"...Teachers superintend our intellectual and moral development and extend our capacity to lead humane and fruitful lives.
Because the function of teachers is so fundamentally important, one of the great unfinished items on the agenda of this nation is the strengthening of the quality of teaching at all levels of education, and most especially in elementary and secondary schools. We need teachers who can, by the model of their mastery and the glow of their enthusiasm, capture the minds and imaginations of students -- teachers who can motivate students to pursue their studies with vigor and excitement, teachers who can animate their students to achieve, with assurance and satisfaction, their individual destinies. The challenge is a momentous one." --President James O. Freedman, Colby Sawyer College Commencement, May 13, 1995.
For the second time in a three year period, a committee appointed by Dartmouth College's Dean of the Faculty has recommended either the total abolishment of the Education Department, or its dramatic downscaling, even to the extent of eradicating the Teacher Preparation Program. Neither of these committees included a tenured member of the Education Department, and neither solicited input from current students or alumni, who could speak to the quality and level of preparation they had experienced in their teacher certification programs.
There are two components to the Education Department's mission, and these complement each other: the Teacher Preparation Program (TPP), and studies in the theories of education. TPP students take courses in both divisions, since clearly, effective teaching practice is highly dependent upon a deep understanding of the central issues of education in the United States. The Teacher Prep students are frequently very high achieving students at the College, who demonstrate a strong social conscience and a commitment to bettering the lives of children.
As Theodore Sizer, the head of the Coalition for Essential Schools at Brown University, observed on the growing interest in education among undergraduates of elite institutions, "the quality of these people is exceedingly high, and it would be a shame not to serve them, even with the small numbers who seek certification, because they will be strong additions to the teaching force."
For these Dartmouth graduates, as Bill Clinton commented in his commencement speech last June, "Education is about more than making money and mastering technology ... it's about seeing the world as it is and advancing the cause of human dignity." Indeed, Clinton elaborated to the Class of 1995, "Will you believe that education is about more than economics, that it's also about civilization and character? You must decide. Will you work for more equality and more opportunities?"
The second component focuses on educational theory, and these courses are extremely popular among both those students seeking certification, and those who wish to study multiple perspectives on child development, schools, education, and society. Surely the point of a liberal arts education is to develop a complex understanding of issues coming before us now and in the future. As a Fulbright scholar and recent Dartmouth graduate observed to me after gaining admission to the doctoral program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, "If it hadn't been for the Education Department at Dartmouth, I would probably have become a stockbroker." Faith Dunne, former chair of the Education Department, said in a memo to the Divisional Council in 1975, "It is the critical job of the social sciences to examine the forces which affect our culture and our society. Government is clearly one of these forces; religion is another. How can education, which directly affects everyone in our society, be eliminated from scholarly examination? And how can such study be removed from the options of a student at Dartmouth College?"
In four weeks' time, at Commencement, we will be honoring, amongst others, Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot, a professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. The book that has brought her the greatest acclaim is the award winning "The Good High School: Portraits of Character and Culture," which studies particularly outstanding public high schools. Also to be honored is Deborah Meier, who led for twenty years one of the most remarkable public schools in the country, Central Park East, in East Harlem, called by some the best school in New York City. Surely the selection of these two distinguished educators speaks to Dartmouth's respect for their contributions to society. We honor them if we honor the profession they represent, and if we prepare -- in Halberstam's phrase -- "The Best and the Brightest" to join them in their mission.
With a College Capital campaign trying to reach and exceed $500 million, with money already earmarked to build a new Psychology Department, Upper Valley Center for Jewish Life, new Special Collections housing, and the Baker/Berry Library expansion, why abolish or gut a department devoted to helping students become better role models, parents, mentors, and teachers? The administration should not kill a problem; they should attempt to solve any problems they perceive at the core. This would demonstrate true intellectualism and principle. Dartmouth can continue to speak grandly and vacuously of the value of education, but in the words of Vaclev Havel of the Czech Republic, "our conscience must catch up with our reason, or all is lost."
We hope that in the administrative decisions to follow the public forum taking place this week, conscience will prevail at the college ranked number one in the country for its teaching. Surely, if the quality of teaching is one of the chief reasons students attend Dartmouth, we might insure and extend that legacy by consciously offering a course of study that has to do with the greatest of all arts: education.
