Re: Please tell us!

Linda.Fitzgerald who-is-at uni.edu
Sat, 21 Nov 1998 15:33:01 -0600 (CST)

This is a short answer to Eva's request for "brownout" stories,
and a "Coming Attractions" notice of a just-now-coming job notice.

Eva--

It is with a certain amount of guilt that I admit that I was NOT
affected by the "brownout." Because of the irregularity of my
lurking habits, I didn't even realize others were being affected
until everyone started raising a hand to signal his or her
presence. I depend heavily on xmca for intellectual nourishment,
but for me to have access when many of the major suppliers of
that nourishment can't even get to the table makes me blush.

Job seekers--

I have been planning to post job notices on the list, and, given
the volume of such postings over the past 2 months, I have been
getting very impatient with the powers-that-be here and their
slowness in releasing the job descriptions. I understand now
that they are slated for a mid-December issue of the _Chronicle
of Higher Education_. I will forward electronic copy as soon as
I receive it.

To give a sort of "coming attractions" trailer, the College of
Education at the University of Northern Iowa will be advertising
at least 2 junior positions in Elementary Education (I think we
are asking for generalists, but expertise in science would be a
real plus). My department, Curriculum and Instruction, needs a
department head, as well.

We also will be continuing last year's search for a senior (i.e.,
something less than dean level but more than assistant prof)
Director of Teacher Education, a campus-wide position, since
secondary ed students reside in disciplinary departments outside
of the College of Education. Iowa is moving toward
implementation of "Renaissance Licensure" standards in 2001, with
teacher candidates required to demonstrate competence
(performance-based assessment) rather than just show grades for
courses on a transcript. We are engaged in some pretty
stimulating discussions of how we are going to do that, and a
Director of Teacher Ed might have some fun with it too.

I consider myself very blessed with the opportunities I have here
at UNI to work in a real community of learners with colleagues
who share my mission to find better ways of preparing teachers
for the challenges of real classrooms. Our students have an
impressive rate of employment after leaving our program, many
taking positions in other states and other countries. Three
faculty groups with whom I share this mission meet regularly to
engage in reflections on our practice, read and write about
teacher education and elementary and early childhood education,
and keep our scholarly activities going in tandem with strong
commitments to the classroom. For example, one group is studying
Kenneth A. Bruffee's _Collaborative Learning_ (Johns Hopkins U.
Press, 1993) for ideas to fine-tune our own collaborations with
each other (teaching and writing) and the ways in which we
facilitate our students to collaborate in the classes that we
teach. And some of us have obtained and started to read
Wertsch's _Mind as Action_, even if I can't be counted on to join
in the conversation on xmca.

Although Iowa isn't the most exciting place to live, it does have
a strong commitment to education, as evidenced by all the
Republican farmers who helped elect the teachers' union's choice,
Democrat Vilsack for governor. (If our neighbors to the north
hadn't elected a pro wrestler, we might have gotten a bit more
attention :-) (And besides, it isn't out in the middle of
nowhere. I am running up to the Twin Cities on a quick trip
tonight and I'll be partying in Chicago after classes are out at
the end of the term).

Oops. This has gotten a bit long. But I did want the job
seekers on the list to keep UNI in mind, even if you haven't seen
an ad yet!

Linda May Fitzgerald
Asst. Prof. of Early Childhood Education
College of Education
University of Northern Iowa
630 Schindler Education Center
Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614-0606
Phone: 319-273-2214 Fax: 319-273-5886
Email: FITZGERALD who-is-at UNI.EDU