Pauline Wan
Teaching Fellow, 2018-2020
Tell us about one way in which Breakthrough shaped your path?
Breakthrough was one of the first spaces in which I had the full authority to run my own classroom independently. It is something that many college students who aspire to be educators rarely get the chance to do until their practicum during their MAT. I am grateful that Breakthrough gave me the autonomy to experience the entirety of what it means to be a teacher in today’s education system.
How do you carry the Breakthrough spirit with you today?
I think about Breakthrough frequently when I wonder how I can foster a strong sense of community in my classroom during the school year. Though teaching during the school year is a completely different context from that of Breakthrough, I try to remind myself that what the system does not provide our students (like recess, smaller classes, sufficient counseling, and more staff of color) can be somewhat recreated in my own classroom, or my own sphere of control.