To the Editor:
The recent resolution passed by the Committee on Social Science regarding the education department represents a disturbing degree of institutional and epistemological myopia. There is a critical institutional argument for preserving, strengthening and expanding the existing education department.
In addition to providing course work in both social analysis and teacher training, the department exists as a invaluable resource for the study of teaching and learning on an institutional level. The discipline of education demands a constant reassessment of both the individuals and institution in creating environments which facilitate effective learning. The education department can therefore serve as a means for evaluating and improving upon the current state of teaching and the quality of student advising at the College; it can provide for the effective internal scholastic analysis of the educational institution we share.
In the past two terms the Student Assembly and the Committee on Student Life developed a series of faculty and student surveys regarding the state of academic advising at Dartmouth. This would not have been possible without the expertise found in the education department. Without a recognized scholastic foundation, recommendations which may develop as a result of these studies will lack the pedagogical legitimacy necessary to improve the College's academic advising policy.
To survive, an organization must look at itself critically and learn from its weaknesses. Once an institution takes steps to eliminate or to curb its ability to critique and improve upon itself internally, the quality of what that institution can produce is irrevocably compromised. The ability to create growth from learning, and not to depend upon imitation, is the mark of true excellence and true leadership.
As an institution, Dartmouth prides itself on the quality of its teaching and advising. It prides itself on being a leader in the field of undergraduate education. Eliminating or downgrading the education department deprives the College of a valuable resource for the institutional growth so critical to its mission.
