“Human beings,” you have said, “have a deep need to represent their experiences through writing.” As teacher, writer, speaker, and now director of the English education program and founding director of the Writing Project at Teachers College of Columbia University you have addressed that need by instilling within countless children at home and abroad the passion for writing. In vivid contrast to the dark backdrop of reports about the growing bleakness of urban elementary education stand the bright testimonies of teachers to the success of your method in teaching their students to treasure what they write, transforming them, thereby, into enthusiastic authors. In so doing, and by understanding that only those who “delight in the power of words” can spread that delight to others, you have also turned innumerable teachers into avid readers and writers. While that is the genius behind the work of the Writing Project, your Reading Circle Project has also introduced a growing number of burned-out teachers to the restorative pleasures of reading, and has helped them integrate children’s literature, rather than boring basal readers, into their own classrooms. Your own writing, which includes four books on writing education, has been described as lively and illuminating and has influenced teachers and parents in Europe, South America, South Africa, and the Pacific Rim. “Teaching well,” you have also said, “like writing well, is about lingering longer to see and feel and experience things [one] might otherwise pass by.” At a time when too many have passed by elementary education we are especially pleased that it is there that you yourself have chosen to linger. In recognition of your distinguished achievement in the field of writing education, Williams College is proud to honor you with its Bicentennial Medal.
Megamenu Social