Abstract

In this episode you’re just listening to me. Who I am, why I chose this project, some vocabulary you’ll hear throughout the podcast, and the questions being asked along with my own personal answers and anecdotes to them. I hope this prompts you to keep listening to other episodes and if it doesn’t please scroll through the other episodes until you find one you like!

Introduction 

MAGGIE: Hi, welcome to the very first episode of Teaching Perspectives, my name is Maggie Minogue, I use she/her pronouns. I’m the creator of this podcast. Let me tell you some stuff about me: I’m currently an undergraduate here at Western Washington University, I’m getting my BA in mathematics and minors through the honors college and in Education Social justice. I just got admitted to the Masters In Teaching program here at Western because I plan on becoming a high school math teacher. Now that we’re past the basics let me tell you some more things about me that will give you a better understanding of who I am.  I grew up in a small town in New Jersey. Not like I say I’m from a small town but a small small town, the town I grew up in is 4 square miles and my high school graduating class was 200 people. I love being outside, whether that’s hiking, sailing, or exploring. I love going on adventures. And lastly, my favorite kitchen appliance is my airfryer. I thought I should add something fun in there. I’m a woman of color, I’m Asian American,  so growing up in a small predominantly white town has affected my education and upbringing. It wasn’t really until coming to Washington was I truly exposed to difficulties minorities were facing in the educational system. I’ve taken various education courses that helped me put a name to things I’ve experienced and it was a start to learning about what’s going on in the world around me.I learned many things such as Critical Race Theory, Hegemony, and many other $10 words that we educators use. I’ll define these words later in the episode. I’m going to talk about the motivation for this project.

(1:51)Why I chose this project 

MAGGIE: When I first realized I had to do a senior capstone the task was really daunting and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Many people tended to focus on what their major was, but I wasn’t a big fan of writing a project about math. I struggled for a little bit until I realized that I should make it about something I’m passionate about, so education it was. As someone who is in a STEM field I’m not the biggest fan of writing papers, but I love audiobooks and podcasts, so I figured a podcast would be a nice way to share the information I found.I finally decided to interview various professors and students about critical pedagogy, which I’ll define a bit later. I wanted to show that experiential information is equally important as quantitative data. I find that we as a society have a tendency to value numbers and scientific data compared to people’s lived experiences. But in a field such as education where experience is so unbelievably important it can be difficult to find specific statistics about what teachers are experiencing today. When recording this it’s currently 2025, so if you know anything about the political state of America especially in regards to the Board of Education and DEI, this information and experience is really important. The goal of this podcast was to have listeners feel like they’re eavesdropping on a conversation between 2 people. I wanted it to feel comfortable to listen to all the wonderful people’s experiences. You probably heard me say words such as “critical pedagogy” and “DEI”, let me give some definitions on what these words mean since you’ll be hearing them and a lot more like it. 

(3:29) Vocabulary (words you’ll hear and what they mean)

MAGGIE: I’ll start with the word “Critical Pedagogy”. First I’ll start with what pedagogy means, pedagogy is typically a way a teacher teaches. You’ll find me oftentimes throughout the podcast asking what people’s guiding pedagogy is and that’s just asking about what morals they follow when entering and exiting the classroom. Knowing a teacher’s guiding pedagogy should help students understand why a teacher does what they do and how that falls in what they believe in the classroom. Now I’d define critical pedagogy as teaching culturally relevant topics that encourage students to think critically within the classroom. An example is in history classes encouraging students to find texts and narratives about various historical events from creators who aren’t Euro/white- centered. Like when Great Britain colonized America instead of looking at it from the British perspective, looking at it from the Native American’s perspective Next I’ll talk about “Implicit Bias”. Implicit bias is our own personal beliefs and biases, whether they’re conscious or unconscious. These can be seen in classrooms where teachers might be more lenient or strict with a certain group of students based on their own experiences or upbringing. This is extremely dangerous for teachers in the classroom because the way youths are treated at young ages can affect how they perceive themselves. An example of how someone’s implicit bias might affect students is that oftentimes in schools black and Latino boys are disciplined for things that white students just get a warning on. Now “discrimination and prejudice”. I’m sure most people have heard these words, but to define it I’d say discrimination is when people act based on their perceptions of things and certain people. These are normally based on our implicit biases and stereotypes. An example is assuming asian students don’t need help in math because there’s a stereotype. Prejudice is more thinking of a certain group is a way based on no experience or reasoning. Prejudice leads to implicit biases and doesn’t always require any action just the thought. Now I’m going to define “hegemony”. This one’s a big one and I don’t think there’s one universal definition that I could use but I’ll try my best to define it and give an example of it in an educational setting. Hegemony is the idea of pushing one’s beliefs onto someone or a group of people. Oftentimes that comes with gaslighting people to think that the system they’re in is better for them when in actuality it hurts them. An example I think of often is telling students that the schooling system is perfect and that it’s made for them when in actuality it’s centered in whiteness and isn’t for students who aren’t cis-white-straight- able bodied- men.  Now I’m going to define what some acronyms commonly used mean.  “DEI” means Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I’m sure many people have heard this term thrown around, especially with the current attack on it.  This typically entails that places have a wide variety of identities on their working force to open up opportunities to groups of people who previously weren’t welcomed in certain spaces. During the time that I’m recording this we see a lot of headlines talking about how DEI is under attack and various businesses getting rid of their DEI initiatives because of it. Moving on, “BIPOC” refers to Black, Indigenous, People of Color. It’s an easier way to talk about racially minoritized people and communities. Last acronym used often is “CRT” which is Critical Race Theory. This is a field that analyzes the relationship between race and society. This is often tied with systematic racism. An example is thinking about why black Americans have higher mortality rates and are more likely to get caught in the school to prison pipeline. Which is a perfect segway into what the school to prison pipeline is. I’m currently taking an honors class that talks about it. The school to prison pipeline are policies that push certain students who are seen as “rebellious” to be disciplined and have a track record so that when they’re out of school they’ll likely go to jail due to their educational history. This often entails suspension from school, and this primarily targets black communities. If you’re interested in more you can listen to episode 5 with Tracey Pysher or look up some of her work regarding the school to prison pipeline. Last word I’m going to define is “Universal Design”. Universal design is a teaching approach that considers all abilities and backgrounds of the students and accommodates all of them in an easy form such that all students can use it. An example is when looking at a picture with various shapes with different colors, instead of referring to the color, label them A,B,C, etcetera and refer to them by the letter. So if you have colorblind students they don’t have that learning barrier. 

(8:40)Questions I’ll be asking and my answers 

First question I’ll ask is:How are educators supposed to create and foster an inclusive and accessible classroom when we have our own implicit biases?I think the first thing we have to do is consider and think about what we’re reacting to and why. If we have a student act out in class, why are they responding this way? Why am I offended by their actions? And how should I respond in the way that is most beneficial to the student? I think there needs to be a lot of introspection when teachers approach situations. I currently work for the local YMCA here in Whatcom County and working with younger kids is difficult. There are days where kids will scream and yell that they hate you and you just have to take it and still tell them that you have love for them and care for them. It can be extremely emotionally exhausting. But I think something that me and many of my coworkers have to think about is the safety of the kid and others and how are we going to handle this in a way that the kid learns and grows from this. And honestly I don’t have an answer to that, I don’t know if there is an answer to that, but I think as long as people come from a place of love and wanting to do our best then I think that’s a win. When thinking about the classroom, I think basing teaching in Universal Design is extremely beneficial for all students. I think making sure all students have equal access to education is a good first step to creating a safe classroom environment.

Next question I’ll ask is a more experiential question it’s:How has inequality affected you and/or your work inside and outside of the classroom?For me personally I think the biggest challenge has been finding community within my major and department. My junior year I was in a small math class, maybe 11 other students, everyone there was white passing and I was one of 3 girls in the class. It was a class that had a lot of small group work. There was one day I remember very vividly, I was in a group with 2 guys and we were working on a worksheet. It was a bit difficult so we were all a little bit stuck, I remember starting to say something and then immediately getting talked over by one of the guys. The guy only looked at the other guy and not at me and I immediately felt un-welcomed and unheard. I decided it was better to just work on my own since I wasn’t welcomed in my group. I asked my group mates if we should ask the teacher for help since we were all stuck and they said no, but I figured we weren’t getting anywhere so I raised my hand to get some help. The teacher came over and asked what we were working on and immediately the guy who talked over me started telling the teacher what they were working on. I remember just shutting down and staring at my paper while listening, the teacher said that they were barking up the wrong tree and then asked what I was doing. The teacher took a look at my paper and told my group mates they should look at what I have written and explore what I was thinking. I went to the teacher’s office hours later that day to tell them how I was feeling in my group and they said that they saw, and that we’d be switching groups soon. It was unbelievably healing to have a teacher see that I was struggling with classmates who would not acknowledge my existence and who said they would help me. But in the end I met someone who became a good friend from being in that class. I’ve had math classes with this friend ever since. So yeah inequality has been damaging in the classroom, but I think if we can find the small things that make it better and the people who understand and support through difficult situations we can heal.

The next question I’ll be asking isWhere are places where the education system is getting better and worse with discrimination and prejudice? And Do you have any suggestions on how to improve?I think obviously from decades ago we’ve made a lot of progress. Teachers aren’t just white women but men and people of color are teachers and with everything that’s been going on I think we’re moving to more culturally relevant and sustainable teaching. I think there is still a lot of work to be done, and I think that starts with teachers. I think there’s a lot of professional development that teachers should undergo and a lot of unlearning and relearning. With the current administration trying to defund the board of education it’s going to take us a lot of steps back. Especially since we’re already trying to catch up from the global pandemic that pushed many students back in their education. It’s going to be hard because teachers are already overworked and underpaid. Classroom sizes are getting bigger and teachers don’t have the support they should when dealing with issues today’s kids face. So taking away money that goes toward professional development and resources for students is going to do more harm than good. My recommendations would be to fund more public education and make sure teachers don’t have to buy basic school supplies for their classrooms like pencils and paper. But I think that’s a lot easier said than done though. So maybe starting with teachers learning new methods on how to teach kids, especially utilising technology since we live in a day where technology is prominent in everyday life. 

The next question will depend on if I’m asking a professor or student. The Professor’s question is: When was a time that you’ve seen/experienced/heard about a student or group of students being discriminated against in the classroom? What did you do/suggest to the student(s)? How do you recommend students approach these issues? And the student question is: Have you or a peer ever been discriminated against in the classroom? What did you do about it if anything? For me I have a very specific memory for this one. I’m not sure why the teacher did this but I remember the aftermath of it. I remember I walked into a math class and I had a friend in that class, she’s not the standard 20 year old college student, she is this fierce go-getting mom who commutes everyday from Burlington. I remember she was telling me a lot about how her son’s school board was rehiring someone as their dual-language specialist who didn’t really deserve the job because they just knew people and weren’t the most qualified. So I knew she was already dealing with a lot on top of being a mom, student, and so much more. I remember sitting down in class getting my stuff ready and the teacher coming in and my friend getting up to ask the teacher a question and the teacher getting prominently frustrated and calling her out infront of the whole class. My friend sat down with her head low and then eventually left and texted me that she was crying because of the public humiliation. At that moment I hadn’t realized how much it affected my friend and if I knew it would have that effect or if I realized that the teacher was calling them out in    front of everyone I don’t know if I’d have the heart to speak out against them. But in that moment I just told them to take a breath and I’ll send them the notes and I understand how frustrating it can be. I think being in solidarity and assuring her that she wouldn’t miss anything because I would take notes and help her understand anything they missed gave her the time and space she needed to compose herself and eventually come back to class. I think as a student it’s really difficult to speak out against the teacher, especially in classes that don’t prioritize that and teach you how to do that. There’s also a power imbalance as a student trying to talk to the teacher, so it can be extremely intimidating. But I think that’s when we have to fall back on our community and those who love and support us to give us the courage to fight for ourselves. 

Next question I’ll be asking is: As a future or current educator how do you plan/ensure/prevent discrimination in your classroom? I think the classroom environment and community are extremely important. So I’m hoping when I get into the classroom I can make sure that there is mutual respect among students and myself. I think that when students know each other they’re less likely to hurt each other intentionally and when they are hurt then they’ll feel more comfortable to confront each other out of a place of love and growth instead of malice and hate. I think personally for me with high schoolers there’s only so much you can do to try and push students to talk to people that aren’t just in their friend group. But I think if you are upfront with your intentions as a teacher and emphasize how beneficial collaboration is to students they’ll be receptive to your wishes. From experience I know how competitive STEM classes can seem, but I hope with my time in the classroom I can encourage collaborations over competition and discuss how mathematical discoveries aren’t made by yourself. So overall, I think by prioritizing classroom environment and community students will feel less inclined to discriminate among their peers. 

The last question I’ll be asking is how have you been approaching critical pedagogy? And How do you recommend others to integrate critical pedagogy in their classroom/education?For me, I’d say two words, educate yourself. I think there’s always new things and methods to be learned for future and current educators. I think that we need to constantly be learning new methods on how to approach students’ issues today. Personally, for math I find myself and others asking about why learning certain things are important and the use in the real world. And with that I think encouraging students to think about how this shows up in their own lives and guiding them to the answer helps with engagement with the materials. This goes back to having a classroom community where you can get to know the students and encourage their interests within the classroom. Like if I know that I have a student who likes basketball, making a word problem involving maybe the projectile motion of a basketball using parabolas could help students feel inclined to engage more since it’s a topic they know. This also helps other students get to know one another, maybe at the end of each topic having students write their own word problem and have another student solve it. Other than that I’ve found it difficult to think about how to integrate critical pedagogy into my future math class.  I feel as though math is often seen as disconnected from the current world and I haven’t seen many teachers integrate critical thinking in their classrooms very well. That’s not saying it can’t be done, I just think that STEM teachers need to approach it from a different angle as opposed to those teaching humanities classes. I don’t have an answer, I’m still searching for the answer myself. But I think as long as teachers don’t have the mindset that they know everything and know what’s best for all students then there’s room to improve as an educator.And that’s the last question I’ll be asking. Well I hope something I’ve said has piqued your interest to keep listening and if not maybe listening to one of the other episodes could make you want to learn more.  

Thank you for listening and I hope you keep listening to more episodes and learn something from all the amazing people I’ve talked to!