Celebrating Women’s Excellence: Thank You, Linda!
Women’s History Month is devoted to celebrating women’s contributions to history, culture, and society. This year’s theme is Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories. So many brilliant women are storytellers. At the California Teacher Residency Lab, hosted by the CDE Foundation, we proudly celebrate two stellar education scholars and storytellers whose contributions have improved education for millions of students worldwide. These women are keynote speakers for the California Teacher Residency Lab’s upcoming end-of-year symposium. This week’s blog features Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond. Read on for a small snapshot of her many contributions to the education field.
She is the author of more than 30 books and 600 publications including The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. In it, she uses her own teaching experience, expertise, and oodles of research to outline “the kind of supports that can help produce strong teaching on a wide scale, especially for students who would be least likely to experience it otherwise (p. 197).” She describes what successful teacher education programs do and ultimately lays the foundational argument for teacher residencies. Arguing that teacher residencies can create “a pipeline of committed teachers who are well prepared to teach in high-need schools (p. 218)” for several reasons including, “rather than trying to learn through a sink-or-swim model without ever seeing good teaching, these recruits watch experts in action and are tutored into accomplished practice (p. 217).”
She led the education policy transition team for both President Obama and President Biden. This means that her expertise and deep caring influence education policy and practice for all children in the United States, such as integrating the guiding principles of whole child design. These principles promote learning environments filled with safety and belonging. Which can be done in part by acting to:
Foster Inclusive, Culturally Responsive Learning Environments. Culturally responsive learning environments build on students’ experiences and intentionally bring their voices and identities into the classroom. This helps to create an identity-safe and engaging atmosphere for learning and enables all students to have a sense of belonging.
Her writings help bridge equity, research, and policy for every education practitioner. Many are readily available at the Learning Policy Institute, where she is the founding president. Read them! Use them!
She is a national treasure, and we are all the better for her contributions to the field. So, join us in celebrating Dr. Linda Darling Hammond!
And if you are a teacher residency practitioner (school district or university), advocate, or partner, join us at our end-of-year symposium where Dr. Darling-Hammond is a keynote speaker.
Works Cited
Darling-Hammond, Linda. The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education Series). Teachers College Press. Kindle Edition.
