Adam Hill

Future Educator

Spring 2024

Professional Learning Network

Angelou, M. (2013). Just do right [Video File]. YouTube. Retrieved April 20th, 2023, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxrV2J_OjGo

This short video features Dr. Maya Angelou, a memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist, as she delivers an
inspiring message directed towards teachers (and all people) about doing the right things in the world and
being better people by doing our best to “live what we teach.” (0:44) The beginning of the video shows
Maya explaining how a painting reminds her of her grandmother and how she would tell her to “Just Do
Right” in her life. Throughout the remainder of this video, the scene changes back and forth from footage
of Maya talking, to images of people looking directly at the camera while she gives compelling pieces of
advice for people to follow. Although she doesn’t give specific, clear-cut actions to take in terms of how
to ‘Just Do Right’ her way of speaking metaphorically is compelling for viewers as they can apply it to
being a better person in all facets of life.

This video is useful to being a transformative educator as she discusses how you will want to have a good
reputation in life and ‘be in people’s prayers.’ Educators are prominent members of communities, and she
makes a good point by saying that you should want people to think of you highly with respect and be in
your corner. Additionally, the video is very useful as it gives a sense of motivation and direction to what a
transformative educator’s role in the world is. A quote that stood out to me was where she says, “Pick up
the battle and make it a better world where you are. It can be better, and it must be better, but it is up to
us.” (3:06) Although she doesn’t explain exactly what the battle is, we can infer that she is referring to the
movement towards a more socially just world and that it is up to transformative educators to truly make a
difference in this movement. Even though this video is shorter, the application it provides for being a
better educator (and a good person in general) is profound.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources for Classrooms (2022, November 29). Common Sense
Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/lists/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-
resources-for-classrooms

This online resource from Common Sense Education lists 36 digital tools that teachers can use to teach
for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their classrooms. The webpage includes videos, interactive
games, podcasts, dynamic websites, toolkits, apps, and many others to provide educators with a wide
range of methods to teach their students for DEI. The top of the page prefaces the need for these resources
in classrooms by explaining that they “will open students' minds, get them to reflect on their own
privileges, and help them better understand other people, perspectives, and cultures.” This is so that
students can be put on the path for future social change and making a difference through activism. The
page then displays each of the resources with links to access them, labels that tell if the resource is free,
(most of them are) what age range of students would benefit from the resource, and a brief description of
why it’s important.

It is worth noting that each resource listed has an additional link to the ‘full review’ section. This is where
Common Sense details how a specific resource can be taught in classrooms, what it is exactly, and if it is
good for learning. There are also some reviews in this section that are written by other teachers which can
be useful as well. Educators need to utilize intuitive tools like the ones on this webpage as they can assist
with being transformative through helping children learn about the social turmoil going on in the world,
while showing what their involvement would look like as activists. Technology is also becoming a much
more integrated component in classrooms so having a list of online resources to sift through can play to a
teacher’s advantage. Additionally, this resource includes many different avenues of technology use
through these tools. This makes it much more equitable if some students learn better than others through
different modes of technology or vice versa. This resource does an excellent job with providing
background information in terms of classroom application and educators should utilize it.

Dell’Angelo, T. (2014). “Creating classrooms for social justice.” Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-classrooms-for-social-justice-tabitha-dellangelo

This blog posted by Tabitha Dell’Angelo on Edutopia, an educational non-profit organization that is
published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, goes into detail on how educators can create
classroom settings that teach for social justice. Each idea that the author poses is a subheading of the blog
which includes connecting to students' lives, linking to real-world problems and multiple perspectives,
creating classroom community, and including authentic assessments. The mission of the George Lucas
Educational Foundation is to “transform k-12 education so that all students can acquire and effectively
apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to thrive in their studies, careers, and adult lives” so
this blog having some direct applications for teachers to utilize in preparing students to be a part of social
justice change fits right into their mission.

Dell’Angelo concludes her blog by emphasizing to readers that she has listed only a few of the methods
that educators can use to be an advocate for social justice within classrooms. She also notes that teachers
do not have to do all the methods listed and that they should look to find smaller ways to implement these
ideas and fit them to what will work best for a class of students. Educators need to act in the classroom
and teach in a transformative way for just social change. A lot of teachers don’t feel the need to or are
hesitant to do so as it contradicts a cycle of complacency and ‘traditional learning.’ This blog is useful as
it sheds light on realistic actions that teachers can take to equip students to be advocates for social justice
so they can take that knowledge with them to apply it in the world. Teachers have immense power in
changing the world with children and if we aren’t assisting children in finding applications for the
plethora of knowledge we are providing them, we are failing to become transformative educators. This
blog is a great resource towards inhibiting that.
Emdin, C. (2021) “Seven cs for effective teaching”. ASCD.
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/seven-cs-for-effective-teaching

This online article written by Christopher Emdin from ASCD, “a global education organization focused
on empowering educators to advance and elevate learning to meet the needs of all students—equitably
and wholly,” details these “Seven Cs” that can help teachers develop stronger relationships with students
who have diverse backgrounds, experiences, and methods of learning. These seven Cs include:
Cogenerative dialogue (Cogens), Co Teaching. Cosmopolitanism, Context and Content, Competition, and
Curation. The resource ends on the compelling idea that academic success and rigor cannot be achieved
through standardized test preparation drilling but rather through forming strong relationships to give
students a greater sense of belonging and security within a classroom.

Each one of the Seven Cs in the resource are a different sub-heading, and each one emphasizes actions
that teachers can take to enact them while also providing examples. This resource is very useful as it
sheds light on an intuitive teaching practice that can often get lost in the shuffle amidst a society that is so
focused on standardized testing, that it sacrifices knowing who children are and forming meaningful
relationships with them. To be a transformative educator, teachers must understand who they have in
front of them and their experiences with learning to best tailor to their strengths and weaknesses. Not
knowing how your student can learn more effectively often benefits those who thrive off the ‘drilling for
standardized testing model’ creating inequities for those who can’t afford test prep or struggle with test
taking in general.

Fontein, D. (2023, April 25) https://thoughtexchange.com/blog/transformational-leadership-in-education/

This online blog written by Dara Fontein of Thought Exchange “the all-in-one engagement & survey
platform that equips leaders with more powerful insights and better outcomes for less lift,” illustrates how
teachers can be transformational leaders in education. Setting the scene of a post-pandemic state of
schooling in the United States, Fontein explains what transformational leadership is, the distinction
between instructional and transformational leadership, and why transformational leadership is important
in education. She also provides examples of transformational leadership in education contexts and tools to
inform educational leadership. Fontein concludes her insightful blog by explaining how educators have
used Thought Exchange to be more transformative within their districts by hearing multiple perspectives
and that this website can assist them in striving for transformational leadership.

This blog is unique as it is easy to navigate through the different sections and each idea is laid out
extensively. Fontein uses charts and quotes well to make this a smooth read that both teachers and
administration in schools can benefit from. Additionally, there are a lot of links to other readings and
resources that Thought Exchange is utilizing so that educators reading this can dive deeper. This resource
is useful as it is very detailed and present. It recognizes the current state of schools after covid-19,
(published this year) the current political climate, and the need for educators to be transformative in their
classrooms by having values of equity and justice at heart. A lot of current and aspiring educators may
still be usure of what transformational leadership can look like and why it’s important. However, this blog
can put a lot of that uncertainty to rest. This source is specifically helpful to me as an educator because I
sometimes feel uncertain about what I can do to transform my future classroom of students. Especially
with the lingering habits and struggles that persist with students in the aftermath of a pandemic, the task
of being transformative and holding true to equitable teaching to make up those gaps seems very
daunting. What if students aren’t receptive to the importance of social justice or being involved in the
world around them? Apathy truly will continue for students if educators aren’t transformative with these
values and I’m glad there are resources like these at our disposal to provide great insight and strategies.

GEM Report UNESCO. (2020, June 22). Inclusion and Education: #AllMeansALL [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEyjlqixq9c

This short video from the Global Education Monitoring report of The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO) goes into detail regarding the importance of inclusion in
modern schools all over the world. This video utilizes simple, visually appealing graphics to capture the
attention of viewers and clearly illustrate what inclusion is and why it’s important in schools. UNESCO
believes that education is strongest when it embraces diversity, and that the education system should
adapt to students rather than the other way around. This video illustrates the unfortunate reality that rich
and poor countries have school designs, laws, and policies that don’t cater to students’ diverse needs.
Whether it is students with disability, diverse cultural background, students learning a non-native
language, or any combination of the three, students can sometimes fall behind or be shortchanged with
missing out on the most enriching and valuable educational experience.

The video concludes by explaining the fact that how we train teachers makes a huge difference. Everyone
should be able to benefit in school and providing educators with the resources and education necessary to
be ambassadors of inclusion is pivotal to improving the state of inclusion. This resource assists me in
becoming a more transformative educator as it makes me more motivated to becoming a teacher that has a
passion for inclusion. As an educator that wants to teach students about inclusion and why it’s so
important to foster a good culture in school, it helps me understand a clearer picture of what inclusion is
and why it’s a pressing issue in schools today. I believe that this is a source I could share with my
colleagues in my future school or with students in my classroom. I believe that this source will not only
help students understand what inclusion is but help them become more active in assisting in the problems
of inequity and exclusion that schools and society perpetuate. This video is truly calling for a change in
mindset in society and it is an issue that everyone should care about.

Hammond, Z. (2023, April 10). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain. Teaching Channel. Retrieved
September 23, 2023, from https://www.teachingchannel.com/k12-hub/blog/culturally-responsive-
teaching-brain/

This intuitive article by Zaretta Hammond from The Teaching Channel, whose mission is to “build
teacher-driven professional learning, deepen and improve opportunities for teacher learning, and elevate/
celebrate teachers in our society,” goes into detail as to what culturally responsive teaching is and the
impact it has on student development. In the body of her article, Hammond brings up four pivotal ideas
about culturally responsive teaching. She explains that culturally responsive teaching isn’t the same as
multicultural education or social justice education, it builds students’ brain power by improving
information processing skills using cultural learning tools, is grounded in social and cognitive
neuroscience, and it requires teachers to recognize the cultural orientation that is called ‘collectivism.’
(Otherwise known as group harmony and interdependence or socio-cultural learning as she puts it.)
Hammond also provides a helpful chart with the title ‘Dimensions of Equity.’ This chart identifies the
differences amongst multicultural education, social justice education, and culturally responsive pedagogy.
She then brings up this idea of ‘De-biasing’ and references Patricia Devine of the University of
Wisconsin. Devine’s idea is that for ‘de-biasing’ to occur, a teacher must have intention, attention, and
time to recognize biases that exist within themselves. This can assist educators in working to negate blind
spots that influence personal biases.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Hammond provides a link to her book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and
The Brain if website viewers care to dive deeper into literature that sheds light on culturally responsive
teaching. I believe this article assists greatly in becoming a transformative educator as it provides a
tremendous amount of clarity in terms of distinguishing the difference between multicultural education,
social justice education, and culturally responsive teaching. A lot of times these terms are used
interchangeably and it’s important to know the difference between them. It’s also useful as it details
concrete actions that educators can take to acknowledge biases that they may have and work to combat
them. This article also gave a lot of great insight into the ‘why’ behind teaching with these strategies and
how it can help students develop greatly in a classroom. This source is certainly helpful to me as I
sometimes completely forget about the contrasts between culturally responsive teaching, social justice
education, and culturally relevant pedagogy. They are hard to wrap your head around! These terms often
get thrown into the same umbrella category and despite their similarities, they do have individually
unique aspects. I have learned that it’s important to be aware of these differences as they call for different
specific actions to take and implement within teaching. I also found this resource interesting in terms of
how there is research and evidence backing the use of these transformative teaching practices. I hope to
go back to this resource when I work with my colleagues to advocate for implementation of some of these
ideas and applications.

Picard, D. (2015, February 25). Teaching Students with Disabilities. Vanderbilt University.
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/disabilities/
This guide by Danielle Picard of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching provides insight into steps
that educators can take to be more effectively equipped with knowledge in teaching students with
disabilities. Picard discusses the importance of terminology in terms of referring to students properly, the
types of disabilities, and how to provide students with disabilities access to ample resources. She also
explains the importance of confidentiality in students disclosing information about their disability to the
teacher and why there is a stigma surrounding disability that continues to persist. This section provides a
lot of great strategies for reducing this stigma, what we can do to make ourselves as teachers more
accessible, and how we shouldn’t make assumptions of what students can or cannot do. The guide
continues with a section dedicated to designing a classroom based on inclusivity. This section details
what this design can look like, and she brings up what The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can
look like more specifically. This section implores educators to think about refining aspects of their
teaching so that inclusion is at the foundation and all students are given the same opportunities and
experiences to learn.
Picard ends the guide with links to more resources for educators to learn more and extend their
knowledge. I think this source is useful for me to become a more transformative educator as it provides
me with knowledge and steps that I can take to be more inclusive in my own classroom. It also helps me
be more aware of the realities and obstacles that students with disabilities face daily. I also have a desire
to implement inclusion practices in my classroom as well and this article provides great examples and
strategies that I would be able to utilize with my students. I also thought the section on negating the
stigma was very insightful. I have been learning that the big idea with inclusion around disability is that
society is uncomfortable with it, and this allows the stigma to persist. Once we become comfortable with
accepting disability and we see people with disabilities as capable of achieving, it combats the stigma. I
will certainly use this source as a tool for inclusion. I think it’s worth noting that this center for teaching
guide also has numerous other Center for Teaching guides for educators to improve their teaching in
many other aspects. I will likely be coming back to this resource in the future for more information.

Soika, B. (2020, March 19). Seven effective ways to promote equity in the classroom. USC Rossier
School of Education. Retrieved September 23, 2023, from
https://rossier.usc.edu/news-insights/news/seven-effective-ways-promote-equity-classroom

This guide from Brian Soika from The University of Southern California’s School of Education provides
a list of seven different strategies that educators can utilize to promote equity for students within the
classroom. The strategies that are included are: reflect on your own beliefs, reduce race/gender barriers to
learning, establish an inclusive environment early, be dynamic with learning space, accommodate
learning styles and disabilities, be mindful of use of technology, and be aware of religious holidays.
Although some of these strategies can be seen as broad, this guide goes into further depth in terms of
direct actions that educators can take to ensure that they are having a classroom environment being
molded with an equitable standpoint in mind. Although brief, the insight that Soika provides towards
navigating the different complexities of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is meaningful.

The guide concludes with links to the resources used to construct the blog, as well as a link to USC’s
Tools for Inclusive Teaching page if readers want to gain more insight about teaching for equity through a
plethora of resources. This resource has great utility as it highlights a short, but valuable list of equity
strategies that educators can benefit from their implementation. The additional links that are a part of this
resource are also valuable to have if a more in-depth grasp of equitable teaching strategies is desired.
Teaching for DEI is something that educators in the modern-day classroom must keep at heart to be
transformative. Social injustice must be combatted and educators using resources like these to educate
themselves can be a great step toward a more just future. Equity should always be a part of forming a
classroom foundation and this blog details aspects of it well. This source is helpful to me specifically
because it provides a clearer picture of what equitable teaching looks like specifically. It expresses
avenues that can be utilized so it can be implemented more effectively so it’s very applicable. I have a
deep sense of motivation to teach with equitable practices at heart and resources like these contribute
immensely to helping me adopt more equity-based teaching practices aside from the ones I have learned
in my courses.
Thurber, A., Harbin, M.B., & Bandy, J. (2019). Teaching race: Pedagogy and practice. Vanderbilt
University Center for Teaching. Retrieved March 25th, 2023 from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-race/.

This guide from Vanderbilt University gives insight into how teaching for social justice can be
accomplished effectively in the classroom. The guide details five principles of pedagogy and includes:
Encouraging reflexivity, preparing for, and welcoming difficulty, meeting students where they are,
engaging affective and embodied dimensions of learning, and building a learning community. These
principles are rather broad so the guide details three strategies for each principle to have them hopefully
implemented in the classroom. In addition to that, the contributors provide actual examples of how to
implement these practices in a classroom and have some concrete application tied to it.

This guide is geared more towards secondary education, but it seems that the pedagogical principles and
overarching idea of teaching towards a more socially just future outlined in this guide can be applied to
nearly any classroom. It is certainly easy to read something and not really do anything with it, but
attaching action with learning about something is what this guide does well. It’s profound that this guide
ends by emphasizing that educators need to humble themselves and know that even the best plans can
have challenges to overcome as that captures the essence of social justice teaching. There will always be
new obstacles to navigate.

Weiss, B. (n.d.). Why we must save our boys (R. Reeves & M. K. Ham, Interviewers). Honestly.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5R4qJhjBhf8wUKjzyecifx

In this podcast hosted by Mary Katherine Ham with special guest Richard Reeves, the two discuss the
current state of men and boys in the United States and how there is an unfortunate reality of men
struggling in numerous aspects. During this podcast, Richard Reeves explains the unfortunate reality that
mortality from drug overdoses and alcohol related illnesses are much higher in men. Additionally, he
explains how men are three times as likely to commit suicide compared to women. Reeves states that his
motivation behind writing his book, Of Boys and Men, was the issue of boys falling behind in school
despite the resources that may exist. He explains that there is a growing problem with boys falling behind
in academics, not gaining proper non-cognitive skills, (soft skills) and are even struggling with college
admissions as boys represent roughly 40 percent of college students. He brings up the possibility of
‘redshirting’ boys to start school a year later so that developmentally so they can be closer to girls who
are developing the non-cognitive skills earlier than boys. He argues that this would be a more equitable
approach for boys to have a greater chance of success when they start school. Reeves emphasizes
throughout the podcast that it isn’t taking support away from girls, but more so supporting boys in this
struggle that they are unfortunately facing.

The podcast ends with Reeves explaining that he hopes we can move things along with talking about the
policies surrounding support for men and how this is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed with the
challenge they are currently facing with falling behind in school and the pressing societal expectations for
what men are supposed to be. This source is useful for me in becoming a more transformative educator as
I hope to be a role model for all students in my classroom but especially boys who may need that in their
lives. Some students may not have an older sibling or a father figure to serve as a role model at home or
in general which can be hard on young men especially. I believe this goes beyond just being their teacher
in the classroom and speaks of being someone that my students can look up to. As a man in a profession
that is dominated by women, I feel that I can stand out and work to be a change in this issue that is
affecting young boys in school. I also believe that it’s important as an educator to be up to date on current
issues like these as we likely either must teach about them or empower students to be the change that can
help problems like these that are persisting. Although this podcast was one in a series, it helped me gain a
lot of great insight into the context of why empowering students in education is important as they are
struggling in more ways than what we may see in the classroom.

In Summary
By taking the time to locate and explore these sources, I can now conceptualize the importance of
taking them to heart in terms of how they will help me grow as a future transformative educator. I chose
these as I saw them as important to me and I want to continue to avoid “reading things and saying what I
feel about them.” This is passive learning in terms of preparing to be a better teacher and I want to push
myself to be more active in that regard. I believe the act of searching for and discerning through sources
that I thought were useful for being more transformative was a great step in utilizing what I have learned.
I don’t think the content that I have been learning has only been for the simple purpose of engaging in
class discussion. This professional learning network (that is still in a work in progress) ensures that I am
taking knowledge with me and has enthused me to seek a use for it. The world needs educators to teach
transformatively, understand the nuances and intertwined facets of identity that their students are
navigating, and find application for it in the classroom. It’s also vital to motivate students to critically
analyze the world around them as well as their place in it. I believe that these kinds of resources that I
have outlined are helpful in seeing what I can do. It’s also great that I will be able to continuously look
back on these sources that I found in the future. This will allow me to see my thinking from my start in
the education field in terms of what I saw as useful and valuable for transformative education.
As for the sources themselves, I feel that they are all connected as each of them provides a great
amount of clear application and direction that I can take with me into my classroom. All these resources
have clear, specific actions that teachers can take to enact these ideas and methods of being
transformative in their modern classroom. I especially thought this was true for the Commonsense
Education source as it went into such specific detail of its relevance. It seemed too good of a resource to
not be included in this network as we learned a great deal about technology integration. This was also true
for the podcast as it discussed a pressing issue that has its starting point within schools. Also, I do
recognize that the Maya Angelou video is much more metaphorical as she utilizes figurative language and
action isn’t exactly clearly spoken in her video. However, her message is very present and applicable as a
call to action for educators to take to heart. Additionally, the UNESCO video is also a call to action as it
presents the importance of inclusion and motivates educators to be ambassadors of it. I could watch these
videos 20 times and continue to be inspired by what the core mission of being an educator is supposed to
be. I also thought that the article by Zaretta Hammond of the Teaching Channel gave a lot of great clarity
in terms of being more transformative and what the different terminology explicitly means. I find myself
often struggling to understand the different terms and their distinctions, so I am glad I have a resource that
explains them each more clearly while also drawing a connection to the scientific impact on the mind.
To supplement that, a unique aspect pertaining to this group of sources is that they come in a
variety of different forms. I found three guides from two different Universities, two YouTube videos, two
blog posts, two articles from websites run by educators, a podcast on a current issue, and an intuitive
online toolkit. I thought it was important to include many different forms of resources to diversify this
network and have different ways of assessing learning and knowledge. (NOTE: I utilized the 7 Cs from a
non-fiction presentation that I observed in a prior semester. I thought it was relevant and I have seen the
author’s TedTalk before.) Finally, I want to mention that I found even more great materials from
exploring each of these different websites. There seems to be a rabbit hole of transformative education
resources, and this is super advantageous to educators. I have noticed that a lot of these resources are
compiled by teachers (or a network of them) and they speak from their own experience a great deal while
also applying it to the pressing task of being a transformative educator. A few of these sources were even
created in the last year and this tells me that this idea of becoming more transformative is continuing to
grow. It’s no longer a ‘fad’ or a ‘modern’ way of teaching. It is teaching that helps students engage in the
world around them and change it for the better. It also encourages teachers to be engaged in the time that
they are teaching in and be adaptable to the rapidly changing state of the world. It gives me a sense of
greater security knowing that this search for learning will continue because I am beginning to see more of
myself engaging in the process of becoming transformative. I am excited to continue forward in this
search for my Professional Learning Network but more importantly, I look forward to using these sources
of knowledge and their teachings in my classroom to teach my students to change the world.