Ethan Rubin

UC Irvine
PhD Student
ebrubin@uci.edu 

 

Ethan Rubin is a second-year doctoral student at UC Irvine with a focus on Teaching, Learning, and Educational Improvement. Prior to entering the doctoral program, he worked in the education field for 10 years, with diverse experience ranging from classroom teaching to youth work in national parks and on construction sites. He is a previous recipient of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, earning his MPhil in Education from the University of Cambridge. His current research uses design research methods to address the challenge of preparing teachers for the subtle interpersonal aspects of teaching, particularly with regard to equitable, antiracist, and trauma-informed pedagogy. By working with experienced teachers, community leaders, and other educators to co-create impactful experiences and realistic representations of teaching practice, Ethan's research attempts to make the complexity and nuance of educational relationships visible for preservice teachers and support them in considering their roles and contexts more deeply as they enter the classroom. More broadly, Ethan is committed to strengthening the links between in-school and out-of-school learning and furthering a community-based, empathetic, and expansive vision of education.