View the panel discussion: Fireside Chat, beginning at 22:48.

鈥淧ersonally, for me, this has definitely been a period of self-reflection,鈥� says Crawford of the experiences this summer as a member of 麻豆传媒在线鈥檚 Urban Teacher Residency, including visiting neighborhoods where her students live and learning more about the city鈥檚 political and social history from community leaders.

鈥淚鈥檝e had a chance to think about my personal values as a person, what I believe, what I stand for, what I don鈥檛 support, and how I could bring that into my future classroom,鈥� says Crawford, who as part of the residency will earn a master鈥檚 degree in Teaching (MAT) and certification as a teacher of students with disabilities.

The Transformative Education Network 鈥� known by its acronym TEN 鈥� offers the critical professional development in recruiting and preparing prospective teachers with partner districts, Newark Board of Education and Orange Public Schools. Over the past five years, 98 麻豆传媒在线 graduates have earned degrees through the Urban Teacher Residency and Newark Teacher Project.

The summer orientation helps the prospective teachers understand the distinct neighborhoods and the community-based organizations dedicated to improving the schools, according to Teaching and Learning professors and TEN co-directors Bree Picower and Tanya Maloney.

Environmental concerns are highlighted, particularly the health consequences for children who live In the Ironbound section of Newark crowded with factories and warehouses, a power plant, chemical refineries, the state鈥檚 largest garbage incinerator and a Superfund site.

鈥淭o actually engage in the environmental justice tour and smell the air and see all of the different places where waste is being collected and how there鈥檚 an incinerator right next to people鈥檚 homes, that鈥檚 a different experience than us, as professors, telling prospective teachers about their students鈥� experiences,鈥� Maloney says.

鈥淚t allows us to have a different conversation when we start to talk about, 鈥榳hy do you think that student is acting the way they are in the classroom?鈥� It allows us to have that conversation from a place of thinking about how that child is being affected by systems, outside actors, that could be out of their control,鈥� Maloney says.

The summer orientation also featured an intentional focus on community partnership and organizing. The 麻豆传媒在线 students received an introduction to working with community-based organizations as a way to deepen their connection to the neighborhoods they will serve as teachers, Picower says.

The summer experiences segue directly into curriculum design as prospective teachers develop lesson and unit plans based on the students鈥� neighborhoods, experiences and identities.

Sharing an example, the professors pointed to a unit on social justice and community activism developed by Urban Teacher Residents Kathryn Restituyo and Katiana LaCroix. The teachers shifted how they were teaching common topics such as 鈥渃ommunity helpers鈥� to be more culturally relevant for their students, including inviting environmental activist Christian Rodriguez to share how Down Bottom Farms is growing healthy food in the Ironbound.

The unit 鈥渟olidified how community activism and activists can create substantial change right in their 鈥榖ackyard鈥�,鈥� Restituyo and LaCroix shared in the聽TEN newsletter. 鈥淥ur students are able to see that within their own community activism plays a vital role.鈥�

Such community wealth connects with the other assets, including the cultures and languages students bring into the classroom, observes Diane Tehranian, an engineer by training who is changing careers. She was attracted to the Newark Teacher Project after her experiences as a parent advocate at 麻豆传媒在线 Public Schools, where her children go to school.

鈥淚鈥檓 a proponent of hiring teachers of color and I am a white woman who鈥檚 coming into this,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 have an extra burden of needing to educate myself, to put in that extra work if I鈥檓 going to be a good teacher.鈥�

Reflecting on what she鈥檚 learned this summer, Crawford, who earned a degree in Family Science and Human Development, says she鈥檚 confident she鈥檚 on the right path. 鈥淚 feel more confident in myself and my goal,鈥� she says.

Her friend, Tamara Dixon 鈥�22, added the word 鈥渆nlightening鈥� to the experience. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much about myself, about the world around me,鈥� says Dixon, who was selected for the Urban Teacher Residency after graduating with a degree in Family Science and Human Development.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to meeting my students,鈥� Dixon says, 鈥渓earning more about the community, and continuing to meet new people who all share the same goal of wanting unity and love and gaining more knowledge.鈥�

Story by Staff Writer聽Marilyn Joyce Lehren
Photos courtesy of the Transformative Education Network

The interns worked alongside human rights education professionals throughout the Spring 2022 semester, conducted a research project on a human rights topic of their choice, and developed and taught a lesson plan on that topic. This competitive internship also included participation in the three-credit course, .

The high school students each attended three presentations as part of the Center for Social Justice at MHS. These students were so smart, engaged, and eager to participate. Additionally, their teachers and administrators were very gracious in hosting the group.

The program included:

• Debates over Teaching Critical Race Theory
• Trans Youth ActivismHealth Care Access
• School Segregation
• The Syrian Refugee Crisis
• Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
• Maternal Health Care
• Latinx Activism
• Educational Equality
• The Family Separation Crisis at the US Border
• Health Care for Trans Youth
• Internet Privacy
• Free Speech on the Internet
• The Wage Gap
• Body Image and Health

Dr. Zo毛 Burkholder is the director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Project and a professor of Educational Foundations. She is a historian of education whose expertise includes antiracist education, school desegregation, and civil rights history. Dr. Burkholder is the author of (Oxford University Press, 2021), (University of Chicago Press, 2021), and (Oxford University Press, 2011) as well as numerous scholarly articles and commentaries. She may be contacted at聽burkholderz@montclair.edu.

Special thanks to for training our students on how to deliver the very best high-tech, interactive lessons. Their lessons were a hit!

Dr.聽Knobel was born in New South Wales, Australia.聽 She taught elementary school in Australia and worked within teacher education in Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the US.聽 She was an internationally recognized expert on literacy and digital technologies, and central to creating the field of new literacies.

Dr.聽Knobel will be remembered as a kind and dedicated mentor for students and as a caring, supportive, and insightful colleague.

Michele is survived by her husband, Colin Lankshear, her mother, and siblings.聽 She will be deeply missed by her colleagues in the Department, across the College and University community.

• Condolence messages can be made through the
• Donations in Michele’s memory can be made to .