Bringing an inquiry mindset to the classroom

Understanding context is always important in education. Penn GSE’s Independent School Teaching Residency program shaped me as an educator and gave me the tool set to succeed in an independent school setting.

I enrolled in Penn GSE and became a Penn Fellow at the Milton Academy after earning an undergraduate teaching degree and student teaching for a year in the Boston area. I wanted to learn the research and theory that great teaching is built on, but I wanted to do that while leading a class. Penn GSE and Milton offered me the chance to continue my education while working full-time.

My cohort was drawn from a number of independent schools. Every time we met online, I heard stories from my fellow students who were working with different types of students in different environments. This led to deep and nuanced conversations about approach and pedagogy. Our online meetings set up high-energy in person sessions on Penn’s campus.

Through my two years in the program, I was guided by a mentor teacher at Milton and another mentor at Penn. Every week, I sat in on my Milton mentor’s classes. I saw how he led the class, the different ways he found to ask a question, and how he pulled the news of the day into a social studies class. He would also come to my class, offer me feedback, and talk through my lesson plans. Over time, our relationship grew into a reciprocal collaboration that benefited us both.

Working at a boarding school means my responsibilities extend beyond my class. Learning about brain science and human development actually helps when you are dealing with something like a behavior issue in a dorm. If you understand why a teenager is likely acting like they are, you are better able to find a solution that will work.

Penn GSE helped me develop an inquiry mindset that I still use in my job every day. I learned how to ask questions, how to collect data from students, and how to analyze that data to improve both my teaching and my students’ experience. That mindset shift has transformed how I approach teaching and education.