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Sara Vitral Rezende

Photo of Sara Vitral Rezende

As a policymaker focused on education at the state level in Brazil, I was always concerned about building educational policies that would be effective. I chose my career in the government and did my BA in Public Administration because I wanted to reduce inequalities and promote equity. However, after three years at the State Department of Education, and two years of a second undergraduate degree in Pedagogy, I realized that I needed more than that experience if I was to develop the perspectives and skills necessary to lead change in public education in my state and country.

I applied to different programs around the world, and received the possibility of going to renowned ones, one of them being the IEPA at Stanford. Stanford was my choice and I could not be happier. Putting in words my experience there is a very hard task, but I will try to break it down in some topics. First, the small size of the program enabled me to get to know my classmates, and allowed professors to get to know me as well. This came together with the high-quality research that is developed at the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and in other departments. At Stanford, you feel like you have the support to achieve whatever you want to. Moreover, the GSE environment made me feel at home even coming from miles away and not having English as my first language.

Second, specifically for Brazilian students, I must mention the Lemann Center at the GSE. The Center builds a strong academic community that is interested in studying, discussing and thinking of possible solutions to improve Brazilian reality. Having that support was much more meaningful than I could have ever imagined. In addition to making my stay at Stanford possible with the combined Lemann and GSE fellowship, having the opportunity to be part of the Lemann Center enriched my experience at Stanford: it enabled me to take part in fundamental discussions about Brazilian education, to meet important people from the Brazilian ecosystem, to have an even greater sense of belonging, and to always remember my purpose of giving back to Brazil what I was learning there.

All of these could be true for different programs in the GSE. Why, then, the IEPA? First, I wanted to deepen my knowledge about educational policies. Second, I believe that, as policymakers, we should use much more scientific knowledge to underlie policy design and decision-making. This lack of usage happens not necessarily because we do not want to use academic knowledge, but because the government demands us to act so fast that we do not have the time needed to develop an academic study. However, I believed that developing my own academic skills could help me to work faster and better with available data and to have more knowledge regarding where to look for quality academic content. Third, I was eager to study a topic in depth, and developing an MA Paper would enable me to do that. Fourth, I wanted to go to a place where I could study about Brazil and other countries — although in the US, I did not want to focus only in that country education. This international focus was possible through the international perspective brought by the ICE/IEPA program.

Throughout the year, developing my MA Paper enabled me to have more in depth knowledge about a topic that was dear to me, regarding the inequalities in education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, I was able to develop skills and knowledge of quantitative methods and further develop my critical thinking for analyzing academic papers. These are skills I transferred to non-academic settings. I use them in my day-to-day job when I am gathering and analyzing data, looking for evidence to support policy decisions, or evaluating a project that is presented to the government. With the program, you begin to think more critically about data people present to you, and about how a project should be built if it is to have strong, meaningful and sound results.

The MA Paper is not the only source of skills’ development at the IEPA. First, the program has a group of mandatory subjects that will make you think about the world in a very different way. They give you the tools to see societies and institutions through different theoretical lenses. This might sound simple, but is actually very helpful for framing your MA Paper and also for you to know where you stand, to understand how you see the world and how others may see it. This is a very subjective but important skill to have in order to make career decisions and to use when you are negotiating with someone that sees the world from a different theoretical perspective.

Second, the GSE offers a great range of subjects. They enabled me to develop a diverse set of skills and deepen my knowledge in different areas of the educational field, some of which I did not have access to in my Pedagogy course in Brazil. Also, you can take courses in other departments if you wish. Third, the ICE/IEPA program has a cohort with people coming from different countries and cultures. This, by itself, was a source of new knowledge. Having different stories, perspectives and experiences shared along the way broadened my understanding of education and educational systems, and truly enriched my experience. In addition, as an international student, having this international community helped me to feel more at home, to share my feelings and thoughts, and to develop as a student and as a person. Getting to know my classmates and sharing my journey at Stanford with them was, for sure, one of the best things about the program for me. Moreover, I could not end this without saying how beautiful the place is. Stanford has a mostly sunny weather all year long, and the campus is a very, very beautiful place. This might seem foolish, but is definitely something to keep in mind if you are still deciding where to go.

The IEPA at Stanford is about excellence, challenging yourself and acquiring new perspectives, knowledge and skills. It is also about people, community and the international experience you will have (both, if you come from another country, and if you let yourself know your classmates). Now, back in Brazil, I feel committed to remembering, applying and sharing all that I have learned. For example, even without noticing, I apply the knowledge I acquired about the different theoretical perspectives from which people see the world. I do that when discussing with friends, negotiating with colleagues, evaluating policies and thinking about the next steps in my career. I also use the skills I developed when analyzing and organizing data, and when designing and evaluating policies and projects.

I feel like my sense of responsibility for doing all that I can to help improve education in my country is even greater now, and I know that there are people all around the world doing the same. I feel like I am part of a community of people eager to change the world, and I hope this will continue to inspire my work in the years to come, making me wish to be better and contribute more and more to Brazilian education every day.

Year 
2022
IEPA MA
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