Education Update - July 2002

26 AwardWinnerROBERT LEE COLVIN MOVES TOHECHINGER INSTITUTE ATTEACHERS COLLEGERobert Lee Colvin an award-winning educationwriter of the Los Angeles Times willbecome the new deputy director of theHechinger Institute on Education and theMedia at Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity this summer. The Institute organizesand sponsors seminars for journalists, top policymakers and researchers on timely issues ineducation. The seminars are tailored to theinterests of different groups of journalists,including editorial writers who cover education,education editors, reporters who specializein higher education issues and reportersnew to the beat.Colvin, 48, said the new position provideshim with a unique opportunity to representDiscover why the National Commission onTeaching and America’s Future calledBank Street’s graduate programs ineducation “extraordinary.”At Bank Street you will find small classes,supportive advisement, and a progressiveapproach to teaching, leading, and learning.studyabroad.comEDUCATION UPDATE ■ FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS ■ JULY 2002Studyabroad.comis the #1 online resourcefor study abroad information.journalism as well as education. “I want toleverage what I’ve learned in my many yearson the beat to benefit other reporters in theircoverage of education,” Colvin said. “At thesame time, I’ll continue to be a working journalist.”Colvin said in addition to his work withthe institute, he intends to remain active as awriter on education topics.The Hechinger Institute is named in memoryof Fred M. Hechinger, who was a reporter andeditor at The New York Times, specializing inthe coverage of education. It is supported bygrants from many foundations including theCarnegie Corporation, the John S. and James L.Knight Foundation, the Broad Foundation andthe New York Times Company Foundation.#For information ongraduate programscall:212-875-4698e-mail:GradCourses@bankstreet.eduvisit our Web site:www.bankstreet.eduOffice of AdmissionsBank Street CollegeGraduate Schoolof Education610 West 112th StreetNew York, NY 10025http://www.studyabroad.comA service of Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc.TEACHING • LEADING • LEARNINGSPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLSBank Street Conference at Museum of Natural HistoryBY DEBORAH YOUNGEducation’s place and potential in a democracyis an assumption that needs frequent revisiting,agreed speakers Deborah Meier, Dr. CarlGlickman and conference moderator RichardRothstein, during an exchange of ideas at arecent Bank Street College conference held atthe American Museum of Natural History.Public education still has a long way to dissolveentrenched inequity, said Meier, a learningtheorist and founder/principal of CentralPark East Secondary School whose booksinclude The Power of their Ideas and WillStandards Save Public Education?“The concept of elitism cannot be democratized,”she said. “The culture of the ruling classis a closed system, complete with its own language,and other mechanisms to keep othersfrom joining.” School should be where studentsget the tools to question the system they live in,she added.“What kind of power and education do I needso I can get my education without thinking thatthey rule me?” she urged educators in the audienceto help their young charges consider.“Empowering students to think this way startsby honoring their different backgrounds andexperience in the context of the classroom,”Meier stated. But conference moderator andNew York Times educational columnist RichardRothstein wondered if the pedagogy of empowermentmakes for a stronger democracy than ateaching approach which might “for example,force students to memorize the FederalistPapers.”“We preach to the choir so we don’t feel as ifOpen HousesThursday, September Thursday, September Tuesday, September Wednesday, October Sunday, October Tuesday, May :-: PM:-: AM:-: AM:-: AM:-: PM:-:AMPlease RSVP by callingthe school at --A School for Boys and GirlsWHAT EDUCATION CAN THERE BE WITHOUTFREEDOM OR WITHOUT TRUTH?“TRUTH IS EVERYTHING”ABRAHAM LINCOLNwe need any evidence to prove us right orwrong,” he said, urging for more long termstudies of different educational methodology.Progressive educators labor under the defaultassumption that if you give students an educationwhich encourages their input, they willautomatically agree it’s the best way to learn,said Dr. Carl Glickman, the Endowed Chair inSchool Improvement at Southwest Texas StateUniversity, who has authored a dozen books onsuch topics as school leadership and the moralimperative of education.“But this kind of education helps them makeup their own minds,” he said. “The DNA of ademocracy is where citizens use education tohelp each other.”All students must first feel respected beforelearning to make their own decisions and thenultimately taking the next step to help others,concurred conference participant Briana Nurse– a fourth-grade teacher at 15th Avenue Schoolin Newark.But foremost in her mind are the everyday,nitty gritty details of teaching in a school where100 percent of the students fall below the federalpoverty guidelines, she said, before headingto a workshop to develop strategies forteaching about the community – one of manyafternoon sessions offered around the theme“Social Studies: Where We Are in 2002.”“My students are trying to make it throughthe present,” she said. “For the first time lastweek during a lesson about neighborhoods, oneof them broke down and cried to me because hewas scared just walking to school. Those arethe stories we hear.”#The Ark is dedicated todiscovering unlimitedpotential in each child.We encourage thechildren to use theirtalents for the benefit ofall.Abraham Lincoln Schooland the Ark Nurseryprovide for thespiritual, mental, andphysical development ofchildren fromNursery through grade 8.The Abraham Lincoln School& The Ark Nursery East th Street New York, () -www.abrahamlincolnschool.org