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Program in Religious Studies and Education |
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PRSE Alumna ProfileMarielle Ramsay
Raised in the San Francisco Bay area and attending private schools (both traditional and alternative) before majoring in religion at Oberlin College, Marielle says that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. "I always wanted to be in education. I had really phenomenal teachers growing up and positive experiences in school." And although she had what visionaries of public education might consider the ideal education—small classes, no standardized testing, a multicultural environment—Marielle, 22, plans to teach in an urban public school. As an undergraduate, she directed a mentoring program for three years and worked in a high school in the city of Oberlin. "I think about it now," she says. "What does it mean that that's my background? I think that this is an incredibly unequal system, and I want to be committed to seeing a difference in the public school system." She notes that the liberation, feminist, and political theology she studied at Oberlin all have strong implications for education. In addition, her explorations of Christianity and the religions of Southeast Asia (she has traveled in Burma, India, and Tibet, learning about Buddhism and spending time in monasteries) have inspired her ideas about how she will teach comparative religion, which she hopes to do with her certification to teach history in public schools. "Any time you claim a religious faith, you're not doing it alone, you're calling on the history, the community of the faith. You also must appreciate the diversity within every tradition—no tradition can be simplified, categorized in a convenient way," she says. In addition, Marielle believes that "to have integrity in whatever you believe, you should have a well-rounded view. You should be knowledgeable of other perspectives, of other ideas, of other practices." Posted July 2005
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Marielle
Ramsay's educational experiences are likely to differ significantly from those of the students she hopes to teach.
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