In Hindi the word Kranti means revolution. As the Director of Education for Kranti, Katie made a conscious decision to move to an organisation that locates social justice at the centre of its endeavour in educating and empowering daughters of sex workers.
In this interview she narrates her foray into education through Teach for America and how she came to realise that the organisation’s shallow focus on math, literacy and science skills alone is inadequate. Moving beyond such a simplistic understanding, she explains that education locates itself within a socio-political and cultural milieu that is often marred with a history of inequity, marginalisation, and unjust practices. She talks about the need to question privilege and to centre social justice education.
About Katie Pollom
Katie studied Biology and French at Indiana University and worked in the US K-12 education system for 5 years. Placed in St. Louis, MO through the Teach for America program, she taught high school French, coached volleyball, and led international trips for her students. After teaching, she took on a new role developing and supporting new teachers in St. Louis’ low-income schools. Recognizing that access to education in the US (and worldwide) is connected to structures of power and privilege and seeking a deeper understanding of histories of racism, privilege, colonialism, and perceptions of gender and sexuality, Katie completed a master’s at the London School of Economics in Race, Ethnicity, and Post Colonial Theory. Upon completion, she moved to India and began working as the Director of Education at Kranti, an NGO whose mission is to empower the daughters of sex workers to be agents of social change. Katie writes the social justice curriculum and supports leadership development for the girls.
About Dialoging Education
“Dialoging Education” is (a podcast) driven by a vision of generating dialogue in pursuit of an education system that is equitable, democratic, and addresses questions of social justice. By interviewing teachers, teacher educators, research scholars and others related to the field, we hope to bring an eclectic range of ideas and voices that would, hopefully, interest many.