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Delta State Presents at National Council of Teachers of English’s Annual ELATE Conference

Left to right: Delta State recent alumni Rebecca Dickson, AK Habig, and Jack Reddecliff lead a roundtable discussion at National Council of Teachers of English annual English Language Arts Teacher Educators Conference at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on July 19.

Dr. Gabriel Scala, chair of the Division of Languages and Literature and coordinator of the English Education Program, and three recent graduates of the B.S.E. in English education program at Delta State led a roundtable discussion at the National Council of Teachers of English annual English Language Arts Teacher Educators Conference at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on July 19.

The four-day conference theme was activism and advocacy and the panel title was, “We’re Starting with Mississippi: Teacher Candidates Discuss Their Plans to Change the World.” During the discussion, Scala outlined the recent curricular changes made to the B.S.E. program, specifically those giving the program a social justice emphasis, and the recent graduates—the first cohort to graduate from the newly revised curriculum—discussed the impact of those curricular changes on their approach to students and their decisions to stay in Mississippi and teach in Mississippi public schools.

The recent DSU graduates to participate were:

Rebecca Dickson, BSE 2019, incoming 8th grade English teacher at Senatobia Middle School
AK Habig, BSE 2019, incoming 10th grade English teacher at Cleveland Central High School
Jack Reddecliff, BSE 2019, incoming 7th grade English teacher at Colmer Middle School

Top to bottom: Habig, Reddecliff, Dickson, and Scala smile for the camera at the conference.

 

“I am very proud of these former students, new teachers, and world changers,” said Scala. “They engaged in meaningful conversation about their experiences, what they’ve learned, and their hopes for their students. We are grateful to the National Council of Teachers of English for hosting this ELATE conference on activism and advocacy and giving our students a platform to engage with scholars and teachers from across the country.”