as she tutored peers in both guitar and English.

“I believe teaching was a natural choice for me,” she said. “I had a good experience at school and with my teachers. I loved going to school and I believe that experience influenced my interest in education.”

During the University of Washington College of Education’s June 10 graduation ceremonies, two representatives of the Class of 2017 discussed the role of education in a thriving democracy as families, friends, faculty and staff gathered to celebrate more than 700 graduates.

During her 10-year career as a teacher at a Seattle public high school, Sooz Stahl has watched as its student population has steadily grown less diverse, a direct result of a 2007 Supreme Court decision that found that SPS’s efforts to diversify school demographics by race was unconstitutional.

Fourteen University of Washington College of Education doctoral students will present their research projects on May 12, with topics including ambitious science instruction in kindergarten, the principal pipeline, measuring afterschool program quality and states’ teacher preparation policies under ESSA.

The Research and Inquiry Presentations will take place from 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. in the Communications Building Room 326. These presentations are a major milestone in the studies of each PhD candidate at the College of Education.