On Monday, March 14, the education students joined panelists in the Susquehanna Room for a program called “Education in a Post-Ferguson Society.”

The panelists discussed four major points, including racial inequalities that continue to exist in the United States and are mirrored in schools, overrepresentation of children of color who are suspended and identified for special education services, disparities that are evident in the inadequate preparation for college and careers provided by schools and ways to address racial concerns and advocate for change.

During the panel, students were asked to tweet using the hashtag #edtempest.

The importance of tweeting was to engage students and encourage them to share their thoughts throughout the hour-long panel.

Students tweeted quotes that stood out to them during the discussion. For example, one student tweeted, “Every child has a story. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Another student tweeted, “We can all get along, not because we found our similarities, but because we can work through our differences.” Many student were interacting the whole time.

Leading the panel were four experts on the Post-Ferguson topic: Tameka Hatcher, Pamela Higgins Harris, Dr. Richard Newton and Fran Rodriguez. Each panel member spoke for ten minutes, discussing their views and beliefs as to how future education professionals should handle diversity, racial concerns and overrepresentation of children of color in suspension and special education services.

All four panelists agreed with one another about how to handle racial situations when they occur. The panelists stated that the duty of educators is to teach children the importance of all cultures. We all are human with different backgrounds. It doesn’t make us right or wrong, and it doesn’t define us as a person. We should discuss with our children any concerns, and let them be open to asking any questions.

Sophomore Kirstin Blass feels the importance of the panel was to understand and learn how people are affected when equality is not integrated during education studies. “When I become a teacher of my own, in the classroom, I will definitely have a student-teacher relationship because it starts at home, and the more cooperation you have, the better the child is going to be inside and outside the classroom,” Blass said. “As well, I will have my students really understand each others’ differences, but respect each other for who they are.”

Sophomore Olivia Reynolds took away a broad understanding of what’s important when having a classroom of her own. “We need to remember that everyone is different, and everybody’s has a different story to tell,” Reynolds said. “Everyone has a different background.”

“During the panel, they were discussing how we don’t know what kids go through at home. We don’t know what goes on in their everyday lives, so when they act out, talk to them and listen because there may be a reason behind it all.”

Dr. H. Elizabeth Coyle, associate professor of education, was in charge of putting together the Post-Ferguson event. According to Coyle, the event is a year-long process the education department puts together every year. Next year, the topic will be on immigration issues. The topics are all related to the mission of social justice and advocacy.

“The experience of having only education majors at this program was to [create a sense of] intimacy and have the students feel comfortable asking questions,” Coyle said. “Sure, the entire campus would benefit from the program, but we set it this way intentionally so the students could interact with the panel.”

One of the purposes for having the Post- Ferguson panel was to give students the opportunity to think deeply. “We want students to take the information and make change happen in their own careers as educators,” Coyle said.