Dunke Fashanu ’18
Education
Houston, TX
Dunke is an education major who is all about rolling up her sleeves and getting hands-on in her field.
Even while attending college and serving as the president of a student organization, she still makes time to tutor special needs students in the Federal Reading Tutoring Program, an organization that offers aid to immigrants and provides literacy tutoring. In this program, she helps special needs students keep up in class by giving them the accommodations they need.
She decided on her major because she wanted to do something different from any other interdisciplinary studies major and decided to be a teacher to benefit and help students with special needs.
“I love the easy access we have to work-study opportunities, which have allowed me to experience what actual classroom situations are like,” said Dunke. “It’s these in-the-field experiences that have taught me the most and have allowed me to take the topics I’ve learned in class and apply them to real-world scenarios.”
Dunke has been a part of the International Literacy Association for about three years and is currently the president. this organization is made up of student teachers from all different sections and certifications. They promote literacy, education and teaching through workshops and volunteer events. They also strive to become the best educators they can be.
Tutoring at an elementary school has taught Dunke a lot about what a general education setting looks like. She’s also been able to attend professional development meetings to see how other teachers do team planning and has been on two class field trips.
Dunke’s advice to Future Roadrunners is to discover what your learning styles are and to study in a way that is most effective for you. In high school, she was used to taking tests and doing projects and then college was a wake up call for her when she had to actually apply what she learned instead of just regurgitating it.