First-generation college student Camarie Martin on the importance of a social-justice oriented teaching program

Senior Camarie Martin, a first-generation college student pursuing a B.S. in elementary education foundations, talks about how the justice-oriented coursework and student-teaching practicum has prepared her to teach in her own classroom.

When did you realize you wanted to be a teacher?

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was in third grade. I wanted to be one because my third grade teacher talked about how amazing college was and that was the first time I had ever heard about college because none of my family members had gone. But when I came to college and started learning more about the way the world really worked, I was unsure if I could be a teacher, if there was a certain way I had to teach about the world and its history. This program was exactly what I needed in order to know that I want to become a teacher, if I wasn’t in a program that was justice-oriented I do not think I would want to be a teacher.  

What has been your experience with the faculty?

The faculty I have encountered in this program are amazing! They are so wise and knowledgeable in the content they are teaching. I really like how they understand the needs of their students. They really care about you as a person and are passionate about the work they’re doing.

Do you feel the coursework and student teaching helped you to begin teaching in your own classroom?

The coursework in the classroom has been really encouraging and inspired us to have crucial conversations, conversations that are not normally had in a conventional classroom. The coursework highlighted incidents in history that I never learned about and really taught me the importance of educating myself in true history so that I am able give my students a proper education from an unbiased lens. The coursework also taught me how important it is to have a classroom with student-driven learning, to make the learning centered around the things that matter to them, which was something I did not understand before.

The practicum helped me to get experience in the classroom and helped me be comfortable being a figure of authority inside of the classroom. 

Any other thoughts you want to share about your experience?

Before entering the program I only wanted to be a teacher because I liked kids and I thought it would be something that was fun to do. Now that I am in the program and gaining more classroom experience, I realize the reason I want to be a teacher is to give students something I never had growing up, a teacher that looks like them and a teacher that cares about them. 

Learn more about the B.S. in Elementary Education Foundations program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.