October 24, 2014
Event Discussed Difficulty Recruiting, Retaining Diverse Educators in Schools
On October 15, 2014, the Office of Professional Development and Student Outreach in the College of Education collaborated with the Office of Equity and Diversity and the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center to offer a Dynamic Dialogue about Diversity event entitled “Diversity in Education.”
This event featured a roundtable discussion between the 2014 North Carolina Teacher of the Year, James Ford, and two local educators, Juan Castillo from Greene County Schools and Joey Crutchfield from Pitt County Schools. The discussion integrated the topic of assessment of diversity within the teaching profession. The distinguished panelists shared the African American, Latino American, and Native American perspectives as well as their thoughts on the lack of representation of male educators from these subgroups in the classroom.
The panelist and participants engaged in dialogue about the challenges facing higher education in meeting the need for focused recruitment and retention in teacher education programs of underrepresented populations. The impact of the presence of these subgroups in the classroom as teachers as well as the support found in the schools and school systems that encourage retention in the profession was also intertwined into the conversation. Additionally, current students and faculty shared how East Carolina University is meeting the needs for the recruitment and retention of diverse populations of students.