This post was inspired by a fairly recent interview experience I had for an educational consulting job. It was one of the most intense interviews I had. I articulate a ‘street smarts’ approach to interviewing that is drawn from a ‘coaching session’ with my husband. And this is where the tennis metaphor comes in. I extend insights to help navigate other stressful life situations.
Read moreFirst Time Serving My Jury Duty in New York City (Manhattan): An Account of My Experience
Here, I share an account of my first-time experience with jury duty service, which happened to take place in New York City. I detail my encounters and thoughts while serving my trial jury duty in Manhattan (111 Centre Street), and record my new learning: what to bring, what to expect, how to be excused, where to eat in Chinatown, etc.
Read moreTowards a Philosophy of Education: My Journey into 2020 as an Educator-Learner-Researcher
As a second-year education doctoral student at Teachers College, I, Catherine Cheng Stahl, took my first philosophy course with Professor David Hansen. This ‘philosophy of education’ course has transformed me, my thinking with regards to my own education, and my sense of self-trust in my own writing process. Here, I share the very last essay I wrote as part of my own philosophical journey—an essay that I believe provides the foundation for my own philosophy of education to guide me into the new decade.
Read moreWhat Makes a Teacher? Teacher as Learner, Guide, and Caregiver
This Thanksgiving, I want to take a moment to give thanks to the many educators who have positively shaped my thinking, learning, and teaching at various stages of my life. I would not have had the courage or the motivation to pursue a profession in education, were it not for my own teachers. They ignited in me a love of learning and cultivated the right environment for me to experience growth. Thus, I devote this essay to my teachers and to my colleagues who are teachers.
Read moreWriting in Graduate School: Reflecting on the Art of Teaching
This is me, sharing one of my last papers written during my first year of graduate school at Teachers College, writing as Catherine Cheng. Here, I reflect on the tendency of teacher preparation programs to overemphasize practice rather than to provide a rich education that supports teachers in recognizing the aesthetics of teaching. I argue for a recognition of and, perhaps, a return to an “art” of teaching that takes into account the affective dimension and emotional labor of working with students.
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