Taking Flight: Giving Up the Things That Weigh Me Down

• In Event: The Pandemic as a Portal: On Transformative Ruptures and (Im)Possible Futures for Education

Abstract

From the perspective of a Latinx, dual-language, special education, public school teacher, I explore and detail what an equitable and just education could look like in our future. I begin by envisioning a future that:
● Values collaboration in teaching and learning
● Allows for spaces of ongoing teacher learning where we teachers decide where we want to grow and how we want to learn.
● Invests in our growth and development as educators.
● Consists of a solid understanding that there is more expertise across communities than in any one person.
I continue by explaining that in order for this to be a reality, there will be much that we will need to leave behind and little we will take into the future with us. As a sort of call to action, we teachers will have to think critically about what is no longer serving our best interests and that of our students and families.

Author

• Karina Malik, Dos Puentes Elementary School