Greg McClure is a professor here at Appalachian State, and he is also an Appalachian State alumni! While he was a student here, he majored in interdisciplinary studies.
Dr. McClure has been an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, a program director in public schools, and he is now a Professor of Education in the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State. When asked how his profession has impacted him, Greg replied, “Teaching is ultimately about learning and growing with others in community. I can’t imagine not being a teacher.”
Soon after graduating from App State in 1995, Greg went on to work as a human rights observer in Guatemala. “I lived and worked in a very rural town called Copala up in the Ixcan Jungle. There was no electricity, no running water, etc. It was very remote. This was during the last years of the Guatemalan Civil War.” He also said that almost everyone there had experienced major oppression and violence for many years. Guatemala and the rest of Central America was experiencing a very dark time. During this time, the United States was playing a large role in supporting the violence.
Greg realized he wanted to be a teacher after his many experiences working with the Latino community during his college years. He worked with a group called Student Action with Farmworkers. In this group, he helped organize Christmas tree workers in the High Country. “Later on I realized I wanted to continue my advocacy work in education and decided to become an ESL teacher.”
With all of his work in education, I asked Greg what some of his view about education are. “Wow. We’d need a much longer interview to tackle that. I’ll just say that NC has not been a good friend to education or teachers in the last five years. I think privatization of education and overemphasis in testing is a major concern,” he stated, and I couldn’t agree more.
I asked Greg if there was anything else he would like the world to know about him, and his response was: “I am the father of three amazing children and they give me hope for the future. I believe that we will soon return to the roots of public schools and exercise education as the practice of freedom.”
I have the pleasure of being one of Greg’s students in Learner Diversity: Teaching English Language Learners. His class has helped me realize a lot of things about diversity and different cultures in relation to education. I cannot wait to implement all of the different strategies I have learned in my future classroom!
Want to get a chance to meet this awesome professor? Greg is leading a study abroad trip to Oaxaca, Mexico in May! This trip is all about learning why people migrate from Mexico and Central America to the United States. You will get the chance to work with Witness for Peace and spend time with students and teachers and other migrant advocacy groups in Oaxaca!