Today we interview Dr. Ted Hamann about EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover. Ted is the Charles Bessey professor of teaching, learning and teacher education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ted is an anthropologist of education with a primary scholarly focus on the interface between education policy and practice. He is author/editor of 14 books/monographs/journal special issues and has published almost 100 journal articles and book chapters. In 2019, Hamann served as a Fulbright Garcia-Robles U.S. Scholar at the Tijuana campus of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional studying binational higher education collaborations that were intended to better prepare educators in both the United States and Mexico. He is an AERA fellow of the American +Education Research Association and a NEPC fellow at the National Education Policy Center.

Ted tells us education is an aspect of anthropology because it is the way peoples have decided to pass on their humanity. Ted’s work looks at education through the lens of anthropological methods at investigating what is going on in classrooms, in teacher education, in teaching communities, and so on. The imagining of who we are, such as Tara’s quest in EDUCATED, is partially an anthropological question. We delve into what education means, in general, and what it meant to Tara. Linny was mostly interested in what happened outside the classroom, but Nancy keeps insisting what happens in the classroom mattered. Ted acknowledges that "school" is helpful to some but it can also be harmful. Tara brought a unique perspective, as well as a unique set of assets to her college experience. In fact, though difficult, her learned self-reliance and persistence were likely crucial to her eventual success. Linny is skeptical that most students have the sort of engaging and life-changing experience that Tara did, and that Ted and Nancy keep talking about. She just wanted to get through school so she won't have to work in a factory! Eventually, she does talk about her Master's education and how that mattered. Ted agrees that the voluntariness and the reason for being in a classroom matters. Tara had a good reason to be in those classrooms. Ted tells us about his research in school as a community and teacher recruitment from within difficult to staff schools.