Volume 13, No. 1 No. 13, Volume 2007 September

InsideThe source for news and events at Teachers College, Columbia University Inside Inside

The Provost’s Angle Launching A New Column By Tom James...... 2 A Hidden Treasure: TC’s Pool...... 3 The Levees Visitors from Jordan...... 7 A Student Entrepreneur...... 20 A debut event for a new civic Now Serving curriculum sounds a call to action in the wake of Hurricane Katrina NYC: TC’s Zankel here is a culture in this country in which we don’t take responsibility Fellows for anything. If we’re among the privileged, if our wealth was passed on $10,000 scholarships help from family to family, we live in our own little society, and we make “T students help the City everything else disappear. You compare that with the Netherlands, where they still talk about the mong President Susan flood of 1953, about how they all came together and Fuhrman’s priorities for TC, how it’ll never happen again—how they rebuilt for A two top the list: stepping the next 10,000 years. And the only saving grace up the College’s already strong so far in New Orleans is that the Dutch have been commitment to urban teaching and willing to come talk to us.” service, and boosting financial aid. Those sentiments, uttered by New Orleans The two are clearly linked, as financial City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, cap- burdens can force students—either tured the spirit of the launch event held in early during or after their time at TC—to September for “Teaching The Levees: A Curriculum seek the kinds of higher-paying jobs for Democratic Dialogue and Civic Engagement,” not mincing words Gloria that aren’t typically found in the a 100-page teaching tool developed by TC faculty, Ladson-Billings of the University city’s neediest areas. of Wisconsin described herself students, staff and alumni. The curriculum is cued as “pissimistic”—as in “pissed Now a new program called the to the four-hour HBO documentary by Spike Lee, off”—in the wake of Hurricane Arthur Zankel Urban Fellowships is Continued on page 12 Katrina. Continued on page 10 The Provost’s Angle Walking in Students’ Shoes

Navigating TC’s geography can be a metaphor for mapping one’s TC experience—and both have challenges as well as rewards

t the heart of the great That’s a challenging task even for educator and philosopher an administrator or a faculty member, A John Dewey’s thought but far more so for students, who have is the notion of learning through limited time here in which to build a experience—literally, the idea that strategy and shape an experience that true understanding comes from adds up to a meaningful whole. the effort we make to navigate our Finding the teacher or course environment, whether physical, social that brings everything together, then or intellectual. sparking insight into how to pursue As the year begins at TC and one’s chosen path, is always to some those of us who are new here go about TC Provost and Dean extent a matter of luck. But it is our the business of settling in, it may be Thomas James job at the College to help students useful to recall this Deweyan precept— create a dependable map in their learning through experience—and to think in terms minds for the possibilities relevant to their fields. of how we physically navigate the new terrain in For those of us in the administration and on the which we find ourselves. faculty, this is an effort that starts with working True, our campus, with a few exceptions, hard to connect with one another more; to better occupies just one square City block. Yet it can seem learn and understand our own capabilities; and to labyrinthine—a veritable maze of passageways, imagine as best we can how it all appears from the staircases and tunnels that don’t always seem to students’ point of view. connect or to be just where you left them last. A great deal of work has already been done to That presents not only a physical challenge but create a more unified picture. There’s much more a metaphorical one as well. Beyond the difficulties to be done. In the meantime, if you feel lost, don’t of remembering where Macy ends and Thorndike be shy. Stop someone and ask. We’re all here to begins, or how to find your way back to that vending help. v machine with the particularly good selection, there is the broader issue of navigating the different centers and departments here, and understanding how they fit with your own interests and needs.

 Inside teachers college Columbia university In The Community Come On In, The Water’s Fine

TC’s century-old pool, home to generations, is one of the College’s— and the City’s—hidden treasures

t may be the oldest functioning indoor swimming pool in the U.S.—and one of only a couple of I indoor community pools on the Upper West Side. It’s been patronized by generations of local families, and its alumni include a British knight and possibly even the comedian George Carlin, who grew up around the corner. Yet the Teachers College Aquatic Center, as it is officially known, is one of the College’s hidden treasures, tucked away in the basement of Thompson Hall, where it is all but undetectable to the uninitiated—save for the occasional whiff of chlorine and the distant, eerie sounds 100 years and counting TC’s Acquatic Center was styled of splashing and children’s laughter. after old-world European-Roman baths The TC pool opened in the late 19th century, built in the style of old-world European-Roman baths—with a balcony above the cabanas that surround the pool itself and a large, ornate skylight directly above the water. It is 20 yards long, ranges from three feet to six feet deep, has no diving board, and features a lion’s head fountain, constructed in honor of the Columbia Lions sports teams, which still pours water into the pool, much to the delight of the children who swim there. The era in which the pool was built was a time when America’s middle and upper classes were discovering competitive sports and outdoor recreation in a big way, voiced displeasure with that arrangement. According to particularly water sports such as swimming, diving and a New York Times article from November of 1904, they water polo. Municipal pools and pools at private clubs complained that the Barnard women “left the tank full of were popping up around the country. hairpins, combs and rats [small wads of hair used at the Columbia University’s gymnasium, too, was outfitted time to add volume to women’s hairstyles] and that the with a “swimming tank,” initially for both sexes, but in dye-stuffs from their bathing suits left the water colored marked contrast to the current era, the Columbia men all colors of the rainbow.” Continued on page 4

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside september 2007  The TC POOL NEEDS “about $1 million worth of work,” says Pool Director Vinny Alarcon—including an HVAC system to keep the humidity levels and air quality stable enough to take care of the painting that alacron would like to TC’s Aquatic center Continued from page 3 have done. TC faculty member Amy Stuart Thankfully, relief was furnished by Mrs. Frederick Wells–whose son, Trevor, is shown leaping into the water (upper right) suggests Ferris Thompson, whose late husband had served on starting a “Friends for TC Pool” fundraising the Teachers College Board and founded, with his father effort, and Student Activities and Programs and brother, the institution that is now Citibank. Mrs. Director Maria Hataier would like to Thompson, nominated to the see the pool designated an historical Board herself by Grace Dodge, landmark. Bottom right: Jason Mischka, donated an entire building “dedi- who grew up using the pool, and son cated to turning out professional Jacob, 6. instructors in the science of phys- ical development—of health-get- ting and health-keeping” accord- ing to another Times article. The plan called for a diploma pro- gram to train physical educa- tion teachers and for exclusive recreational use of the facility by female students of Barnard and Teachers College, female gradu- ate students of the University, and female students of the Horace Mann School, then located on TC’s campus. Courses in swimming were to be offered to the general public. The Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Building was dedicated on Monday, October 31, 1904, as part of the Columbia University sesqui-

 Inside teachers college Columbia university In The Community

centennial celebration. Billed as the nation’s largest gym- 121st Street across from Macy Hall, remembers using the nasium for women, it was four stories high and contained pool since the early 1950s when she was nine or 10 years a swimming pool, showers, locker rooms and dressing old. Recalling that the pool was not officially opened to rooms, three bowling alleys (also in the basement and was the children in the community unless they had a tie to the first to be constructed in any college gymnasium in the TC, McDermott remembers “sneaking in” with friends country), handball and fencing courts, an exercise room from TC’s Bancroft apartments. and, on the top floor, a two-story gym with an elevated “When I was younger, the area above the pool was a running track. However, the most prized feature, accord- little park and we neighborhood kids liked climbing up on ing to the Times, was the unique hair-drying room “fitted the slanted roof [which had, at one time, been all copper] with steam pipes and hot-air radiators which raise the and sliding down it to the street,” McDermott says. “TC temperature of the atmosphere to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.” itself was a huge playground for all the neighborhood In the century-plus since then, TC faculty, staff and kids.” She recalled going up to the gymnasium to swing on students, and members of the local community have the ropes and on Saturday mornings wandering through adopted the pool as their own, with fierce loyalty. The the ground-floor hallways to the pottery rooms. “I wasn’t aforementioned knight, who was still swimming daily at supposed to be there, but nobody objected—there were all the age of 84, claimed, “This pool saved my life.” A TC the future teachers making pots.” student, Shirley de Leon, wrote her master’s thesis on the McDermott, now a special education teacher in building and the pool in 1982. Some families have been Bronx Regional High School, recalls that her mother coming to the pool for generations, while others find babysat for the young George Carlin. In the 1970s, she out about its existence when their children attend the started bringing her son, Jason Mischka, to the pool to Hollingworth Science Camp and other summer programs be part of a swim team run by a retired local man named at the College. Mr. Lacy. “It was an integral part of Jason’s life,” she says. “We’re cheap,” says Vinny Alarcon, Director of the “It is where he learned to swim, and it was a good place Aquatic Center, an American Red Cross instructor who for him to be.” provides lessons over a five-to-10 week span. “It’s not Today, Mischka also lives on 121st Street with his about making money, but covering costs and being an wife and children. “For me, growing up in the City, to educational setting where kids can learn.” have a pool right across the street was great,” Mischka But to the families who use the pool, its true charm says. “[The TC pool] is a treasure for a lot of people.” lies in the memories created and friends made while Mischka’s family uses the pool year round, and his swimming there. son Jacob takes swimming lessons there now. Not only Mimi McDermott, who grew up and still lives on Continued on page 6

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside September 2007  In The Community

TC’s Aquatic center Continued from page 5 do they enjoy the pool’s convenience, they also love its rearing.” Trevor, now eight, who first began taking lessons charm. “You get a sense that you are walking back into as a one-year-old, has grown up at the pool. history with the skylight and the old-fashioned lockers,” Wells raves about the cleanliness of the pool and says Mischka adds. that the water is warmer than at other pools (typically 86 Around the time the elder Mischka was learning to degrees, except for one day two winters ago when the glass swim at TC, Wavely Cannady, a 42-year TC employee skylight broke; the pool’s diehards swam anyway, while who now works in the boiler plant, was charged with the staff sprayed them with warm water piped in from the maintaining the pool. He not only checked the chemicals showers) and the chlorine is less harsh: “The balcony is and chlorine levels, he also worked with a team to give great for when kids take swimming lessons because when the pool a thorough once-a-year washing and the brass they do the back stroke, they look up and wave.” a thorough polishing. Cannady’s wife, Marla, who also Wells also likes the little cabanas because they offer worked at the pool as what he calls a “maid,” was respon- more privacy than a huge locker room and give members sible for keeping everything clean—from the bathrooms, a place to put their belongings. Noting the many birthday to people’s swim suits and towels. “There was a book with parties that take place at the pool, she adds, “At other everyone’s name on it and a number. The people would pools in Manhattan, they run you over and people are ask for their swimming trunks that had been washed and not very cordial. The TC pool is the best PR we do for the dried by the maid at the pool,” Cannady says. local community, because it’s the neighborhood pool for Over the years, TC faculty and staff and their this neighborhood.” v families have also enjoyed use of the pool. Professor Amy Stuart Wells and her son, Trevor, are regulars—with Wells Memberships to the TC Aquatic Center are on swimming laps in the morning and doing water aerobics a semester-long basis and include family or individual with other parents while their children practice once a rates. The pool can also be rented out for parties on a per- week for a recently established TC Aquatic Center swim hour basis, with additional fees for mandatory lifeguards. team coached by Alarcon. Because of the pool’s small size, however, summer “One reason that I push swimming for Trevor is not membership at the facility is limited to 250 people total. Pool hours and fee schedules are available on the Aquatic only that I used to swim competitively, but because it is a Center Web page at www.tc.edu/aquaticcenter life skill,” Wells says. “It is a safety issue and part of child .

 Inside teachers college Columbia university International Visitors from Jordan Teach as Much as They Learn Eleven educators hone their English language teaching skills and shatter stereotypes—including their own

f the definition of an educational exchange is For Teachers College, Columbia and the Jordanian that both sides learn, then this summer’s visit to government, the visit—which all three helped to make I Columbia and Teachers College by 11 teachers possible with the support of Queen Rania—was the from Jordan was a smash success. first tangible development in a burgeoning educational For the teachers themselves—four men and seven partnership. women, selected to represent each of the nation’s provinces But for all, perhaps one of the most lasting benefits after a nationally televised call for applications from Her was the opportunity to move beyond stereotypes, make new friends and learn about one another’s cultures. “I think you can’t know a person until you meet him,” said Tahani Al-Momani near the end of her six- week experience, when TC President Susan Fuhrman, at a round-table discussion, asked the Jordanians what they would tell their countrymen when they returned home. “I found things here very different from the ideas we get in the movies. Americans are nicer, more hospitable, have more traditions and also have more—I am sorry for the word—manners.” A FIrst Exchange TC President Susan Fuhrman meets with visiting teachers from Jordan in August The visit by the Jordanians grew out of a dinner in fall 2006 held at Columbia University President Lee Highness Queen Rania of Jordan—the six- week visit Bollinger’s house. The guests included Fuhrman and was, at the most basic level, an opportunity to improve Queen Rania, and the discussion that night resulted their English language skills and learn new methods of in a trip to Jordan a few months later by Bollinger, teaching English as a foreign language, a critical need Fuhrman and a delegation of faculty members from in their country. For Linda Wine, Director of TC’s both institutions to assess educational needs there. A Teaching of English to Students of Other Languages Columbia Business School faculty member, Safwan (TESOL) Certificate Program, it was a chance to work Masri, (who is also Chairman of the Board of the with “an absolutely lovely group of people.” Continued on page 8

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside September 2007  International

visiting teachers Continued from page 7 Mideast’s first boarding school, the new King’s Academy, effect on their colleagues.” which is modeled on Deerfield Academy), was also a “English for Jordanians is becoming critically critical facilitator for the trip. important,” adds Wine. “Improving instruction of “We visited public and private schools to English in schools there is seen as essential to the understand how we could help,” says Jim Purpura, country’s economic future and stability within the Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and region.” Education, who was on that trip. “There are 300,000 Wine’s course, which students affectionately call teachers in Jordan, and all their needs pointed to “English Teaching Boot Camp,” offers four days a help with English language instruction—so it was a week of intense course work on language teaching, no-brainer to have a group come here to do TESOL. language learning, the relationship of language to The hope is that they can return and exert a multiplier culture, classroom management and other courses in the Certificate Program. Fridays are devoted to teaching in TC’s Community English Program, which serves adult language learners from the five New York City boroughs. “All of the Jordanians who were here this summer spoke English well, but their listening comprehension varied,” Wine says. “They were also undergoing culture shock, as many of them had never left Jordan before.” Outside the TESOL program, the students went to barbecues, shopped at Macy’s, visited the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, saw a Broadway THE TEACHERS AND THEIR TEACHER Above: Jordanian teachers show and mingled with their fellow students. Mohammad Zammanoun (left) and Affaf Koshman. Below: “This has been a wonderful experience,” says Affaf Linda Wine (center), Director of TC’s TESOL Certificate Koshman, one of the younger women among the Program, in which the Jordanians were enrolled. visiting teachers. “I was afraid when I came here that people would dislike me—that they would see a woman wearing a headscarf and make assumptions about who I am. Instead, people have been so friendly. And I realize that I came with my own preconceptions as well. I did not think, for instance, that I would be able to make friends with Jewish people, but I was wrong—I have made some very warm friendships. So this has been a great thing.” v

¹ For video INTERVIEWS of two jordanian teachers Visit: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news/article.htm?id=6347

 Inside teachers college Columbia university International

What Next: A Frank Discussion of Jordan’s Education Needs

ot long before they headed home, the 11 Jordanian on teacher education courses that train teachers to teach teachers enrolled in TC’s summer TESOL Certificate math, science or other disciplines in English, as opposed to NProgram sat down for an informal debriefing with only teaching the English language as a subject unto itself, TC’s President Susan Fuhrman, TESOL Certificate Program with little linkage to what students are learning in their Director Linda Wine and faculty members Jim Purpura and other classes. Bill Gaudelli. Over coffee and snacks, the Jordanians talked While everyone acknowledged that TC and Columbia about why the trip was a success and how they will apply alone cannot meet the needs of all of Jordan’s 300,000 what they learned at TC back in their own schools. teachers, there was general Perhaps the most consistent comment was that while optimism that important seeds many Jordanian teachers are proficient in the mechanics were being planted as a result of of English—that is, in English learned from textbooks—they this summer’s exchange. don’t get a chance to use the language with native speakers. One visiting teacher talked As a result, they feel that their accents are poor, and their about her interest in starting an cultural understanding remains thin. electronic Web-based community “We’re getting information and learning how to apply that would allow Jordanian and it,” said one Jordanian teacher. “Here we’ve become more American educators and students confident, we can speak together fluently, and we can speak alike to share observations about to you.” important cultural differences TC’s James Purpura is The Jordanians also lamented the dearth of certificate that affect learning. And Fuhrman an expert on education systems in the Middle programs in Jordan focusing on the teaching of English as a envisioned the eventual creation East. foreign language. of “sister school” relationships Not having certificate programs “creates a motivation between New York City public schools and their counterparts problem because Jordanian teachers already have so much in Jordan. Both ideas were greeted with enthusiasm, to do,” said another. “There is no incentive to do the tempered by an understanding of the scope of the larger extra work. But a certificate, especially associated with a endeavor. prestigious institution, is something that people will see “We thought when we came here that Queen Rania had differently.” sent us on a long trip,” said one teacher. “We understand And still another issue: There appears to be little focus now that this is just the first step in a much longer in Jordan on content-based language instruction—that is, journey.” v

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside September 2007  Students

zankel fellowships Continued from page 1 combining both objectives. Created a year ago through Committee produce a booklet on HIV prevention. “That a $10 million bequest from the late TC Board Vice ties in closely with my academic focus on organizational Chair Arthur Zankel, the Fellowships are now provid- consultation and change in relation to diversity issues in the ing the first cohort of 35 TC students with $10,000 each workplace.” in return for working as interns at one of the follow- “This is a great program for me, because I’m committed ing organizations—the Teachers College Reading and to working in city schools, either here or in Washington, Math Buddies programs; the TC Student Press Initiative D.C.,” says Katie Picard, a new student at TC who will work (SPI); the Heritage School; Columbia Secondary School; as a Reading Buddy in a local public school. “I’m planning InsideSchools.org—a Web site that reports on New to be a speech pathologist, and even though this is reading York public schools; TC’s Office of Teacher Education/ rather than speaking, it all falls under the same realm.” School-Based Support Services (OTESS); and TC’s new Picard, whose mother is a speech pathologist and partnership with local public schools, spearheaded by whose grandmother attended TC, says the financial help is Associate Vice President Nancy Streim. The students will also much appreciated—confirmation to those involved in be required to work at least five hours per week in one of running the program that it’s meeting a core objective. these programs. “Our work in education and our positive impact on “I did youth work for nine years before coming to TC, human lives are greatly enhanced by the Zankel Fellowship,” and I really want to be connected to young people in the said Thomas James, Provost and Dean of the College. “The community while I’m in grad school,” says Zankel Fellow internship component is a particularly compelling feature Mateo Cruz, who will work for SPI in the Lab School in of the program.” Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood on the lower West Erick Gordon, Director of SPI, is excited to see what Side. Cruz, who is pursuing a degree in Organizational the five Fellows his program is receiving can do. “One of the Psychology, will be part of an SPI team that helps stu- strengths of the program is that it taps into fresh student dents self-produce books of writing on different topics, talent,” he says. “We have an incredibly diverse, energetic but he also hopes to help the school’s Student Activism student body, and what SPI offers is a very real-world col- laborative internship experience.” Zankel Fellows Project Director Claudette Reid says that the program selec- tion was designed to reflect the wide range of ways that TC relates to education. “It’s not just teacher education; welcoming and orienting With a record number (over it’s the entire College. 1,200) of students participating, the New Student Experience featured festivities and information both We want to give every inside and out. At right, students take a sidewalk break department the oppor- during the Street Fair on 120th. tunity to participate.”

10 Inside teachers college Columbia university TC STAFF

In fact, each academic department was involved in select- An HR Rep Wins ing the Fellows. “These programs aren’t just about tutoring,” Reid says. “The students may be doing writing or research, Big In Vegas but their work will help the students and parents of New York.” For instance, she says, the research conducted by Note to TC employees: If Cheskeca Reid Fellows for InsideSchools.org will be used to help immi- is your HR rep, you are in good hands grant parents better understand and navigate the New York heskeca Reid, one of three HR generalists City school system. And Fellows who work in OTESS will at TC, is relatively new to the College—she identify City schools that started here in December 2006—but any can most benefit from host- C questions about her knowledge and experience ing TC pre-service teachers were emphatically answered this past summer in their field placements. when she attended a conference in Las Vegas for Gordon emphasizes more than 20,000 human resources professionals. how hands-on the learning SERVING THE COMMUNITY Each morning of the con- experience can be for the Zankel Fellows Joy Spencer ference, the attendees were (above) and Katie Picard Fellows. “They’ll be co-teach- invited to participate in a pop (below) are TC Reading ing lessons, actively planning quiz to test their knowledge Buddies at local public curricula, mentoring stu- of various HR topics including schools. dents, documenting the benefits, compensation and projects and being organiza- employment law. At the end, tional support to teachers. Keca (pronounced “kee-ka”), They’ll be doing everything as she is often called, was among the handful of from tracking student con- winners, answering questions that ranged from the sent forms to taking head- basic—What does SPD stand for? (Answer: sum- shots of authors. They get to mary plan description, the governing documents learn in a very real-world and messy way about high-stakes for employee medical benefits)—to the hardcore: project-based learning.” What are the restrictions that govern FMLA eligi- Reid says that the process is focused on giving back to bility? (Answer: to qualify for coverage under the the community. “We want to share what we have, to take Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee must the knowledge the students amass at TC and use it for the work at a work site at which the employer employs common good.” at least 50 employees in a 75 mile radius). Gordon is optimistic about the Fellows. “These are Reid, a New York City native who attended strong, competitive candidates that bring a wealth of Loyola College in Baltimore and who worked at experience and background knowledge. In a program like Watson Wyatt, a worldwide human resources ours, which believes that collaborations grow from people’s consulting firm, prior to coming to TC, takes her v unique expertise, there’s a lot that they have to offer.” victory in stride. 8 FIND MORE INFORMATION ON ZANKEL FELLOWSHIPS AT: “It was fun to win,” she says. “But my view is www.tc.columbia.edu/financialaid/index.asp?Id= that this is the stuff I’m supposed to know.” v Scholarships&Info=TC’s+Funds

September 2007 11 Curriculum

We have to make up our minds as citizens that “it matters when people die, or when they lose everything they have. ”~Gloria ladson-billings, University of wisconsin

Levees curriculum Continued from page 1 “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem of something that’s incomprehensible,” this country.” in Four Acts,” which captures first- said Margaret Crocco, TC’s Professor TC President Susan Fuhrman, fol- hand the plight of New Orleans and of Social Studies and Education and lowing Crocco to the podium, called the its people during and after Hurricane lead architect of the curriculum, which launch event a celebration “of the power Katrina. was developed with the support of the of art and education to extract lessons The curriculum—which is being Rockefeller Foundation and in conjunc- from even the most tragic events,” and distributed together with a DVD of tion with HBO. described “Teaching The Levees” as “an the film free of charge to 30,000 teach- Citing Martin Luther King’s obser- extraordinary curriculum that expands ers nationwide—bills itself as a vehicle vation during the Civil Rights era that upon an extraordinary film. for prompting the kind of difficult “there are in the white South millions “I can think of no other curricu- discussions about race and class that of people of good will whose voices lum crafted so indelibly around a single typically don’t happen in American are yet unheard, whose course is yet historical event, yet reaching beyond it classrooms. Certainly if the launch unclear, and whose courageous acts are to deal with themes that are timeless,” event, attended by over 600 people in yet unseen,” Crocco said that if America she said. “It has the power to bring TC’s Cowin Conference Center, was fails to address the issues raised by together educators and students from any indication, that goal seems sure to Katrina and its aftermath, “history will around the world.” be realized. have to record the appalling silence of The nearly three-hour program “It’s important that our launch this period. So we must leave here today featured remarks by a large cast of event today be a call to action as well heeding King’s call, keeping alive hon- guest speakers including Marcia Lyles, as a discussion that seeks to make sense est conversations about race and class in Deputy Chancellor of New York

talking katrina From left: New York Times columnist Bob Herbert; New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge- Morrell; TC Professor Margaret Crocco and Princeton’s Eddie Glaude

12 Inside teachers college Columbia university The “Levees” Launch Still More Eloquent Voices Heard From From NYC’s deputy schools chancellor to Spike Lee’s co-producer, other speakers weighs in

City Public Schools; Darren Walker, hile the panel discussion at September’s launch event for the Vice President of the Rockefeller “Teaching The Levees” curriculum produced the most fireworks, the Foundation; Jackie Glover of HBO; and Wsurrounding cast of speakers also spoke poignantly about Katrina, Sam Pollard, co-producer of “When its aftermath, and the need for civic education in America. The Levees Broke.” However, the heart Marcia Lyles, Deputy Chancellor of New of the proceedings was a panel dis- York City’s public school system, spoke cussion chaired by New York Times about the tension in America between edu- columnist Bob Herbert that featured cation as “a way of preparing an informed Hedge-Morrell; Columbia University citizenry and a sorting system that deter- President Lee Bollinger; Gloria mines who will run our society and who will Ladson-Billings of the University of take out our garbage.” Wisconsin; and Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. of Reflecting on civics courses she took Princeton University. during her own high school years in which Herbert’s first question—“Have we students debated U.S. involvement in learned anything from the Katrina expe- Vietnam and the persistence of lynchings rience, and are you optimistic or pessi- in modern America, she said that cit- civic empowerer Marcia Lyles, mistic as a result?”—triggered impas- ies’ public schools today are compelling TC alumna and Deputy Chancellor of NYC’s public school system sioned answers from all the speakers. students to actively grapple with tough Hedge-Morrell, whose district questions. includes the heavily damaged Ninth “We’re focusing on cultural diversity—how we honor those who are dif- Ward, said that one painful lesson for ferent, what we know about ourselves and how we look at power, authority her has been how “the media instantly and governance,” she said. “Because while we may not have levees breaking made the victims the problem. here in New York City, we have other catastrophes, and we want our students “Any time the media has reported to understand that, as in New Orleans, those who are poor are most vulner- on poor people of color in this whole able. And we are trying to empower them to make a difference and fulfill tragedy, it’s always been the glass half their responsibilities to their communities and beyond.” empty. They focus on the Ninth Ward Watching the Spike Lee documentary was “painful” for her, Lyles said, to show that the area was poor and because she felt both guilt and relief that the tragedy did not directly destitute to begin with and that there’s affect her—but also because it made her feel helpless. no need to rebuild it. They don’t say “So I’m grateful there are educational organizations who would take Continued on page 14 Continued on page 15

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside september 2007 13 Curriculum

Levees curriculum Continued from page 13 that the vast majority of people there have to make up our minds as citizens its citizenry, and they see Katrina as an were property owners, taxpayers and that it matters when people die, or argument for getting rid of bureaucra- productive citizens.” In contrast, when when people lose everything they have. cy and red tape,” said Glaude, author of the media has portrayed wealthier We live in a country where some people the recently published In a Shade of people—primarily those who are matter more than others, even in death. Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of white—the stories have a sense of hope Because we know how exactly how Black America. “For others, the lesson and the possibility for recovery, Hedge- many soldiers have died in Iraq, but is that government has a role, but that Morrell said. we’re still saying about New Orleans the systematic dismantling in recent On the brighter side, she added, that we don’t know.” years of the New Deal has made gov- “I continue to see that the American ernment unable to respond. people are unbelievable. We’ve had “For me, I keep going back to my such an influx of citizens—people man James Baldwin, because through- taking off from their jobs, people on out all of this we keep encountering break from college, people spending a American innocence. People say, ‘I year of their life—to help rebuild.” didn’t know there were all these poor Ladson-Billings, the Kellner people in this country.’ Well—really? Family Professor in Urban Education Y’all don’t have tracks in your neigh- in the Department of Curriculum EXHIBITION OF CURRICULUM MATERIALS borhood, and y’all never drive through and Instruction at the University of Macy Gallery shows “Teaching the the wrong side?” Levees” photos through September 21. Wisconsin-Madison, said that “the jury As for the future—“I’m never opti- is out” for her on whether the country mistic, I’m from Mississippi—I’m a hope- has learned anything from Katrina. ful Negro, and I’m wary of any Negro “I tell my students to see me as who’s optimistic,” Glaude said, adding neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but that he used the term “Negro” to mark as ‘pissimistic’, because I’m so pissed a historical experience. “I come out of off,” she said, drawing a laugh. “We the blues tradition—I’m not a Pangloss, teach Kent State in this country, I don’t believe this is the best of all pos- but absent Jackson State [where the sible worlds. My hopefulness looks the National Guard also fired on students, Glaude, Professor at Princeton nastiness of life in the face, yet musters killing two blacks, in the spring of University and senior fellow at the the resources to laugh, smile and sing 1970]. We teach Martin Luther King Jamestown Project, a nonpartisan ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ so as a peaceful warrior, but we never think tank that focuses on democracy that we don’t stand hushed as witnesses say that his country turned on him. and social issues, said that people have before death.” And we celebrate the anniversary of drawn different and often contrasting Bollinger, an ardent defender of Brown v. Board of Education, but to lessons from Katrina. affirmative action in higher education, kids who are still sitting in segregated “For some, Katrina has taught that said that the Katrina experience has classrooms. government is bad, that government is confirmed for him the feeling that “It’s a pattern of behavior –we irresponsible in delivering services to “we’ve lost a sense of national purpose,

14 Inside teachers college Columbia university the “Levees” launch Continued from page 13 on a project like this,” she said. “Ultimately, we have to take this kind of discussion out of our living rooms and into the classroom, because that’s where the learning will happen.” a mission or will to deal with issues of Darren Walker, Executive Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation race, class and inner-city deprivation. and a Gulf Coast native, said that New Orleans, while similar to other poor “My whole training at Columbia U.S. cities of comparable size, was special not only by virtue of the Katrina was around the significance of disaster, but also because it “embodies the often contradictory aspirations Brown and what that meant for of the American ideal. American society,” said Bollinger, who “The day after Katrina, I got a call from a colleague in Nairobi who said, attended Columbia as a student in essentially, ‘Stop lecturing us in Nairobi about poverty and exclusion,’” the late 1960s. “It wasn’t just about Walker said. “You see, they thought there that the kind of problems occur- segregation or race—it was a whole ring in New Orleans simply didn’t exist and couldn’t occur in America.” way of understanding societal reform. Rebuilding the city, Walker said, is going to take more than the And from that moment until about traditional three Rs—“revitalization, renewal and rebuilding”—it’s going to 15 years ago, there was a sense that require a fourth R as well: return. these were strong issues that needed “The new New Orleans must allow people who want to return to have to be addressed. Every institution in that opportunity,” he said, alluding to the many interviews in the Spike Lee society, from the military to industry, documentary with people who feel that the city’s continuing desolation felt you had to do something about reflects the desire of a ruling elite to drive away those who are poor and of these issues. But somehow over the color. “That’s an absolute imperative.” past 15 years, that’s changed. There’s Jackie Glover, Executive Vice President of HBO, which produced the been a stunning reversal, in which documentary, said that Spike Lee’s film grew out of a desire on the part of the great mission of trying to address both the director and HBO itself to go beyond the wrenching news footage these issues has been turned around to of Katrina that had already aired widely on TV. be viewed as somehow discriminatory “We had seen the people standing on cars and on roofs, but we didn’t know against whites and others—a violation them,” Glover said. “Spike gave them a voice—they opened up to him, they of the Fourteenth Amendment.” trusted him. We knew he could tell the story in a way no one else could.” Bollinger said that the recent And Sam Pollard, Lee’s co-producer and close collaborator, said the Supreme Court decision striking down development of a curriculum based on the documentary created a rare and racial balance efforts in public schools special opportunity to keep the film’s message alive and reach a far broader in Louisville, Kentucky, and Seattle, audience over an extended period of time. Washington, was something “I could “It’s an amazing thing for documentary filmmakers to see their work never have imagined in my lifetime. given to students around the country so they learn more about this incred- “That the Supreme Court would ible chapter in our country’s history,” Pollard said. “This film is going to say that Brown actually prohibits local have a longer shelf life, and that’s a wonderful thing.” school boards from trying to address Pollard showed a 10-minute clip from the film in which a range of New issues of racial segregation—how did Orleans residents expressed their outrage at being labeled “refugees” by we get to this point?” the media and local and national politicians. Herbert also asked the panelists “I’m a citizen of the U.S.A., and you’re calling me a refugee?” one man if they thought a meaningful national in the film said. “What kind of shit is that? Did the storm blow away our conversation on race and class will ever citizenship, too?” v Continued on page 16

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside september 2007 15 Curriculum

Levees curriculum Continued from page 15 take place. The answers ranged from of a new life, with very real benefits for civic engagement around issues Katrina guarded to despairing. many people,” he said. “But economic raised—and who offered the best hope “I doubt we’ll ever have such a value isn’t the only thing we live by. for the future. conversation because then we’ll have There are higher values—being part of a “I’m most frustrated by the almost to talk about the complicity of every community, of a society; a sense of fair- total evacuation of the public space,” single person,” said Ladson-Billings. ness—all those things that are enshrined she said. “I’m old enough to remember “People say about racism or slavery, in the Constitution. That’s the kind of a time when the word ‘public’ was not ‘Well, it’s the South.’ But it was the discussion that needs to be held, but it’s pejorative. I got my public polio vac- textile factories in New England that being crowded out by events like Iraq cine. People in my family moved into were buying the cotton picked public housing that was safe, by Southern slaves.” That the Supreme reliable and affordable, to get Glaude said that conversa- away from unscrupulous private tion about race is hindered by Court“ would say that landlords. And if you wanted to “a deodorized representation of move forward in society, you the ’60s. Brown actually prohibits went to public schools. “Part of the problem “Now we all want to live with how we talk about race local school boards from in private, gated communities. in America is that there’s Consumerism prevents us from this thinking of the African trying to address issues of seeing ourselves as public citi- American struggle as having racial segregation— zens. You might remember that won out,” he said. “We’re still after 9/11, our head of state stuck in ‘I have a dream.’” how did we get to urged us to go out and shop. Hedge-Morrell suggested Well, I say, Don’t reduce me to that honest conversation begins this point? a consumer. What can I do to with truth in reporting, observ- really help people?” ”~lee bollinger, ing that in “New Orleans’ St. president of columbia university Still, Ladson-Billings Bernard Parish, which is 98 said, she takes hope from the percent white, was totally wiped out, and the dominance of the economic era thought that “we’re not that old of a and you never saw that on CNN or we’re living in.” nation. We’re a teenaged nation, and Anderson Cooper. And just today I What’s needed, he added, is some that comes with all the calamity and read a statistic that more whites died in galvanizing event that will motivate optimism associated with that age, as New Orleans than African Americans. people to change the terms of the dis- anyone who has tried to live with teen- You ever hear that on TV?” cussion. “You’d think Katrina would agers knows. Adolescents grow physi- Bollinger said that economics do that, but it hasn’t done it yet. So I’m cally quite quickly, but their minds may be eclipsing discussion not only more baffled today than I was three to don’t catch up to that growth for a of race and class, but also of demo- five years ago.” while. And that’s where I think we are cratic values. “This is an amazing time, As the discussion came to a close, it now. We’re this large, physically power- and there’s no question that economic was Ladson-Billings who perhaps most ful nation, but there’s lots of room for activity today is incredibly generative poignantly described the current lack of our minds to grow.” v

16 Inside teachers college Columbia university FACULTY IN PRINT Words of Wisdom, Not Exactly Whispered Rock n’ roll speaks truths with power, according to TC’s Barry Farber

“We busted out of class, had to get away from those fools; we learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school.” —Bruce Springsteen, “No Surrender” or decades, parents have worried that the lyr- other clings to old regrets.” ics to rock music are corrupting their children On each of these topics, F and poisoning their minds. But what of the many Farber argues that rock, in our culture pearls rock lyrics may also express? In his new book, of CDs, iPods and ringtones, has the potential for Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom: What Psychologically Astute broader reach than the printed word, particularly Lyrics Teach About Life and Love, Barry Farber, TC’s when it comes to capturing the interest and attention Professor of Psychology and Education, analyzes rock of that golden target audience, young people. lyrics for their psychological truths. “The better lyricists within the rock tradition “Rock lyrics, I believe, can be a lighthearted but tell stories about life and use creative phrases and engaging means to think about some profound issues imagery to do so,” he says. “Like other artists, great of living,” Farber writes. “Specifically, I have looked songwriters offer the virtue of a more palatable way for lyrics that illustrate in particularly insightful ways of learning than through the often-tedious pages of common human longings and concerns.” textbooks.” A response to what Farber terms a lack of appre- Farber doesn’t dispute that the writings of great ciation for “the psychological acumen of individual authors and psychologists go far deeper than rock artists or songs,” Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom groups lyrics lyrics. He admits, too, that many rock devotees don’t in thematic categories, including love and friendship; really listen to the lyrics. Still, he would like to see the pain; coping, aging and growing; and the inevitable “words” part of rock given more attention and serious troika of sex, drugs and money. consideration. A chapter titled “Identity,” for example, begins Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom does just that, giving an with a line from Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”: “I don’t entirely new meaning to the phrase “pop psychology.” know who I am, but life is for learning.” It’s not typical of Farber’s oeuvre, which runs more to “‘Who am I?’ is one of the great questions of life, titles such as “The therapist as attachment figure” pondered by philosophers, artists, psychologists, and and “Clients perceptions of the process and conse- yes, songwriters,” Farber writes, noting that although quences of self-disclosure in psychotherapy,” but you the rocker Meatloaf “made fun of such existential get the sense he could do equal justice to the psychol- questions, he also noted implicitly that these are ogy of 50 Cent, Lil’ Kim and Snoop Doggy Dogg. just the kind of things that many think about a good Shrink rap, anyone? deal.” And in a chapter on death, which touches on Aero- Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom is published by Praeger, smith, Jackson Browne, Simon and Garfunkel, John with a forward by Judy Kuriansky. It will be widely Prine, Billy Joel and Bonnie Raitt, Farber notes that in available in book stores in September. The Gottesman rock lyrics, “nostalgia seems to have two competing Libraries at Teachers College will feature this sides. One side pushes toward sweetening the past, the book in a Book Talk event on September 20. v

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside september 2007 17 Matthew pittinsky Continued from back cover not as a solution, just as a means to an end.” The company worked to make its product simple and clear to use, so that even professors without technological Inside savvy could adapt to it. Also important, Pittinsky says, was that he realized how decentralized the education system is. Instead of contacting institutions and Volume 13 • number 1 trying to force a top-down approach, Blackboard made in-roads by contacting NEXT ISSUE: October 2007 teachers directly, and letting them develop uses in their own ways. DEADLINE: September 20, 2007 With all Blackboard’s early success, then, why has Pittinsky stepped away To submit story ideas or other information from executive control of the company to focus on a dissertation? “Education of interest to the TC community, is in my blood,” he says. His mother was a teacher, his father a school board fill out and submit the form at: www.tc.edu/newsbureau/newsrequest.htm president and university administrator. The “Education Guy” wants to live up to his name and become a professor. News can also be sent through campus Still, he’s not turning his back on his experiences at Blackboard. “The skills mail to: Inside, Office of External Affairs, Box 306. Please include your I developed while managing a large organization affect the sort of researcher name and number. that I am.” he says. “I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I look at a problem and say Inside, the newsletter of ‘there should be a product for that, and smart people can figure out how best Teachers College, Columbia University, to use it.’” is produced by the office of External Affairs. To that end, he’s been working with TC professors Hank Levin, Gary Natriello and Aaron Pallas at TC’s EdLab—a creative team within TC’s Gottesman Libraries— www.tc.edu/inside on projects like the Networked Education Database, a massive database of Executive Director, external affairs classroom data. “We want to build on the fact that most schools have infor- Joe Levine mational systems that store data of interest, so we’ve been beginning to build Directors of a repository of networked school information systems connected to a central communications Diane Dobry repository.” Once the collection is automated, it will include ways to use Web surveys and a highly scalable data source available at minimal cost. EdLab ran ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF Publications a pilot of the project with 10 teachers this past year, and Pittinsky is excited Lisa A. Farmer

about the results. Communications Pittinsky knows that technology isn’t a panacea, but he still feels there is a coordinator Ryan Brenizer great amount of untapped potential in the classroom for technology to be used Web Editor in the right way. “There are three great technologies: database, the network and Paul Acquaro multimedia. In a database, you have the ability to make visible patterns and Associate Web Editor relationships that we couldn’t imagine in a physical classroom—no one remem- Jim Werner bers who raised their hand and how many times. With networks we can learn Administrative about South Africa from South African students and teachers. Parents can get Assistant Kalena Rosario involved in what’s going on in a classroom, and we can create a more engaging activity. With multimedia we can do things like dissect frogs from the inside out Editorial Assistants Victoria Bodanyi and learn in a more visual way.” It takes imaginative users to give technology Elise Martingale its power, he says. “Simply licensing a database, what does that do for educa- tion?” How has he found the time to pursue all his interests? He shrugs. “I always Original Design: Nina Ovryn Design thought I had the easiest set-up, compared to the students here who teach classes. They have to get up at 5 a.m., teach, maybe grab dinner before taking Copyright 2007 by Teachers College, Columbia University classes in the evening and return home to grade papers. I’m my own boss.” v

18 Inside teachers college Columbia university Calendar In Memoriam September 17 National Center for Education Statistics A teacher of deaf children Hispanic Heritage: Front Page Display (NCES), talk about recent changes. NCES Leo E. Connor, a well-known 4:00pm – 5:00pm – Everett Library Café is the primary federal entity for collecting Come celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and analyzing data related to education. educator of deaf children who served here at Teachers College. For Hispanic The event is coordinated by the CCRC as Adjunct Professor of Education at Heritage Month, the Gottesman Libraries (Community College Research Center). TC from 1970–1986, died of cancer will feature headlines of papers covering sto- Light refreshments will be served. Please on August 2, 2007 at his home in ries in Spanish-speaking countries. We invite RSVP to Sarah Phillips at [email protected]. Boca Raton, FL. He was 85. you to join us in paying tribute to Hispanic Connor held a bachelor’s from culture and influences. September 26 La Salle University in Philadelphia, Encore Book Talk: How the Academic Support September 19 of Parents, Teachers, and Peers Contributes a master’s from the University Meet the Firms 2007 Networking Event to a Student’s Success, with Jennifer Chen of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in 6:00pm – 8:00pm – 3rd Floor Russell Hall 4:00pm – 6:00pm – 305 Russell Hall Educational Administration from The Office of Career Services will be holding Attend Jennifer Chen’s book talk about her TC. His teaching career began in this networking event to give students an new novel, How the Academic Support of the secondary schools in Pittsburgh, opportunity to speak with representatives Parents, Teachers and Peers Contributes to a continued in Philadelphia and in and TC alumni from corporations who have Student’s Success. Her book is based on her 1951 advanced to the principalship hired past TC graduates. Come find out dissertation and investigates student achieve- what employers are looking for and strategies ment in Hong Kong. of elementary schools in Rockland to employment. Business attire is mandatory! County, New York. In 1954, he Multilingualism in India: by Ajit Mohanty became the Director of Elementary September 20 5:00pm – 7:00pm – Grace Dodge 179 Education of the Clarkstown Central Booktalk on Rock and Roll Wisdom, with Some of the questions that will be addressed School District in New City. In 1957, Barry Farber during this presentation include: What is the he became Educational Director of 6:30pm – 8:30pm – 305 Russell relationship between language and poverty the Lexington School for the Deaf, Please join us for an engaging and informa- in a country like India? How does India’s tive trip across rock n’ roll history. Hear multilingualism differ from that of western later was promoted to Assistant and Barry Farber read and discuss his new book, countries? What are the issues for education Associate Superintendent, and in Rock ’n’ Roll Wisdom: What Psychologically raised by having a population that is highly 1958 assumed the title of Executive Astute Lyrics Teach About Life and Love. multilingual? What are the difficulties in Director of the school. His expansion teaching in one language when children are into lifetime services for the hearing September 21 multilingual? impaired began with the establish- International Welcome Reception ment of the Lexington Foundation 4:00pm – 5:30pm – Russell Courtyard October 8 All members of the TC community are Summer Principals Academy Summer in 1978, the Lexington Mental and invited to join the Office of International Information Session Spiritual Health Center in 1980, the Services in welcoming new and returning 3:00pm – 5:00pm 305 Russell Hall Lexington Center for Mental Health international students for the 2007-2008 Come learn more about the Summer in 1983, and the overall parent cor- academic year. Principals Academy at Teachers College! poration, The Lexington Center for Members of the Staff and current SPA Services for the Hearing and Speech September 24 students will be on hand to answer Impaired, in 1985. Connor retired in Changes at the National Center for questions about the program and application Educational Statistics, with Mark Schneider procedures. Also learn more about 1988. At his retirement the agency 2:00pm – 4:00pm – 179 Dodge scholarships, financial aid, housing and served 15,000 hearing impaired per- Hear Mark Schneider, Commissioner of the career opportunities. sons a year. v

8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside september 2007 19 Student Profiles 

The Education Guy TC student Matthew Pittinsky has founded a billion-dollar company, but his heart is in the classroom eachers College is that rare atmosphere where some- that provides software for teachers and students to organize one can be both remarkable and typical, and Matthew their coursework online that is used by more than 12 million Pittinsky fits into that mold—Pittinsky’s passionate people at more than 2,000 colleges, schools and companies. Tdevotion to education and excitement about the potential He founded the company in 1997 and served as its research has to improve children’s lives has remained undi- Chairman or, as he puts it, “the Education Guy.” Since he had minished as he toils at his dissertation for the Sociology been in the classroom as a teacher and through education in Education program and experiences the joys and sleep schools, with an Ed.M. from Harvard and working toward a deprivation of being a new father. Yet few other TC students doctorate at TC, he had an on-the-ground perspective of have to leave class to give a speech in Chicago or for a live education that helped the company stand out in a market interview with the Washington Post, and fewer still have seen thick with competitors. For example, he says, “I realized that a company they founded in their twenties grow in value to technology isn’t a universal solution. The universal goals of more than a billion dollars. education are so complex that Blackboard presents itself Pittinsky is the co-founder of Blackboard, Inc., a company Continued on page 18

20 Inside teachers college Columbia university 8 ALL ARTICLES CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.tc.edu/inside