Prophetic Writing
Berenice’s writing dates back over 40 years, exemplifying her status as a prophet for educational change.
The following works were written in 1969:
Creative Behavior in the Classroom – A Proposal
Gordon Allport (1968 in “The Person in Psychology” makes a general statement that provides the basis for the proposal with which this paper is concerned:
In order to achieve a more realistic image of man and his potentialities we need to revise our current theories of learning and growth, of motivation and personality structure… since human personality is a wide open system, responsive to tangible and intangible culture, on the lookout for new ideas and capable of asking an altogether new type of question–asked by no other creature in nature, viz., “Who am I?” (p.76)
If education is to respond to the increasing challenge and urgency of the need for the acknowledgment of “personhood” and the translating of such a concept into a better accommodation in all schools of the individualities and complexities of learners and facilitators of learning, one of the most significant points of focus for change must be in the teacher education centers of our colleges and universities. In the process of learning the role of a teacher, the role of a human being has too often been forgotten. “What’s Revolting in Education?” was the sub-title of a speech to the Minnesota School Facilities Council in which it was observed that of the three primary sources of curriculum–the nature of knowledge, the needs of society, and the needs of the learner– it is the latter that offers the “new frontier”,… the “fertile, untouched ground.”
Read the original article as a PDF here.
Creative Education and Repersonalization
Before a discussion of the topic suggested by the title of this paper can be undertaken, agreement on a number of assumptions needs to be proposed:
- The Reality of Change. The observation by Carl Rogers (1967) emphasizes the obvious: If there is one truth about modern man, it is that he lives in an environment which is continually changing. Although change is not new, the present degree of change is unprecedented. Postman (1969) suggests a metaphor that can provide a point of agreement. If a clock face represented approximately three thousand years of history and each minute fifty years, there would be no significant changes in media until nine minutes ago when the printing press began a new era; telegraph and locomotive three minutes ago; telephone, radio, and airplane two minutes ago; talking pictures one minute ago; television in the last ten seconds; computers in the last five seconds; communication satellites in the last second; laser beam a fraction of a second ago.
- Depersonalization of the individual is a natural result of an increasingly mechanized, computerized, urbanized, over-populated, technological society.
Read the original article as a PDF here.
Teacher Education and Personhood – The Creativity Syndrome
Arnold Toynbee has said, “To give a fair chance to potential creativity is a matter of life and death for any society.” (Heist, p. 153) Whether we want to endorse the intensity of his interpretation or not, such a choice of alternatives charges education with a critical responsibility and demands that means be developed not only for the advancement of theories, but for immediate and urgent translation of such thought into the actual here and now practice of the classroom wherever it may be. It will be the purpose of this discussion to consider the critical elements of his statement and to discover their relationships for the purpose of developing some specific recommendations for teacher education.
There can be little doubt that one of the most pressing problems of education and society is the challenge to narrow the gap between the immediate needs of a rapidly changing human scene and the sluggish traditions of outdated practices insensitive to new dynamics. Most large cities have had the frustrations of the educationally disadvantaged brought sharply into focus by disturbed victims of neglects, misunderstandings, and inequalities. Conventional education has not been able to provide them with the tools necessary to succeed. Accordingly, we have “in recent years witnessed among the youth of our country an increase in juvenile delinquency, unemployment and poverty, illegitimacy, welfare dependency, and violent societal rejection — all manifestations of a disjunctive society.” (Flint, 1968)