An ongoing process
To the Editor:
In reading the article on the review of SAS's elementary education major ("Elem. education major under review," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 11/5/03) and yesterday's editorial on the subject ("Education review must be cautious," DP, 11/6/03), I was heartened to hear of the strong interest in education among undergraduates. It is precisely this type of commitment which the Graduate School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences want to engage as we undertake a planning process to reconsider the role of education in the undergraduate curriculum.
I would like to emphasize that education, as an option for undergraduate study at Penn, is in no way threatened by the current review, and that our intention is to make options for undergraduates' study of education more compelling for more of them. To clarify, there are several routes to teaching currently in place in the College at this time. Undergraduates can submatriculate into the GSE Master of Science in Education Program, they can pursue the interdisciplinary urban education minor or they can major in elementary education.
Enrollment in the latter has been steadily decreasing in the College (currently eight seniors and three juniors), even as enrollment in GSE's master's and non-degree programs of teacher preparation has steadily increased. Since GSE and SAS are committed to encourage strong liberal arts students to consider and prepare for a career in teaching, these diminishing numbers present a wake-up call.
In order to draw students to education as a course of study and as a possible profession, we want courses of study that best capture the deep content knowledge present in the disciplines of SAS and the critical pedagogical knowledge born of sustained field experience and inquiry in GSE.
Possible outcomes of our current planning include (but are not limited to) retaining and revising the current major in elementary education and phasing out the major and substituting an education minor. Whatever course of action is taken, current students will be able to select from among the options available at this point. If a new minor is instituted, current students may be able to take advantage of that as well. In no case will a current student with the requisite qualifications be denied the major as an option.
We look forward to continuing to hear from students as the planning process continues.
Catherine Lacey Director of Teacher Education Graduate School of Education
Meaningful dialogue
To the Editor:
With regard to the Oct. 11 arrest of Spruce College House Associate Faculty Master Rui DaSilva, members of the Latino Coalition would like to express our firm support for DaSilva and his wife, Ann Farnsworth-Alvear. Through developing the Latin American and Latino Studies program and mentoring Latino students, Farnsworth-Alvear has worked tirelessly to cultivate and enrich the Latino community at Penn. We thank her for her efforts and her family for their support, and we wish them the best during this trying time.
The Latino Coalition supports the investigation into the events of that day by the subcommittee of the Public Safety Advisory Board, but we want to stress the need for the University to maintain an ongoing dialogue about the needs of all of its students and a willingness to address the concerns of the minority communities at Penn. We will be carefully monitoring the investigation and developments so we can ensure fair treatment from all of the University's institutions. We will wait to examine the results for possible indications of institutional problems that affect the minority populations at Penn. In the meantime, the Latino Coalition will continue to maintain our commitment to meaningful dialogue between the complex communities at Penn and University administrators.
Jesse Salazar SAS '05
This letter was sent on behalf of the Latino Coalition.
