Turning Curiosity Into a Career

For Alyce Tanner ’26, the path from Grinnell College to the classroom was not a straight line. It was a process of asking questions, exploring different disciplines, and building an academic program around the issues that mattered most to her.

This fall, Tanner will begin as a teacher in residence at Windward School in Westchester, New York, working with students in grades one through eight who have language-based learning disabilities.

Her path to the classroom began with an interest in sociology, then expanded to education and philosophy. Ultimately, she created an independent studies major that allowed her to bring those interests together.

Following Her Curiosity

Tanner came to Grinnell looking for a small liberal arts college where she could encounter perspectives and gain experiences different from those she had known growing up in New York City.

“I knew that I really wanted a small school with a really vibrant community that focused on really getting to try out a bunch of different things,” she says.

In her first semester, Introduction to Education with Associate Professor Stephanie Jones changed how she thought about schools and learning.

“I knew I was interested in education, but it showed me how much there was to really dissect and learn about education systems, especially in the United States,” Tanner says.

A course called Philosophy for Life sparked another interest, encouraging her to think about different ways of understanding the world. Rather than choosing between education and philosophy, Tanner created an independent major that allowed her to explore their intersection, with guidance from faculty advisers Paul Hutchison and Tammy Nyden.

Connecting Theory and Practice

Tanner’s academic work became increasingly focused on disability studies and education. For her senior research project, she interviewed special educators about friendship among students with disabilities and how those relationships develop in school settings.

The project grew from her own experiences working at a camp for people with disabilities and from classroom observations she completed through Grinnell’s education courses.

“I wanted to look into the importance of friendship at school and then how that relates to the experiences of students with disabilities,” she says.

That combination of research and hands-on experience also helped Tanner understand what teaching might look like as a career.

In Edu 250 (previously called Differentiating Instruction) with Professor Cori Jakubiak, Tanner observed classrooms and learned how educators adapt instruction for different learners. Later, a 400-level education seminar provided another opportunity to connect classroom observations with academic study.

“What’s really helpful about those courses is that you come back and you talk about your experiences and you’re reading alongside it,” she says. “So it’s practical experience alongside theoretical work, which I really enjoyed.”

Learning to Become an Educator

Faculty mentors were an important part of Tanner’s journey. Hutchison helped her think about teaching not only through education courses but also through his course How to Learn Physics, which gave her insight into what effective teaching looks like.

“It really gave me a lot of insight on what good teachers do and how to kind of guide your students and help them feel intelligent,” Tanner says.

As a senior, Tanner also worked at the Grinnell College Preschool Lab, gaining experience with younger children and different developmental stages. Together, those experiences gave her the confidence to take the next step, even though she admits she is still discovering exactly where teaching will lead her.

“The Grinnell education department prepares students to be teachers in a really critical way,” she adds. “It gives a really important perspective on how important teaching is and also the kind of open mind and the kind of boundaries that you need to have for yourself as a teacher. I think I gained a full picture of what it will be like to be a teacher — of course I’ll find out soon enough what it’s really like, but I do feel like Grinnell has given me a really good background for going into this career.”

For Tanner, the most important lesson of her Grinnell education may be that a career does not have to be predetermined. By following her questions, combining disciplines, and learning through both research and experience, she found a path that allows her curiosity to continue, this time, in front of the classroom.