Graduate Education Newsletter

Greetings from the Chair

Each semester, I make a point in my graduate courses to interact with my students as they arrive and get settled in class. In these brief but important moments, I listen as the students describe what is happening in their classrooms, in their schools, and in their lives. From what I have heard this fall semester and what we have witnessed, the start of the K-12 school year has been incredibly challenging and difficult. We thought that our schools and lives would return to some form of normalcy and the pandemic would recede to a distant memory. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and the return to school has been anything but normal.

Although the school year is young, we are seeing a social-emotional toll that is pushing staff, teachers and administrators to the breaking point. A recent Washington Post article summed up what is happening in schools with a blaring headline, “Why So Many Teachers are Thinking of Quitting.” School systems are taking notice and employing needed measures to assist and help address this growing crisis. In fact, as I write this letter, Richmond Public Schools have recognized this exhaustion and stress and have shifted more resources to assist with the well-being of its employees.

At the School of Professional and Continuing Studies and in our Graduate Education programs, we have also recognized the strain that the pandemic has put on our students and our adjunct faculty, many of whom are employed in schools. As a team, we have worked hard to assist students and adjunct faculty in making sure that they feel supported and accommodated this fall semester. Our staff and faculty have recognized the need for relationships, communication, and to assist in any way possible. I think this focus on a sense of belonging and engagement is what is so special about working in a small, liberal arts university. We realize that our programs are truly about our students and we are willing to do anything to make sure they succeed. From late-night emails, to Zoom check-ins, to supporting students who get sick, to helping out adjunct faculty who are juggling work and teaching, we have tried our best to make sure our students and faculty colleagues feel they are part of our Spider community.

In addition, in this fall 2021 Graduate Education e-newsletter, you will read about how we have continued to work on grants, professional development, and outreach to our local schools. Our staff and faculty have engaged with local schools in creating partnerships in teaching, curriculum, and leadership development. Two areas that we will be focusing on in the coming academic year are culturally responsive schools and assisting provisionally licensed teachers with gaining licensure. Our staff and faculty have already been working hard to address these issues and it will be the focal point of the fall meeting with our Education Advisory Board.

In this e-newsletter you will learn about our Graduate Education Speaker Series on November 4 at 5:30 pm, which features a discussion titled, First Generation Asian Americans in Virginia: A Dialogue on Diverse Migration Experiences. Our faculty and staff will also participate in another diversity, equity, and inclusivity book discussion this year. The book we will be using is titled, Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and the Learning of Latindad by Jonathan Rosa.

Finally, as part of our Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) process, we have been examining the data on diversity, equity and inclusivity in our programs and have developed a recruitment plan for all students to thrive and have a sense of belonging in our courses and field experiences.

As we look back on the start of the fall semester, we see how the pandemic has disrupted and, in many ways, changed our K-12 schools and educational environment, particularly as it relates to issues of equity. With any change comes challenges, but also opportunities. Be on the lookout for additional information from us in the near future about how we are continuing to assist schools with these changes and provide opportunities to work on these equity challenges.

As the summer weather fades and cool mornings and colorful trees arrive, we in Graduate Education wish you all the best in your professional and personal lives. Have a great fall!

Be safe and be well!

Tom

Tom J. Shields, Ph.D.
Graduate Education Chair