In this episode, I welcome high school history teacher and adjunct professor Ben Bruhn to the podcast to share his personal journey in education, his insights on the current state of social studies education, and the current gaps that exist in teacher education.  To learn more about Ben's work, you can follow him on LinkedIn and on Instagram with the handle @ben.bruhn.  

BIO: Ben Bruhn is a high school social studies, AVID, and credit recovery teacher at St. Helens High School in St. Helens, Oregon. He is also an adjunct instructor at Portland State University where he coteaches the social studies methods courses to future teachers. He grew up in Seattle and did community development work around the USA and overseas before earning his MAT at the University of Washington in 2012 with endorsements in social studies, language arts, and ESOL. He is a National Board Certified Teacher who has worked in a wide range of school settings. He has earned his administrative license and is in the process of completing a Master of Science in Ed. from Portland State University. His desire to help bridge cultural divides and his love for collaboration drives him to engage with all levels of the educational community to foster and advocate for student-centered engagement.  

Currently, he is co-leading a grassroots effort in his district to establish a collective vision and infrastructure for equity with a specific focus on antiracist work. He is also on the national leadership team of Teachers for Good Trouble, which is a group of passionate educators focused on reforming learning environments to build safe, nurturing, and justice driven academic communities, by advocating for legislation, policies, and resources that center the well being of students, teachers, and learning communities. He lives outside of Portland, Oregon with his wife and two kids.