A lot of my time and effort is spent working on improving teacher preparation programs, coursework and field experiences. This IS the bread-and-butter of our Division, and it often overshadows the other equally important activities our Faculty engage in.
It might be interesting to some of you to note that our faculty collectively are involved in grants totalling over $43 million. This is astounding! Grant writing is tough work. It takes hours of work making your case to a funding agency that your ideas are both unique enough, and have promise to impact research and practice enough, to invest significant dollars in them. The fact that federal and private foundations have seen fit to invest over $43 million in our faculty and compatriots across campus is a testament to the creativity and fortitude of our faculty.
But these astounding figures are just indices--pointers--to the real work: Creating new knowledge. The great privelage and responsibility of working at a top-tier research institution is being able to dream up new possibilities, try them out, and study their impact. We have faculty studying the ways in which first language and second languages interact as young children learn to read and write. Others are examining the impact of professional development on teachers' knowledge and practice, and on subsequent student learning and achievement. Still others are engaged in basic research on learning in the content areas. The following bullets show the intensity and breadth of our work:
As a faculty we:
·Generate new models of teacher preparation and support;
·Study how children come to understand complex concepts and skills;
·Critique poor practice, narrow vision, and injustice in political approaches to education reform;
·Examine national trends and patterns in achievement, staffing, teaching practices, and law related to education;
·Study basic cognition related to reading, mathematics, science, and social functioning;
·Build linguistic models of thinking, discourse, and culture;
·Examine cultural influences on education with an eye for pluralism, diversity, and sensitivity to the perspectives of others;
· Develop new models of pedagogy and student support for students with diverse abilities;
·Generate new curriculum and technologies for learning and teaching;
·Study ethics in the media, science and technology, the humanities, and the broader education system;
·Document the history of important ideas, people, and movements that have changed the face of education;
·Examine the makeup of communities in the world and how they educate their future generations;
·Provide support to people with diverse abilities and disabilities to maximize their potential; and we
·Teach others what we have learned.
These areas of inquiry are what mark our faculty and distinguish us from among the hundreds of units around the country that merely prepare professionals. The work that we do influences countless thousands every day--an impact well beyond our own student numbers. It drives the innovation in our system, and gives back to the local community.
So, when you see research dollars or entrepeneurial dollars flashed about at meetings, take note that though these numbers are important, they are important ONLY because they contribute to our scholarly and programmatic excellence, and our professional impact.
Jim
