Jessica Sierk

Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, World traveler

I'm a qualitative researcher and teacher educator with a social justice orientation. I'm a former high school mathematics education who has taught in Nebraska and Texas in both comprehensive and alternative settings. I have a Ph.D. in Social Analysis, Educational Policy & Reform from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I identify as an intersectional feminist and an ally. Currently, I am an assistant professor of education at St. Lawrence University. My research looks at issues of equity in education, specifically looking at how the social context of schools and communities influence students' co-construction of identity. My dissertation, Coming of Age in the New Latino Diaspora: An Ethnographic Study of High School Seniors in Nebraska, looked at how the social hierarchy of the school was co-created by students and school personnel based on students' racial, ethnic, linguistic, economic, and citizenship identities. My recent research has shifted to focusing on how community-based arts partnerships can help facilitate student empowerment and community dialogue around difficult subjects (e.g., teen suicide, body image, opioid addiction, etc.). I enjoy engaging with students and helping them find their life path, which is a major reason why I am the faculty advisor for our University's chapter of TEDx!

Making education more equitable! As a former high school teacher and a current teacher educator, I dream of a day in which every student has a valuable educational experience. I long for an educational system that doesn't compartmentalize learning into disciplines (e.g., social studies, science, math, English) that are represented as discrete bodies of knowledge. In the "real-world," there are very few, if any, problems that don't require interdisciplinary knowledge application. I love classrooms and teachers that take advantage of student curiosity. The standardization of education doesn't allow for this and it is unfortunate. When every classroom has to be on the same page on the same day, it doesn't allow for the students to be unique individuals who are fully engaged in the subject at hand. I'm passionate about advocating for this type of education because I believe it could solve so many of the issues associated with equity if we were able to implement this on a large scale.

I stress to my university students, especially at the beginning of my Contemporary Issues in American Education course, that human rights should not be a partisan issue. We talk about a lot of political issues (e.g., LGBTQ inclusion, immigration and refugee resettlement, school resegregation, standardized testing, and school shootings). The act of being a teacher is inherently political, but it doesn't have to be viewed through a partisan lens. While different political parties tend to have various views on these types of issues, my idea worth spreading would be that we should all view on the full inclusion and affirmation of people with various racial, ethnic, linguistic, economic, ability, sexual orientation, gender, etc. identities.

Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Media Literacy, Critical Race Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, Culturally Relevant/Sustaining Pedagogy, Differentiation, English Language Development, Ethnography, Family Diversity, Higher Education, Inclusive Education, K-12 Teaching, LGBTQ Inclusion, Oral Communication, Pedagogy, Practitioner Inquiry, Restorative Justice, Rural Education, Sex Education, Social Analysis, Urban Education

The St. Lawrence University chapter of TEDx put out a call for a new faculty/staff advisor. I read the email and thought, "Hey! That looks like me!" However, I waited because I have a tendency to get involved in too much at once. Then, a colleague forwarded me the email and said, "Hey! This looks like you!" I knew then that I couldn't say no. I emailed back and said I was interested. I met with the student executive board and we clicked right away. I'm so excited to be getting involved in this wonderful organization that capitalized on my love of TED Talks and people's stories!

Cooking... I love to cook and find it incredibly relaxing. I like to put on some music, chop ingredients, and turn individual food parts into a beautiful meal that I get to enjoy. Zumba... I used to be a Zumba instructor during grad school. I love the Latin rhythms and moving to the music. It barely feels like a workout!