I am applying for the Sociology and Education program at Columbia’s Teachers College because I feel that many attempts at making education better for marginalized communities, though well-intentioned, haven’t been able to reach their full potential.
In India, for example, efforts like the Right to Education Act or teacher performance incentives in Andhra Pradesh have been ambitious ideas. And yet, because they haven’t been informed by the needs of the communities they hope to address, many problems remain as they were.
I’ve seen the inadequacies play out multiple times in real life and have felt helpless, which is why I hope an education from Teachers College will help me articulate my experiences in a way that will allow me to contribute to making a sustainable impact in the education system.
Take the example of Imran, my fourth-grade student at V.D. Ghate English Medium School in Pune. He stayed back after school one day because he hadn’t finished his …show more content…
After asking the neighbors, I learned that Dee had been rushed to the hospital in the nearest city, Arusha. By the time I took the 45 minute bus ride into the city, it was too late, and Dee had passed away. As my host mother sobbed, devastated at the loss of her only child, I read through the medical reports. Dee had passed away from acute diabetes.
In the days that followed, my shock turned into sadness, and my sadness into anger. I thought about all of the “what ifs” that could have changed Dee’s circumstances. What if there had been a hospital in Bangata, or if the rains hadn’t ruined the roads and Dee could have gotten to the hospital sooner?
Still, the only real and sustainable “what if” I could come up with was, what if Mama or Dee had gotten the right education to understand the benefits of modern medicine? Perhaps they would have had the knowledge and the wherewithal to make important and life-saving
In India, for example, efforts like the Right to Education Act or teacher performance incentives in Andhra Pradesh have been ambitious ideas. And yet, because they haven’t been informed by the needs of the communities they hope to address, many problems remain as they were.
I’ve seen the inadequacies play out multiple times in real life and have felt helpless, which is why I hope an education from Teachers College will help me articulate my experiences in a way that will allow me to contribute to making a sustainable impact in the education system.
Take the example of Imran, my fourth-grade student at V.D. Ghate English Medium School in Pune. He stayed back after school one day because he hadn’t finished his …show more content…
After asking the neighbors, I learned that Dee had been rushed to the hospital in the nearest city, Arusha. By the time I took the 45 minute bus ride into the city, it was too late, and Dee had passed away. As my host mother sobbed, devastated at the loss of her only child, I read through the medical reports. Dee had passed away from acute diabetes.
In the days that followed, my shock turned into sadness, and my sadness into anger. I thought about all of the “what ifs” that could have changed Dee’s circumstances. What if there had been a hospital in Bangata, or if the rains hadn’t ruined the roads and Dee could have gotten to the hospital sooner?
Still, the only real and sustainable “what if” I could come up with was, what if Mama or Dee had gotten the right education to understand the benefits of modern medicine? Perhaps they would have had the knowledge and the wherewithal to make important and life-saving