Through peer to peer support, the EDST Future Teachers group provides Yale students who are interested in becoming classroom teachers with the tools necessary to research, prepare for, and apply to post-grad programs and scholarships.
“So much of the anxiety around becoming a teacher comes from a lack of support from the institution,” says Dora Guo EDST ’23, “I wanted to organize a space where students could share our knowledge and help support one another’s resolve to teach.”
Yaz ’25 joined the group in order to, “Learn about how other people are tackling the gap between Yale and teacher prep programs” and is helping to arrange for Yale Alumni Teachers to come from New York City and speak with the group.
Nick, a fifth year grad student, says that the EDST Future Teachers group has helped him, “Elaborate the different pathways and opportunities that are available. Hearing and seeing people navigate them in real life, as opposed to online, is very helpful.”
Being in community together makes such a difference. “It’s great to have a network of people and to hear from their experiences,” says Honor ’25, who has helped develop field trips to post-graduate programs. Tadea ’24.5 says the Future Teachers group has helped give her a sense of direction, “Our meetings are carving out space to actually look at concrete next steps.”
Even for students who haven’t fully decided whether they want to teach, where they want to go or what age group they want to work with, the group is a supportive space. Lizbeth ’25 says “It’s good to be with a group of other people who are figuring it out.”
Ultimately, the EDST Future Teachers group is here to support Yalies who are interested in teaching and still “figuring it out.” The group routinely shares information regarding post-grad pathways and is also organizing speaker events with Yale EDST Alum and local teachers, putting together lists of teaching internships, updating the Ed Studies Wiki, and more.
The EDST Futures Teachers group meets Fridays from 3-4 pm in the HQ basement. All are welcome. You can join the mailing list here: https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/edst-future-teachers