In celebration of 150 years of teacher education at the University, a panel will meet today to address the current problems in public education.
The 4 p.m. discussion, held in the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, is the inaugural event of the year-long celebration and will feature a varied group of speakers from both the University and Durham communities, including President Nan Keohane, who will deliver a short welcoming speech.
"I'm speaking in order to show our institutional pride in having educated teachers for 150 years, and to salute all the Duke grads over the decades who have gone into teaching," President Keohane wrote in an e-mail. "I think these are indeed worth celebrating."
The panel is only the beginning of the year-long observance of the sesquicentennial of teacher education at the University, which will feature symposia and a career fair later in the year. "We chose this event to kick-off the year to have an event in which members of the Duke student body and the Durham community could join together in the discussion of education," said David Malone, the director of the program in education.
In addition to the six panelists, the event's planners expect a great deal of audience interaction, said Melanie Rumsey, the instructor and coordinator of teacher licensure. They also hope University students interested in teaching and those who have volunteered at Durham schools will attend the panel discussion and the "Meet the Educators" portion afterwards.
"I'm hoping to see a lot of audience interaction," Rumsey said. "This is not simply a forum for people to come, sit, listen and leave."
Malone said that one of his goals for the panel is for students to leave with a greater sense of civic responsibility regarding matters relevant to public education.
"One of the things that the discussion is going to emphasize is what [public education] issues needs to be focusing on," he said. "Among them are issues of equity and excellence. There is the question of how can we have high standards and hold students to them and, at the same time, make sure all students have a quality education."
The event provides an opportunity to look at the University's role, said Malone.
"Duke can be very proud of our investment in the North Carolina public schools," he said. "We have Duke graduates who are teachers, deans, principals and superintendents in the community."
One of the panelists, Lyndee Norman, is a Duke graduate who now teaches at Jordan High School in Durham. Other panelists include the Assistant Superintendent of Durham Public Schools Janice Davis, Durham Public School Board of Education member Rev. Michael Page, Judge Elaine O'Neal, Department of Psychology Professor Steven Asher and Charles Payne, professor of history and African-American studies.
"The panel is very diverse," Malone said. "In addition to the community members, we also wanted to have members of the faculty at Duke, so we chose members who have experience with child development or education."
Although the University does not offer an undergraduate major in education, it does offer a certificates in both primary and secondary education. Rumsey advises Duke students interested in teaching in the subject they plan to teach.
She said she considers this one of the benefits of the program.
"The advantage to our undergraduate program is two-fold," Rumsey said. "[Students] get a grounded education in the subject they wish to pursue, and they also get the practical experience of student teaching in Durham public schools [as part of the certificate]. We are turning out quality people who become teachers and influence the next generation of Duke students coming in."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.