Education concentration confirmed for fall 2023

By Zach Spindler-Krage spindler@grinnell.edu

Beginning in fall 2023, students will finally be able to register for classes in the education studies concentration. On Dec. 5, faculty voted 79-4 in favor of adding the new concentration. The proposal, spearheaded by Deborah Michaels, professor of education, reflected a decade of deliberation about the addition of a new education program.

Evidence of significant student interest was integral to the proposal’s success. In March 2021, a campus-wide email survey sent by the education Student Educational Policy Committee (SEPC) indicated that 72 of the 180 respondents would “seriously consider pursuing a concentration in Education Studies.”

The high rate of graduates pursuing education careers also contributed to the addition of the new program. For the 2020 graduating class, 11% entered education-related professions, making it the third most common career path behind “computing/technology” and “re- was created by Residence Life while coordinating with the Conney M. Kimbo Black Cultural Center (BCC).

According to an email sent to the S&B from Jazzmine Brooks, director of intercultural affairs and Black student specialist, and Vrinda Varia, assistant chief diversity officer for intercultural student life, BCC’s mission is to “promote exploring Black identity development and unify students … by centering Black voices and experiences … while building a sense of belonging and tradition within the African diasporic community at Grinnell College.”

The BCC and Sawubona House will have programming and initiatives together to support and engage with the Black/Pan-African diasporic student community on campus.

“Sawubona is a Zulu greeting meaning, ‘I see you,’ recognizing each person’s presence, worth and dignity,” wrote Brooks and Varia.

Brooks and Varia stated that by the College’s residential curriculum,” Brooks and Varia wrote. “The residential experience offers personal identity exploration interests of residents in the house with residential community building. Sawubona House offers a space to explore self, community and culture.”

According to Dennis Perkins, assistant dean of residence life and student conduct, there have been three students living in Sawubona House since August. The house has room for five students in total.

“Sawubona is considered one of our six project houses,” Perkins said.

“This means a space organized around a common theme in which everyone who lives there supports and is willing to live by that theme, rules, regulations and policies.” search/science,” according to the Dec. 5 faculty meeting minutes.

The Sawubona House finished applications for the upcoming academic year in January, and new residents will be notified of their acceptance this month.

“The concentration was a logical step considering the popularity of the education department,” said Elia Dewey `23, a member of the education SEPC. “Many course sections are completely full. This step helps accommodate the overwhelming enrollment.”

Between 2015 and 2018, there were 55 students who completed at least 16 credits in education. The proposal, created by dozens of professors across departments, argued that many of those students would have completed a concentration had it been available.

“I think there were a lot of students who were hesitant to take upper-level education classes because there was no credential to acknowledge their efforts,” said Dewey.

Sarah Purcell, professor of history, who contributed to the proposal, said she believes that the concentration is a necessary complement to the teacher certification program. “It is a way for students who aren’t seeking certification to show the world, on their transcript and resume, that they completed an interdisciplinary course of study.”

Dewey, who has taken six education courses, attested to the interdisciplinary nature of studying education. “Whether you’re going into teaching or not, education offers insight into how to interact with people in constructive ways. It can apply to any field from policy to nonprofit work.”

The concentration has a particular eye toward diversity and inclusivity, according to education professor Cori Jakubiak, who chaired the education department until December 2022. “K-12 teaching tends to attract people for whom the school system worked well.”

“Teacher education has tended towards demographics that lean middle-class, white and female-identifying,” said Jakubiak. “Adding an education studies credential system is a way to encourage students from different backgrounds to realize the possibilities