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I hope that students emerge with a greater sense of their own capacities as teachers–given my field of teacher education–in light of the knowledge gained through our work together.

Kevin J. Burke

Professor

I teach at least in part because I have the privilege of choosing meaningful work.  I teach, further, for the possibility that lives in a classroom space–however it’s constructed–in the alchemy of students, faculty, and ideas old and new and not yet. Given that I’m positioned across a number of fields, I’ll say that what knits my work together is a curiosity about how individuals and groups come to understand their situations and seek to change them through dis/engagement with ideas.

I often borrow from an educational philosopher named Gert Biesta when considering this question.  He says, roughly, that as teachers we have to believe that we bring something unique to the situation of the classroom and then utilize our expertise around that uniqueness to create something anew with students. 

My main hope is that students emerge with a greater sense of their own capacities as teachers–given my field of teacher education–in light of the knowledge gained through our work together. 

I run for fun and sanity.  I coach my kids’ little league teams as a reminder of what deep stress feels like.

Learn more about Kevin Burke.