Profile: Camelot Chester’s Sean McGoldrick Inspires Students to ‘Be Their Own Investigator’

Inspiring students to be their own investigator. That’s what Sean McGoldrick says his goal is as a history teacher at Camelot Chester. Although teaching was not a part of his original career plan, McGoldrick comes from a family of educators. His mother encouraged him to follow this path, which ultimately led him to Camelot.

McGoldrick is in his third year as a history teacher at Camelot Chester. After studying political science at Catholic University in Washington D.C., he quickly decided that a career in politics would not allow him to impact change in his community the way he originally imagined when set his sights on a career in public service.

From there, he pursued his teaching certificate at Arcadia University. “A friend told me about how much they enjoyed working for Camelot, despite the challenges that come with being at an alternative education school,” McGoldrick said. “They told me that their educational experience at Camelot was much more rewarding than the other places they worked.” And, in the past three years, the recommendation from a friend to McGoldrick has proved to be true.

McGoldrick teaches American History, African-American history, World History and Civics to students in grades 7-12. The African- American history course he cites as his favorite. “African American history is a part of the American story, but there’s so much that is left out of general American history classes,” he said. “When kids finally learn about people like Jack Johnson, Paul Robeson or the Tuskegee Airmen they start to see how special and unique the African American story really is. It also encourages them to read between the lines and begin to question the perspectives of the traditional recitations of historical accounts.”

Camelot Chester is an accelerated program for students that are overage and under accredited, who are working to finish high school. The accelerated model provides students who have been expelled or otherwise pushed out of the traditional public school the opportunity to graduate on time. Students come to Camelot from a variety of backgrounds and differing skill sets, but in McGoldrick’s classroom he aims to ensure that his students are comfortable and ready to learn. “Even though students might have issues outside of school, when my kids understand that this is the classroom, it’s safe, and it’s a place they can be themselves – it makes it somewhere that they want to be.”

Being an alternative education provider means that students come to Camelot Chester with varying abilities and are often at very different stages in their learning and academic careers.  While these circumstances require McGoldrick and the other teachers at Camelot to take a different approach, it doesn’t deter them from creating exciting and engaging classrooms. “As long as students are pushing themselves, and enjoying themselves, and learning that’s all we can ask for. Not every student is going to be the best reader and the best writer, but they can be better than where they started from.”

After they move on from Camelot, McGoldrick hopes that his students will be lifetime learners. “We can’t force our students to learn anything, but we can help them to become independent learners and curious people. As long as they want to learn they will be successful.”