Erich T. Elwin
Full Time Faculty
Education/Ethnic and Gender Studies
Phone: (206) 592-4578
Office: 29-251
Mailstop: 29-2
Email: eelwin@highline.edu
Hello students! Very pleased that you chose my course and I look forward to learning with you this quarter. I wear a few different hats--teacher educator, critical pedagogue, and historian
As a specialist in education, my work focuses on curriculum & instruction, multicultural education, and language, literacy, and culture with emphasis on CRT (Culturally Responsive Teaching). At heart, I am a Multicultural Educator (MCE) who implements strategies and interdisciplinary approaches that honor our cultural and intersectional identities. One of my goals is to facilitate the development of critical thinking, providing you with real-world strategies to negotiate and navigate these societal waters.
As a historian, I specialize in research and analysis of events with emphasis on colonial and post-colonial histories, primarily France and French colonial territories. (i.e. Caribbean, Indochina, and North Africa), but also the Black Experience in the United States. I've done archival work (white gloves and all) as well as public history and I'm extremely interested in local and oral histories. A great deal of my research in both history and education examines Black realities in America.
As a first-generation Black American, I embrace my national identity while still maintaining a strong connection to my Afro-Hispanic Caribbean cultural heritage. I harbor a global worldview that, at its core, is primarily rooted in the critical analysis of not only learning, but the ways in which we learn. This, I feel, is a vital component in helping us better understand the world in which we live. I am ever conscious of the importance of culture within education, grounded in the belief that student awareness of cultural aspects within society do not impede, rather facilitate the learning process
My primary goal, is empowering you as students. Your diverse voices are important because your role as change agents assists us in toppling institutional hegemony and deconstructing the power structures that reproduce oppression in society. Your student voice is so very powerful!
On a lighter note, I enjoy writing and performing slam poetry, composing music, singing, playing the guitar, drums, and piano, watching sports, hanging out with my pups, cooking gourmet cuisine, traveling, and fishing whenever I get a chance.
If you're interested in becoming a teacher, please stop in to see me or visit https://education.highline.edu/programs/bas-elementary-ed/