Shoutout to Department of Special Education faculty Jennifer Madigan, who voiced concerns about the shortcomings of online education for students with disabilities! Read the opinion piece “Online Special Ed—a Failure in the Making” on San Jose Inside at bit.ly/3m6dTLE.
Congratulations! You have made it more than halfway through the semester! In a fall that has included a pandemic, remote learning, wildfires, air quality-related campus shutdowns, economic challenges, and intense political animosity, making it this far is an accomplishment. Your efforts and your success need to be recognized and celebrated.
I want to reach out today with three messages –
I’ll close with gratitude. I am so grateful to be a part of the Lurie College family. The dedication and generosity of our students provides daily inspiration and hope. Thank you for choosing to be part of our community and for all of the care, creativity, and commitment that you bring to each of your assignments and interactions.
Take good care and stay safe!
Shoutout to Special Education Department faculty Saili Kulkarni for advocating for the need for a new generation of special education teachers! Read the opinion piece at bit.ly/2H9mTjN
In recent months, we’ve witnessed a significant amount of advocacy around social justice issues such as addressing racial injustice and systemic racism, greater access to healthcare, home and food insecurity, wealth inequality and unemployment, climate change, and more. With that in mind, Lurie College is organizing a Student Social Justice Short Film Festival to amplify the voices of middle school, high school, community college, and university students around what social justice issues are significant to them. Learn more and submit your 1-3 minute film by Monday, October 26, at sjsu.edu/education/film-festival
Emancipatory Education Now is a new student-led initiative at the SJSU Lurie College of Education that examines what emancipatory education – the critical evaluation of the systems and structures of oppression that maintain the status quo in our educational institutions – looks like in today’s society and advocates for the expansion of emancipatory education research, policies, and practices. In this episode, Anne leads a dialogue with Gabi, Jackie, Leslye, and Vinson as they dive deeper into cultures of power in the classroom.
The call to action for this episode: Take some time to invest in your own cultural responsiveness – utilize the resources below as a starting point!
Join us live for the next episode on Monday, October 26, at 7:15pm on the Lurie College YouTube channel at bit.ly/lurie-youtube.
Connect with Lurie College at https://linktr.ee/sjsulurie to receive more news about academic and student life!
While we at the Lurie College of Education are saddened that we are unable to have an in-person commencement ceremony during the Fall 2020 semester as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, we also realize the importance of continuing to follow our current public health orders for the health and safety of our families, our communities, and society as a whole. Despite these constraints, we still want to celebrate with all of our Lurie College graduates this semester to recognize their accomplishments and perseverance, even if we must do so in a virtual environment.
Plans are underway for a live, virtual Lurie College of Education Graduation Celebration on Friday, December 18, at 4pm and we will send out an email invitation with more detailed information to our graduates, faculty, and staff in the near future. Graduating students can still apply to become the graduation speaker by submitting a 3-5 minute video of you reciting your speech by Sunday, October 11, via this Google form. To nominate a Lurie College faculty member who you’d like to speak at the graduation celebration, please email luriecollege@sjsu.edu with the name of the faculty member and a 1-2 sentence description of why you are nominating them by Sunday, October 18.
More information about graduation and commencement for Lurie College of Education students is available at sjsu.edu/education/graduation.
At the SJSU Lurie College of Education, we prepare transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders. We do this through an emancipatory approach across our teaching, scholarship, and service. While this has been a challenging and tumultuous year, our annual report shines a light on the numerous ways that we’ve embodied these principles and the many reasons for gratitude, pride, and hope in the work of our Lurie College students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Read the 2019-2020 annual report.
Lurie College of Education faculty Robert Marx and Kyoung Mi Choi will conduct training sessions for SJSU faculty, administrators, and staff around LGBTQ+ support and inclusion at SJSU. In preparation for that training, they are seeking current SJSU students who identify as LGBTQ+ to participate in their research about their experiences on campus and in class, as well as their suggestions for how SJSU could be improved. All the data they collect will be confidential, and your name will not be associated with any of your responses. Your responses may be shared with members of our campus community, including professors, staff, and administrators in the College of Education and across campus, but no identifying information will be included. To share your input with Dr. Marx and Dr. Choi, please complete this brief Google form. If you’re taking this survey on a mobile device, please turn it sideways [landscape mode] so that you can see all response options.
Video description: Lurie College student Giselle Arellano – BA, Child and Adolescent Development, speaks at our Spring 2020 ceremony.
Lurie College wants to select a graduating student to represent and speak on behalf of the Lurie College community at the Fall 2020 ceremony. The date and time for the ceremony are still to be determined, but it will tentatively take place online on Friday, December 18, at 4pm. In order to be eligible to apply to become the student speaker, you must also be eligible to graduate. Your speech can take any number of approaches, but should be original and should resonate with the event attendees, which will be made up of Lurie College students of different academic levels and disciplines, SJSU and Lurie College faculty and staff, and family and friends of all ages and backgrounds.
To apply, submit a 3-5 minute video of you reciting your speech by Sunday, October 11, via this Google form. More information about graduation and commencement for Lurie College of Education students is available at sjsu.edu/education/graduation.
Lurie College students, join Dean Heather Lattimer and Associate Dean Marcos Pizarro for a conversation on Friday, September 25, from 3-4pm to share insights about your Fall 2020 semester experiences thus far! The Zoom link will be emailed to all Lurie College students’ via a Google calendar invitation.
There’s no better time than now to become a transformative educator, counselor, therapist, school or community leader, and so we would like to invite you to the SJSU Lurie College of Education Fall Welcome event on Tuesday, September 15, from 2:30-4:30pm to learn about our academic opportunities and resources. On that date and time, visit sjsu.edu/education/admissions to choose from any of the available Zoom links to meet with our faculty and staff representatives for the following:
Are you a teacher or future teacher in the areas of special education, bilingual education, or curriculum and instruction? Join a research study on professional development for teachers entitled Disability-Centered, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies Series! Participants will receive:
Apply by completing this Google form – https://forms.gle/K7oY1pGMjBD5RDK18
If you have any questions, email saili.kulkarni@sjsu.edu
During the Spring 2020 transition to remote teaching and learning, we asked a handful of our Lurie College students to share their insights on learning as they relate to our priority areas – community-engaged, culturally sustaining, interdisciplinary, and holistic. Learn more about Joanna Gaeta, a graduate and credentia student in our Department of Special Education. In this video, Joanna discusses her academic transformation, relationships with her faculty, and new opportunities that opened up as a result.
Watch all of the student features and view some additional course features from our Lurie College Learning Showcase at sjsu.edu/education/showcase
Connect with Lurie College at https://linktr.ee/sjsulurie to receive more news about academic and student life! Video edited by Sydney Ahmadian.
Welcome to the Fall 2020 semester, new and returning students! We hope your summer has been rejuvenating. Join us at this online forum for a conversation with Dean Heather Lattimer and Associate Dean Marcos Pizarro to help shape some of the college’s priorities for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Zoom link will be emailed to all Lurie College students’ via a Google calendar invitation.
Lurie College is proud to provide financial support to its students who are in need of supplies to conduct their academic research. Undergraduate, graduate, credential, and doctoral students are eligible to apply for up to one $200 grant per fiscal year (July 1 – May 31) towards expenses for research supplies. A limited amount of funding is available. To apply, download, complete, and submit our Student Research Supplies Application form (PDF).
Hi! I’m Heather Lattimer, Dean of the Lurie College of Education, and I’m delighted to welcome you to SJSU for the Fall 2020 semester.
Although circumstances prevent us from being able to be able to greet you in person and learn together on campus this fall, we want you to know that we are 100% here to support your success. Our faculty and staff have spent significant time over the summer making plans to ensure that you will have high-quality learning experiences in your courses, fieldwork, and co-curricular activities. We’re excited about the plans that are in place for interactive, relevant, and responsive learning opportunities here at Lurie College in the coming semester.
This summer, we saw calls for racial justice reverberate around the country and throughout our community in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. As a college of education, we are committed to equitable, anti-racist policies and practices and to preparing transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders.
Over the past three months, our faculty and staff have engaged in hard conversations as we examine the racism and bias that persist in our own systems and structures, and work to reform the way in which we engage with each other, our students, and the larger educational ecosystem. During the coming semester, we’ll be eliciting your input on how we can better live our mission and our values. Please look for invitations to participate in the Deans’ racial justice and educational equity student advisory group. We hope you’ll join us.
Emancipatory Education Now is a new student-led initiative at the SJSU Lurie College of Education that examines what emancipatory education – the critical evaluation of the systems and structures of oppression that maintain the status quo in our educational institutions – looks like in today’s society and advocates for the expansion of emancipatory education research, policies, and practices!
Student co-hosts from across Lurie College’s academic programs will meet regularly throughout the fall semester to engage in dialogue about critical topics in education and share those thoughts out with the Lurie College, SJSU, and local community. Co-hosts will be compensated hourly for their participation and receive a high-quality USB microphone.
All current SJSU Lurie College of Education students are eligible to apply. Watch the video tutorial below for information about how to complete this Google form by Saturday, August 22, to apply to become a co-host.
Congratulations to Department of Special Education faculty Saili Kulkarni, who recently received an American Educational Research Association grant for her proposal “(Re)imagining Teacher Preparation During a Global Pandemic Using Disability-Centered, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies”
Learn about Clarissa Johnston, recent alumni of the moderate-severe credential program in the Department of Special Education at the SJSU Lurie College of Education. Clarissa was also recognized as the Teacher of the Year of her school, Ryan STEAM Academy, and her school district, Alum Rock Union School District, for the 2019-2020 academic year!
Connect with Lurie College at linktr.ee/sjsulurie to receive more news about academic and student life. Video and audio recorded by Brian Cheung Dooley. “Storybook” provided royalty-free by Scott Holmes.
Lurie College is excited to welcome its newest faculty member in the Department of Special Education, Dr. Rebecca Cruz, to join our community beginning in the Fall 2020 semester!
Rebecca A. Cruz is excited to join the SJSU Department of Special Education! Rebecca earned her PhD in special education from a joint doctoral program between University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and San Francisco State University (SFSU). Her research interests include teacher education and development, critical disability theory, cultural and linguistic diversity, and policy impact on schools. Rebecca studies issues of equity, inclusion, and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Rebecca earned a master’s degree in special education from SFSU and worked in middle and high school settings to develop co-teaching and inclusion models.
Dear Lurie College of Education Students,
We hope you each are taking care of yourselves and your loved ones. It has been an intense few months for all of us. The protests and calls for addressing institutional anti-black racism and white supremacy have inspired SJSU and the Lurie College of Education to dedicate resources and significant energy towards taking our work for racial justice and equity to a deeper level. We want to share what we are envisioning for the new year that we hope you will be involved in:
It is our collective responsibility to actively engage in anti-racist work through our daily lives as educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders. Lurie College is committed to growing in this work and supporting all members of the college in being fierce anti-racist advocates. Please reach out to us with ideas, needs, suggestions, concerns or if you need any support in pursuing our shared goals for racial justice and equity, and feel free to use this anonymous Google form to give us feedback.
In Solidarity –
The SJSU Lurie College of Education provides a range of opportunities to support students in their academic endeavors to become transformative educators, counselors, therapists, and leaders. We spoke with our Special Education Department graduate students Joanna Gaeta and Samuel Bland, who were able to collaborate with Assistant Professor Saili Kulkarni on a research project that examines beliefs about disability and race among special education teachers of color. Listen to Joanna and Samuel’s insights below!
“We are currently working on studying special education teachers of color and what their beliefs are about disability and race. We’re trying to see how do teachers position themselves to help out our students when we see disparities – whether it’s behavioral issues or academic issues within the school setting – and then how we as the special education teachers contend with that on the education front.”
Last week’s murder of an unarmed Black man was shocking, horrifying, and infuriatingly familiar. George Floyd and his family have now joined a grievously long list of Black and Brown Americans who have had their lives and their liberties taken away by individuals and systems that perpetuate injustice and inequality. Eric Garner. Sandra Bland. Philando Castile. Freddie Gray. Terence Crutcher. Alton Sterling. Walter Scott. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. The list of names seems endless and the pain behind each one is overwhelming.
So many in our community are hurting. We’ve witnessed a modern-day lynching and it has brought fresh trauma to those who have suffered personal and generational wounds of injustice, racism, and oppression. These are not isolated incidents but part of a larger culture which privileges some and oppresses others in ways that manifest in everything from the disproportional rates of COVID-19 deaths in Black and Brown communities to the flagrant abuse of privilege by a white dog walker calling the police and falsely claiming that her life was threatened by a Black birdwatcher who had simply asked her to follow the posted leash laws.
Our college is committed to the preparation of transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders. In the face of such glaring and graphic evidence of the deep roots of racism and the brokenness of our society, this work has taken on even greater importance and added urgency.
Our society needs transformative leaders in education-related fields now more than ever. We need teachers who recognize the racist and hegemonic roots of our society and seek to understand how that reality impacts the lived experiences of our students. We need counselors and therapists who believe that an integral part of being an advocate for the children and clients in our care is the willingness to call out discriminatory structures and systems that continue to breed inequity. We educators who are willing to interrogate our own assumptions and engage in hard conversations about privilege, marginalization, bias, and inequity. We need leaders who consistently and repeatedly stand with marginalized communities and vulnerable individuals and take bold action to make transformative change happen.
In the midst of heartache and outrage, I take solace in the knowledge that Lurie College is a community that is deeply committed to equity, inclusion, and racial and social justice. I see strength in the dedication of our faculty, staff, and community partners. I see hope in the passion and tenacity of our students and alumni. Together, we will continue to work toward the promise of transformative change and the realization of a more just and equitable society.
The Teacher Residency Program at the Connie L. Lurie College of Education creates opportunities for teacher candidates to gain valuable professional experience, ongoing professional development, and significant financial support over the course of an academic year, all while decreasing the amount of time needed to complete a credential program. Through effective partnerships with school districts in the region, candidates are paired with mentor teachers and learn how to meet the needs of the students in those districts. Watch this recording from a recent online information session and visit sjsu.edu/education/academics/residency to learn more.
The Spring 2020 SJSU Lurie College of Education Graduation Celebration took place on Friday, May 22, at 4pm! The full recording is available above and at sjsu.edu/education/graduation. You can also skip to a section of the recording below.
If you have any questions about the Lurie College Graduation Celebration, please contact luriecollege@sjsu.edu.
SJSU has also created a website to recognize all of the Spring 2020 graduates for the entire university. Visit the recognition webpage for Lurie College of Education Spring 2020 graduates.
Congratulations to our new SJSU Lurie College of Education alumni. We have no doubt that you are prepared to be transformative educators, counselors, therapists, school and community leaders!
We would love for you to stay connected with us as you transition into your next chapters. Visit our Alumni webpage to take advantage of the many opportunities to connect with one another, stay connected with the college, and actively participate in the continued growth of the college.
If you plan to enroll in a graduate program, credential program, or doctoral program in the future, we have numerous opportunities available and our Student Success Center Advisors are happy to assist you with your application process.