A Community of Dreamers, Healers, Uplifters, and Troublemakers

“No single one of us has the creativity, the courage, or the skill enough to teach love and learn freedom alone. This is work that requires an imagination developed together, the courage of a community, and the combined skills of each member of that community.”

-Carla Shalaby Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School, p. 179

After the AMTE Annual Conference, I read Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School, which Sandra Crespo mentioned in the Judith Jacobs lecture. The quote above stood out to me, as I reflect upon Mathematics Teacher Education (MTE). Tim Hendrix, the recipient of the Nadine Bezuk Excellence in Leadership & Service Award, Sandra Crespo, and the feedback from the conference all emphasized the impact of community. I have been positively impacted by AMTE, a community of dreamers, healers, uplifters, and good troublemakers, and hope you have as well. I am so thankful for our AMTE community. Each of us bring perspectives, experiences, and strengths that are needed to meet the challenges and to imagine what MTE can be.

I am reminded that the work of our community is varied and there are important things happening in so many areas of MTE. While there is more to note than can be shared here, I want to share some examples of the varied and important work by our AMTE community that are impacting my own work and growth as a mathematics teacher educator. 

• I am thankful for colleagues that value teaching, such as Hollylynne Lee who received the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, which is sometimes referred to as the “American version of the Nobel Prize” for teaching¹. Hollylynne has taught me a great deal about Data Science. Her teaching happens both inside and outside of the classroom.
• I am thankful for those willing to dedicate time to building meaningful relationships for mentorship, such as the work Kyle Whipple has been doing with teachers and PSTs. Kyle shared about this work in an AMTE webinar as a way to support retention and provide a safety net for LGBTQ+ PSTs.
• Many support MTE through sharing ideas, asking questions, and sharing their humanity via social media, like my colleagues and friends Richard Velasco and Theresa Wills who I was able to meet for the first time in person at the Annual AMTE Conference.
• I am thankful for Toya Frank and others who elevate the voice and journeys of past and present mathematics educators whose voices are often missing and need to be heard, in order to inform decisions and practices about the future.
• Mike Steele and Babette Benken have been representing AMTE in work with the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways, and you can read about this work in an article in this newsletter.
• Jean Lee and the AMTE Get the Facts Out change agents make time and space to invest in recruitment of mathematics teachers and collaborate with those in the science disciplines.
• Those who serve within the AMTE leadership structure make a difference. Whether it is serving on a committee, serving on a task force, reviewing proposals for the conference, submitting a proposal for the conference, leading community circles, leading a webinar, leading an affiliate, moderating a session at the conference, or a way not listed, thank you for sharing your perspective and experience to support the community.
• I am thankful to my colleagues and friends who listen, challenge, inspire, problem solve, collaborate, and dream.

At this time, when many elements of MTE are under attack, we need to work together to be a community of dreamers, healers, uplifters, and troublemakers. I ask you to consider in what ways are members of our AMTE community impacting your own work? How are you impacting mathematics teacher educators in our community? While this work is complex and multilayered, each member plays an important role. Please reach out if you have questions, concerns, or ideas about ways you can support the MTE community.

Listening and Learning,

“Rarely if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion” bell hooks from All about Love, p. 215.

[1] College, Wabash. "Magazine". Wabash College. Retrieved 2020-11-09.