As we move into warmer climates (hopefully), I cannot help but think about the summer right around the corner. Our office jokes that we understand our work in seasons. We have the fall admissions season, winter application season, spring matriculation, and summer learning seasons. After the grueling and lingering winter, we are ready to watch our students sow opportunities and are preparing for the heat of supporting students in the classroom.
I have had the pleasure to hear from our current IRT scholars (and alumni) about updates regarding their graduate school admissions process. We are proud of every IRT scholar that submitted applications, interviewed, and continued the process. We are incredibly proud of those that have received acceptances and are narrowing down their decisions. We are honored that those that did not receive admission expressed vulnerability in communicating with us and are keeping their head up.
As our days get warmer, we are excited to prepare for the virtual Summer Workshop – where IRT faculty and incoming scholars will connect on acclimating to the graduate admissions process. We are enthusiastic to begin adjusting the curriculum to the virtual platform.
I’m reading Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks to prepare for our next season. As I reflect on our past in-person workshops and our first virtual programming, I cannot help but think of this work as exciting. As hooks states, to “enter classroom settings in colleges and universities with the will to share the desire to encourage excitement, was to transgress.” Our faculty and staff know that excitement alone is not enough; pedagogy and praxis must support the classroom space.
As we move into our next critical period, please keep us updated on how you are doing. I would love to know – how are you transgressing in your work, and what do you remember as those moments of transgression during the Summer Workshop?
Best,
LaShawnda
Institute for Recruitment of Teachers 