Program Information: Student Profiles
The Politics and Education Program is dedicated to expertly training students for their professional careers. Many students become policy leaders and professors. As you evaluate this program, consider the perspectives of a recent graduate and a current student in the program.
Rebecca Jacobsen, PhD
Assistant Professor, College of Education
Michigan State University
Politics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, Ph.D. '07
I entered the Politics and Education program at Teachers College while still teaching in the New York City public schools. While I enjoyed teaching, I was frustrated with the number of policies that seemed to trickle down and stop at my classroom door. These policies often made little sense for my students or the neighborhood community within which I worked. I realized that I needed to understand the larger political context of urban areas and the policy process if I wanted to really be able to make a difference in schools. I found that the P & E program at TC helped me do this and far more.
I am currently an assistant professor at Michigan State University where I teach and conduct research on topics related to politics and education. The P & E program at TC prepared me to become a successful faculty member at a research institution because it allowed me to develop my own unique interests within the broader field of politics. The wide range of rigorous courses offered throughout TC and the larger Columbia University system enabled me to develop an expertise and strong research skills. I continue to work on a project about accountability systems with the Campaign for Educational Equity that began while I was at TC. I am also developing a research project on civic and political engagement that links the larger theoretical work in political science on this topic to the actual classroom practices of different schools.
I continue to collaborate with my former TC doctoral cohort which was an amazing set of students to learn both from and with. The development of these relationships was made possible by the concerted efforts of our program advisor, Jeff Henig, who created special classes that brought us together. Developing these relationships has proved to be equally important to developing my skills and knowledge. They continue to provide me with critical but extremely useful feedback as I continue to pursue new research topics.
Kenann McKenzie-Thompson, PhD Candidate
Politics and Education, Teachers College Columbia University
As a student at TC, I began my program while working in the capacity of an academic counselor at Georgetown University. I then decided to immerse myself full time in my program by moving to NY to become more integrated into my program. During that time, I broadened my appreciation for studying issues affecting urban settings and also deepened my commitment to issues of social justice. While completing my program, I married and became a mother.
Through my courses and experiences, I discovered my area of deep passion, civic capacity building and community restoration. After several years into the program, my classes and research began to coalesce around these issues. The program courses that have informed my understanding and insights are Centralization/Decentralization, Urban School Reform and the Federal Policy Insitute. I was able to present research on these matters in at least one conference a year.
After having my second child and being away from school for a semester, I had time to begin drafting my plans for a community development and research organization devoted to these issues, but with a new lens on addressing these issues to promote sustainable and environmentally sound processes. The organization that I intended to create was legally born in 2007; and I continue to conduct research and build its framework in hopes to bring it into full birth after completing my degree at TC.
In the meantime, since 2007, I have worked on studies as a consultant to Georgetown University and the University of Arkansas. In that capacity, I was able to serve as a co-author on the study entitled, “Satisfied, Optimistic, Yet Concern: Parent Voices on the Third Year of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.”
I am now preparing to defend my dissertation proposal. Also, I continue to educate myself on the broader areas of how communities thrive, how education policy effects community responses, and the role our physical environment plays in all of this. I owe a tremendous debt to my advisor Jeffrey Henig for his unwavering patience and support as I transitioned from being a single student to parent and entrepreneur.
