Personal Growth through Reflection

Journal entry: December 4, 2022

The Molecular Basis for Infectious Diseases and their Treatment-a lecture given by Dr. Yousif Shamoo

I very much enjoyed listening to Dr. Shamoo's lecture to our TLIIST group during our second Saturday fall meeting. It has been a while since I have listened to or read something that was academically stimulating and exciting to me. Dr. Shamoo spoke of infectious disease, but what I particularly enjoyed was how he connected the topic to the larger world of history, society, and the future. As I teach the immune system to my students, I am now inspired to teach them the topic through this perspective. Dr. Shamoo began the lecture by looking at the words of Pasteur, and how this story of infectious disease is quite familiar, even though we understand the science much better now. He discussed the roots of terms like "pathogen" and showed us paintings to illustrate that suffering from disease is and always has been part of the human condition, and that we can learn from what has happened in the past. He discussed The Black Death, and how since so many people in Europe died from it in the 1300s, this drove society to appreciate laborers much more, since there were fewer workers after the pandemic, and how politics and economics changed because of how disrupted society was during the pandemic at that time. One can not help but to see the similarities between that pandemic and COVID, and to realize that disease, struggle, and change will always be a part of human society and civilization. This inspires me to teach disease and the immune system a little differently to my students so that not only is the Biology relevant, but the implications to society and global economics and politics are also shown to be relevant. 

Journal entry: December 5. 2020

Becoming a More Equitable Educator-an MIT edX Online Course

During the months of April-June 2020 I participated in an online course through MIT edX. Because we had switched to remote learning due to COVID-19 and I was noticing immense issues of inequity in terms of how different districts and schools were handling remote learning, as well as how different students at my school were handling my class, I wanted to learn more about issues of equity in education. 

The course provided me with an anchor during a difficult spring semester of remote learning that felt remote in all aspects of the term. All teachers who I knew felt immense stress during this time, whether due to students not showing up to class or pressure by parents and administrators to do more. At the same time, no one was working together or supporting one another. Not to mention many of us experienced personal and family health issues due to the pandemic. 

At the same time, the murder of George Floyd sparked protests around the country and eventually the world. The issues of racism, police brutality, and for me, educational inequities, came to an explosive head and grabbed the attention of all Americans.  It forced me to reflect on my role as a white educator of students of color (about 98% of my students are Latinx, Black, or Asian) and how I bring  issues of race and justice into my class. I must admit that up to this point I have not explicitly involved these issues into my teaching. But I know now that it is imperative that I do so. 

During our TLIIST meeting on October 10, 2020, Dr. Tameka Pollins spoke to our group regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. During her presentation we watched a video called "The US medical system is still haunted by slavery" that made me aware of some examples of the racist medical history of our country. We also discussed this issue and the discussion brought up many concerns including how important it is that I, as the only Biology teacher my students might ever have, teach them about how slavery and racism have affected science and medicine in our country. Knowing the history of how racism has affected science and medicine is important, but I don't want to contribute to a mistrust of these institutions, especially on the cusp of the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. I am working on a series of lessons to incorporate the history, but also improvements to our system so that all people can benefit by the huge strides that we have made in science and medicine.