 |
||
|
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
June 2008 > School News
Passionate Speakers Inspire Graduates to Work for All
Graduate School of Education
Commencement
May 17, 2008Developmental Teacher Education graduates
photos by Jose Zavaleta
Next photo>
A total of 114 graduating students received diplomas and inspiration at the Graduate School of Education’s commencement exercises May 17 in Zellerbach Hall.
Keynote speaker Edd Taylor, master’s/credential program speaker Sarah Wright and doctoral program speaker Linda Platas struck a thematic chord for educational equity and spoke passionately for educating all children.
Edd Taylor (click to play video)Taylor, who earned his Ph.D. from the School of Education in 2005, recalled several milestones and magic moments along his path, including:
Hearing his physiology professor use the term “not within our knowledge" in his first UC Berkeley class. "It made me think 'wow I’m in college.' I was learning from professors!"
Realizing in his first teaching assistant assignment in graduate school that "a TA might not know as much as I thought they did when I was an undergrad."
Being asked to give the commencement address at “arguably the best university in the world.”
Taylor discussed America’s broken educational system, telling the graduates that “we should Shed Light on: the numbers of students who don’t graduate… ‘facts for Blacks’… a flawed system that values testing over learning and labeling over remediation… scapegoating urban school teachers for poor policy decisions made from above… successful urban teachers who teach effectively within a broken system.”Sprinkling the speech with quotes from Edith Wharton, W.E.B. DuBois and Václav Havel, Taylor, an assistant professor in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, urged the graduates to “challenge the broken system and the existing norms that only work for a few.”
During his talk, Taylor kept returning to a line in “Toast to California,” which he sang while a member of the UC Men’s Octet (he also coached the Cal dance team). The verse ends: Stand for right, Let there be Light, California, Here’s to Thee.
Platas also spoke about her path to the commencement stage, which included three community colleges, three California state universities, a marriage and daughter, 15 years in the early childhood education field and a variety of research endeavors — noteworthy achievements for any individual, particularly a person whose parents were not college graduates. She concluded her remarks by telling the graduates, “We are proof that there are many ways to achieve ones hopes and dreams.”
Wright stirred the audience with spoken word. Her provocative words questioned the goal and role of education, and offered at least one possible scenario in this stanza:
Come to realize that these young bodies
These elementary minds with global hearts
Are a necessity if we want our future to be better than our pastJennifer Russell, a 2007 GSE graduate, received the Outstanding Dissertation Award, while Judith Warren Little, Head Graduate Advisor for the School of Education, accepted the award on her behalf from William Tibbey, president of the Education Alumni Association.
Other university officials marking the commencement exercises included P. David Pearson, Dean of the School of Education; Joseph Duggan, Associate Dean, Graduate Division; and David Hemphill, Associate Dean of the College of Education, San Francisco State University.
The School of Education Chorus performed two songs before the recessional and reception.
On the afternoon before graduation ceremonies, Taylor spoke at the GSE’s annual Commencement Research Seminar. In his presentation, entitled “To Divinity and Beyond: Exploring Mathematical Expectancy of Meaning in Churches and Schools.” He discussed progress on two research studies in children's meaning making in mathematics by examining links between students, out-of-school practices, mathematical understanding, and classroom instruction.
return to gsE-bulletin return to News
|