This post comes courtesy of the 鈥淓ditorial” column by Melanie Shoffner in the
Thing 1
I am tired. Being the type of person who easily stays up until 3 a.m. yet struggles to make 9 a.m. meetings, I could probably do with more sleep. Increasing my vitamins and vegetables would probably help to fuel all the writing, reviewing, planning, grading, meeting, and emailing required these days (the caffeine intake is already turned up to 11). I hear good things about exercise as a way to boost energy levels; I also hear good things about tofu, but neither of them figures largely in my life. Besides, physical isn鈥檛 the tired I鈥檓 talking about.
My mind is tired, 鈥渢ired with nothing, tired with everything鈥� (Fitzgerald, 2019, p. 169). The last year and a half of pandemic upheaval, societal turmoil, political idiocy, and professional pivoting has been exhausting, although it took some time for me to realize just how much so. When you鈥檙e slogging through the swamp, you don鈥檛 stop to take in the view; you keep dragging one foot after the other until you reach solid ground (or get swallowed in the mire).
There鈥檚 no need to belabor the point, since I strongly suspect everyone reading is nodding in recognition. And that only speaks to the collective exhaustion everyone in education鈥攅veryone, period鈥攊s managing right now as we continue our slog.
Thing 2
I am lucky to be a teacher educator. I don鈥檛 always resemble that remark鈥攗sually when I鈥檓 buried under unit plans or editing a manuscript at 8 p.m. on a Saturday or explaining, yet again, how teaching is a complex endeavor so, no, those who can鈥檛 definitely don鈥檛 teach, which is why education is a profession, not a hobby, and I cannot believe I have to keep saying this鈥攁nd I freely admit to musing 鈥渋f I had. . .鈥� when things聽are rough.
But. I get to work with enthusiastic students and invested colleagues. I get to teach adolescent literature and instructional methods and curriculum theory. I get to ask questions and figure out the answers. I get to challenge racism聽and bias and close-mindedness. Once upon a time, I got to travel around the world to do these things, and even though I miss the world so very much, 15 minutes of travel across town offers the chance to do those things every day.
I didn鈥檛 follow a well-traveled road into academia, so a fair amount of directional luck (and stubbornness) was involved when I reached an intersection. Navigating the professional hairpin turns and blind corners still requires a bit of luck (and stubbornness). So, while I may not have known where I was going鈥攁nd perhaps never will鈥擨 recognize how fortunate I am to do what I do.
Thing 3
I am very happy to share The resplendent purple cover marks the shift from Volume 53 to Volume 54. Why purple? you may ask. Well, I would answer with this: Purple is frequently associated with royalty, which teacher educators are unfortunately not (although we鈥檇 look awfully good in crowns鈥攆itting regalia for 起点传媒2022, perhaps?). Purple is also associated with power, and despite the very real obstacles we face in our profession鈥攁nd there are many鈥攚e have the ability to generate new understandings, to question the status quo, to challenge ideas, to develop abilities. This, to me, is a form of power, and as tired as we are, as frustrated as we get, we must not forget the power of teacher education.
The articles in this issue channel the power of new and renewed perspectives. Emily Machado and Grace Cornell Gonzales complicate our understandings of writing by exploring translanguaging鈥檚 support of linguistic and racial diversity in writing teacher education. Kristine E. Pytash and Rhonda C. Hylton push against the boundaries of teacher education by examining how a field experience at a juvenile detention center supported the development of teacher candidates鈥� social perspective taking. Co-chairs Marshall A. George, Donna L. Pasternak, and Christian Z.聽Goering share the process undertaken by the 2019鈥�2021 Steering Committee in developing the recently adopted 2021 起点传媒Standards for the Initial Preparation of Teachers of English Language Arts 7鈥�12 (Initial Licensure), while Christian Z. Goering challenges us to see these new standards as an important part of our antiracist praxis in聽his reflective reaction. Together, these articles remind us that, although we may be tired, we are indeed lucky to be teacher educators who believe in the power of our profession.
Reference
Fitzgerald, F. S. (2019). The beautiful and damned. Warbler Classics.
Melanie Shoffner is a professor of English Education at James Madison University, and is editor of English Education.聽
It is the policy of 起点传媒in all publications, including the Literacy & 起点传媒blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.
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