​TARTANS Vision Statement Workshop: Rural Teacher Corps Update, Monmouth, IL

January 16, 2019 |
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The TARTANS - Left to right:

Front: Courtney Gillen, Joshua Talley, Kylee Payne, Professor Bradley Rowe.

Back: Professor Tamara La Prad, Nathan Schroeder, Elizabeth Reasoner, Professor Michelle H. Simmons, Ashley Farris, Aleeka Gentzler

Rural Schools Collaborative is pleased to provide an update on TARTANS (Teachers Allied with Rural Towns and Neighborhood Schools), the new teacher corps initiative coordinated by Educational Studies Faculty at Monmouth College.

Assisting TARTANS is one of the key elements of our work in Western Illinois through our Western Illinois Hub, which is anchored by the Galesburg Community Foundation in partnership with Monmouth College.

Monmouth, IL (Tuesday, January 15, 2019): The TARTANS met with Monmouth College Educational Studies Faculty and Amjad Karkout, our Community Engagement Fellow, for their first workshop of the spring semester. The TARTANS worked on their Rural Teacher Corps vision statements that will then be presented in a Poster Session in March.

During fall semester 2018, the TARTANS began articulating their respective visions on teaching. With support and guidance from Educational Studies Department professors, the TARTANS were able to grasp a better understanding of place-based education, implement personal connections to the rural setting, and project their visions through theoretical frameworks.

During the workshop, the TARTANS built on their fall semester work and started to develop their vision statements as future teachers. The professors coordinated small group discussions where students were able to share their vision statements and work on developing them through constructive discussions. The workshop suggests future teachers who are full of eagerness to learn and best serve their communities.

TARTANS program aims to prepare future rural teachers and help them establish themselves as leaders in their communities. The goals of the program are to prepare teachers who have a strong sense of “place”, mission, and rural identity – who know rural issues, challenges, and advantages – who are savvy communicators – who value collaboration within school, across community, and between diverse rural regions – and who are perceived as community leaders and catalysts for change.

We invite you to meet the TARTANS and read more about the program as well as other rural teacher corps efforts.




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