Becoming an Educator: Aaron Randolph, TEP'13

For Aaron Randolph, a teacher who came to study in the Teacher Education Program (TEP), inspiration was easy to find at HGSE, maybe even enough to ward off the cold winter.

“There are so many passionate and driven people here at HGSE that it is easy to feed off of that energy,” he says. “If that wasn’t enough, my students were more than happy to do their parts in keeping things interesting.”

After graduation, he plans to return to the classroom, teaching social studies in an urban district secondary school, preferably, he says, in a warmer climate.

"Aaron represents what is best about TEP: serious when necessary, playful when appropriate, thoughtful and reflective all the time,” says Senior Lecturer Katherine Merseth, director of TEP. “Aaron has earned the highest respect of TEP students and faculty alike for his deep commitment to serving urban youth. He will be a fine teacher and a superb leader in the years to come. He makes the entire TEP cohort proud in serving as our representative.”

Upon learning that he had been honored with the Intellectual Contribution/Faculty Tribute Award for TEP, Randolph answered some questions about his time at the Ed School and beyond.

What was your goal upon entering the Ed School? Entering the Ed School both as an aspiring teacher and as someone with little knowledge of education as a whole, my goals were to acquire a repertoire of skills that would allow me to leave HGSE with a solid foundation in preparation my first year in the classroom and to gain as much knowledge about current issues, policies, and trends in education as possible. I do feel as though I have made significant strides toward that goal through my classes, student teaching, and participation in various HGSE events.

What is something that you learned at HGSE that you will take with you throughout your career in education? Something I have constantly thought about regarding my own practice and who I want to become as an educator is to solidify a purpose before attempting to reach a goal. Whether it was Kay Merseth’s School Reform class or my Teaching History class, I will push myself to continue to ask questions like: What is the purpose of schools? Why do we teach history? Why are students in my class being asked to do this? Hopefully, that attitude of self-reflection will allow me to continue to both solidify my beliefs and grow as an educator.

Is there any professor or class that significantly shaped your experience at the Ed School? Professor Natasha Warikoo’s Cultural Explanations for Ethnic and Racial Inequality in Education had a profound impact on my experience. Not only was the class one in which we had very intriguing conversations, but much of the material also gave me a theoretical framework through which to view my student teaching experience. I was able to take much of the content we learned in her class and either apply it or draw parallels to my own past and present experiences in the classroom. Professor Warikoo also came to visit a class of mine at my student teaching site, which I thought was very cool of her as well.

What advice do you have for next year’s students going through your program? Just like with anything else in life – it will be what you make of it. The program is not perfect but you must take it upon yourself to get what you want to get from it. Also, don’t be afraid to mix it up and build relationships with students from other programs, it never hurts to hear different perspectives.

The number one, biggest surprise of the last year was …I wasn’t really too sure what to expect of the culture of the school and the people that I was going to be spending this year-long journey with. Those uncertainties were put to rest during orientation; they call it HuGSE for a reason.

Read profiles of the other master’s students being honored with the 2013 Intellectual Contribution/Faculty Tribute Award.