This year EdSurge is launching a new project to explore how school communities are adapting to meet the needs of all learners, particularly in response to the pandemic and the national conversation about racial identity and people's experiences with structural and systemic racism. We are looking to spotlight how school models, instructional practices and the experiences of students and educators are changing.
For nearly a decade, EdSurge has been reporting on the people, ideas and tools shaping the future of learning, chronicling the changing needs of educators and learners, and how schools and the broader education industry are adapting. We do this through a combination of in-depth journalism by our team of reporters and editors and through narrative storytelling through op-eds and essays from educators and innovators who bring diverse perspectives to our readers.
The EdSurge Voices of Change Writing Fellowship brings together a cohort of educators to chronicle their school experiences throughout the year by publishing stories on EdSurge. Each fellow is partnered with an EdSurge editor to work with every step of the way. Fellows will have the opportunity to work closely with their partner editor, become part of a community of educator fellows and have their voices amplified to drive important conversations about teaching and learning.
As part of the cohort, fellows will explore issues related to the following questions:
- Access and Equity: How have the pandemic, the recession and racial unrest exacerbated inequities in education, and how are educators and school communities recognizing those gaps and making thoughtful changes to address them?
- Achievement and Learning Gaps: How are school communities attempting to address the likely academic learning gaps that may be further widened by the pandemic?
- Mental Health and Well-being: How have the crises the past year brought greater awareness to the mental health and well-being of learners and teachers and how are educators and school communities responding?
- Research and Learning Sciences: How are schools, programs and individual educators leveraging existing educational research to inform new practices to support the wellbeing of students and teachers?
- Social-Emotional Learning and Development: How are schools, programs and individual educators prioritizing social and emotional development among school-aged children?
- Workforce Challenges: What new challenges have arisen in the teaching profession, what existing challenges have become more complex, and how are educators and school leaders navigating them?
Voices of Change Writing Fellows
Earlier this year, EdSurge selected eight fellows through a competitive application process. This cohort of individuals represents a wide range of identities, experiences, backgrounds and perspectives. EdSurge will share their stories starting in the fall and continuing throughout the 2021-2022 school year.
The inaugural cohort of fellows are:
- Ka’ua Adams, English teacher at Kealakehe High School in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
- Geoffrey Carlisle, eighth grade science teacher at KIPP Austin College Prep in Austin, Texas
- Tia Clark, creative writing teacher at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in New Orleans, La.
- Deitra Colquitt, co-principal at Pershing Elementary School in University City, Mo.
- Aisha Douglas, academic dean at Achievement First Brooklyn High School in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- César Moreno, science teacher at San Francisco International High School in San Francisco, Calif.
- Helen Thomas, Native American student achievement teacher at Tempe Elementary School District in Tempe, Ariz.
- Jennifer Yoo-Brannon, instructional coach at El Monte Union High School District in El Monte, Calif.
