Transcript

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[orchestra plays in bright rhythm and tone]

Narrator (Cathy Wurzer: female, same throughout film):
During 100 years, a child will learn, grow, choose a course in life, and pass knowledge to generation after generation after generation that follows. In the same hundred years, an institution can support every step of that child's path to maturity. That has been the role and the history of the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development. As Minnesota has evolved from a frontier outpost to a leader in education, the college and its precursors have given teachers and school personnel access to the most sophisticated research, training, and support.

Using slates and screens, analyses and experiences, investigations and understanding, the college has affected lives in countless ways. In 1860, the Minnesota state legislature mandated that the University of Minnesota will offer “an opportunity for the training of teachers for the common schools of the state, in which shall be taught the theory and practice of teaching and everything that will perfect the elementary and other public schools of the state.”

Maria Sanford, one of the first women in American education to rise to the rank of professor, presented the first lectures on the art and theory of teaching ever offered at the University.

In 1891, the Reverend David L. Kiehle, Minnesota’s state superintendent of public instruction, was an early believer in the importance of professional training for teachers. Many of his colleagues, however, considered his notions unrealistic, and Kiehle was dismissed from his position in 1902.

In 1905, the College of Education was created with the mandate of guiding the training of teachers, principals, and school superintendents. Upon its birth, the college had just 3 faculty members teaching 13 courses. Two years later, the college opened the model laboratory school on Beacon Street, a hands-on workplace for teachers in training.

In one of his first acts as dean in 1915, Lotus Delta Coffman lent his support to the University's bureau of cooperative research, an effort to gather data from schools across Minnesota and to apply the information to the study of educational problems.

Florence l. Goodenough was a founding instructor in the institute of child development. She gained renown as an expert in the psychology of gifted children. Her draw-a-man test, developed in 1926, was used for decades to measure intelligence in preschoolers and older children. Among her many distinguished students was Ruth Howard, the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology.

[piano plays in bright rhythm]

Rich Weinberg, professor, Institute of Child Development Director, CEED, Ph.D., 1968:
The Institute of Child Development really began in 1925 at the same time that the lab school, nursery school, started. Over those early years, there was much more of a focus than probably the middle years in the institute on parent education, radio shows, and development of extension courses, and community-based education.

Narrator:
The Institute grew into one of the nation's leading centers for the study of child development.

Steve Yussen, dean, College of Education and Human Development, Ph.D., 1973:
The great public universities with land grant traditions like the University of Minnesota and a college like this one, in that university, really are committed to being triple hitters. We want to be outstanding in the research and the production of new knowledge. We want to be excellent in the teaching that we do and the preparation of professionals and students for the future, and we want to do both of those things in the context of making connections with and making a difference in the world around us. We do it about as well as any college in the world does this.

Narrator:
The Owatonna Art Project in Minnesota, started in the depression years of the early 1930s, was the most successful of several community art projects funded by the federal government at that time.

Margaret DiBlasio, associate professor emerita, art education:
Originally it was intended to be a K-12 program, but it involved families looking at their homes, their environments. They found that when people were taught to improve their environment, or help to improve their environment, that that improved their quality of life for them or the perception of their quality of life. The project probably would have had a national influence if the second world war hadn't derailed it.

Narrator:
Although World War II interrupted the college's efforts to carry art into the community, the conflict also inspired new physiological research. The Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene was established in 1938. During World War II, Professor Ancel Keys conducted a famous study on starvation and subsistence diets.

Art Leon, professor, kinesiology:
He got interested in the effects of starvation, which was, of course, a prevalent condition in Europe, the concentration camps. So he got permission to recruit conscientious objectors, volunteers, to take part in the classic experiment. At first, there was some resentment from some students that considered them draft dodgers, then, life magazine did a feature story about their starving to help other people who are starving, and then they became heroes.

Narrator:
Swollen by postwar optimism and the baby boom generation's demands for more teachers, college enrollment in 1950 soared to 2,816, up 260% from 5 years earlier. Minnesota needed nearly 1,000 new teachers each year to keep up with demand.

Margaret Virum, retired public school teacher, B.S., 1949:
Here in Burton Hall, Eddy Hall, Pattee, that's where most of our education courses were. There was not a bus, like I think you have a bus now that goes to the farm campus, that area. They had a streetcar. And there were veterans on the campus at that time in '45--the war was just ending. When I started out, I thought, oh, 2-year-olds, they'll be the easiest to work with because they're little and you're big, you know, and you're in charge. But it was the other way around! [laughs] I taught for 49 years. The longer I taught, the more I got to appreciate the philosophy and the background I got here. Of course, the philosophy was the developmental point of view that all kids are not the same. Each kid is different, and he or she progresses at his or her own rate.

Narrator:
In the 1950s, University High School offered student teachers a lab setting to practice their skills.

Bill Gardner, former dean, College of Education and Human Development; B.S., 1950; M.A., 1959; Ph.D., 1961:
I really thought that was a great place—a great place to teach, a great school. Maybe the reason I thought it was such a great school was that I learned so much there.

Narrator:
Literacy education has always been a strength of the college, and it remains so today. One prominent literacy professor on the faculty was Guy Bond.

Deborah Dillon, professor, literacy education:
He’s just a treasure in the field of reading, known as a scholar and as a teacher, but he also had a real love for kids who seemed to struggle. Guy Bond is also known for his leadership with a huge federal project called “the first grade studies.” And one question that was posed was, what does it take to really read well? What program will really help kids learn to succeed and do well? And as simple as it may sound, the bottom line is that kids' reading develops, and develops well, because of excellent, knowledgeable teachers.

Narrator:
From the early part of the last century, the college was known for its work in what is now called “special education.” In the 1950s, Professor Maynard Reynolds led the state and nation.

Stan Deno, professor, special education, Ph.D., 1965:
To establish standards for special education teachers. My heart beats very strong for the University. My mother, Evelyn Deno, was on the faculty originally in the institute of child welfare and worked in the nursery school.

Narrator:
Influenced by the work of his mother, Professor Stan Deno developed curriculum-based measurement, a system for monitoring the growth of students in basic skills.

Stan Deno:
As with medicine, when a child is not feeling well, we take his temperature very frequently. When children are not doing well academically, we try to take their academic temperature using curriculum-based measures.

Narrator:
With ongoing involvement in the Vietnam War, students protested against government politics and University policies. Demonstrations on University Avenue disrupted traffic, and drew Minneapolis police to campus.

Bill Gardner:
I recall the day that the Minneapolis police broke though the student barricade on Washington Avenue and came down the mall. I was teaching a graduate course at the time. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and we were in Pike Hall, and we had the window open because it was rather pleasant. Pretty soon people were crying. I thought this was rather odd, but the tear gas was coming in the windows.

Narrator:
An ironic educational legacy of this period of conflict was the increased emphasis on building cooperative environments in the classroom.

Roger Johnson, professor, science education
We asked what we thought was a pretty simple question which was how should students meet and interact with each other as they learn?

David Johnson, professor, educational psychology
What the research overwhelmingly indicated is that students would learn more and obtain a number of other positive outcomes such as high self-esteem, good relationships with their peers if they work cooperatively.

Roger Johnson:
That's the goal, is cooperative classrooms, cooperative school, cooperative community, changing the norms of how people meet and interact in those institutions.

Narrator:
Just as promoting cooperative learning has changed educational norms, so has developing opportunities for lifelong learning and professional development.

Carole Gupton, director, continuing professional studies; former principal; Ph.D., 1986:
Lifelong learning is about taking the concept and recognizing that you are both a learner and a teacher at the same time. The ideal is for anyone that's out there in the area of education or human development to have a way to be able to continue their learning both formally and informally.

Narrator:
One approach to lifelong learning is the college's partnership with Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, in a professional practice school.

Sharon Cormany Ornelas, professional practice school coordinator, Patrick Henry High School; M.Ed., 2000:
The concept of a professional practice school is that it's a partnership between multiple organizations that really provides professional development for teachers at all levels of their career, at all stages of their career. They have an opportunity to really engage intellectually in the profession of teaching and to be constantly renewed by all these conversations and opportunities for growth.

Louise Sundin, president, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers; B.S., 1967:
The student results are pretty phenomenal. The attendance has gone up a great deal. So have the scores and the better results which is what the kids actually know and are able to do when they graduate.

Sharon Cormany Ornelas:
The College of Education and Human Development has been incredibly supportive of our work at Patrick Henry. The college of education isn't saying we have so much to teach you. They're saying, we have something to offer you, and you have something to offer us as well.

Narrator:
In 1987, the college began shifting most teacher training programs to the graduate level, requiring participants to already have a bachelor's degree. Just as the college was intent on providing the very best teacher preparation and development in the state, one of its graduates, with a Ph.D. In educational policy and administration, was speaking up for excellence in early childhood and family education, or ECFE.

Jerome Hughes, former Minnesota State Senator; M.A., 1958:
The research in the 1960s indicated that if you were to do something with children, it wouldn't have much value unless you involved the parent. So I became a very strong advocate of the role of the parent in the development of the child.

Marty Rossmann, professor emerita, family education; M.A., 1974; Ph.D., 1977:
The idea was that it was a professional program. It wasn't going to be just something that parents could do if they sat together at McDonald’s Playland while the kids played.

Jerome Hughes:
I think there's a culture in Minnesota for early childhood family education. I think it's making a great difference in this state, more than people realize.

Steve Yussen:
In the College of Education and Human Development currently, we have very strong academic programs at all levels. We also have some just truly amazing interdisciplinary research, training, and service centers.

Narrator:
The Institute on Community Integration, founded in 1985, works to improve services and opportunities for persons with disabilities, allowing them to lead full and productive lives in the community.

Charlie Lakin, senior research associate, Institute on Community Integration; Ph.D., 1981
Virtually every discipline at the University has supplied us with research assistants. And I think what's so great about that is that most of these people won't work directly in the field of disability, but they'll take with them attitudes, and they'll see opportunities to really contribute to the lives of people with disabilities that I think they would have missed had they not had the experience of working here for awhile.

Narrator:
The college's interest in human development also extends to other areas, including physical culture and athletics. Such early faculty members as Louise Kiehle and Anna Norris studied the developmental benefits of physical fitness, an interest the college retains today. The college's Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, unique in the world, focuses research and outreach on examining the benefits of exercise and athletics on today's girls and women.

Mary Jo Kane, executive director, Tucker Center; director, School of Kinesiology
What we have to keep in mind is that the sport and physical activity experience for young girls and women is so critical to who they become as adults. When we invest in them, we don't just invest in an individual, but we invest in our future.

Narrator:
Another vital center in the college is CEED, the Center for Early Education and Development.

Scott McConnell, director of community engagement, CEED
I think CEED matters to the University, in that it is a mechanism by which information that is here gets out. CEED tends to work in an area that's really about community effort. It's about child care programs in living rooms where little kids spend their time. Little kids do not by and large come to the campus to find out how to live their lives.

Narrator:
The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, like CEED, emphasizes outreach into the community. Like its precursors, the research bureaus in the early- to mid-part of the century, it uses research to inform educational decisions in the public schools.

Kyla Wahlstrom, director, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement; B.S., 1971; Ph.D., 1990
My mantra is "good decisions are made with good data." When you have good data that is neutral, rigorous research about the newest things in education, that enables good decisions to be made, and that's why we are around.

Narrator:
An increasingly important aspect of the college community is the number of international students.

Nadir Budhwani, Ph.D. candidate, human resource development; M.Ed., 2000:
My name is Nadir Budhwani, and I’m a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Education and Human Development. I'm originally from Pakistan. My program is human research development, which is within the Department of Work and Human Resources Education. With the passage of time, I have also taken interest in international affairs from a political perspective, and I believe that HRD has a lot to offer when it comes to making foreign policies.

Narrator:
Just as important as the international challenges, however, are the developments taking place in our own increasingly diverse communities.

Big Ngo, assistant professor, teacher education:
Our population in the Twin Cities now is vastly comprised of immigrants, and our teaching force does not reflect that. What I’m trying to do is understand what it's like to be an immigrant student, and then from there, try to figure out how best we can teach them and attend to the needs of not only the students, but their families and community.

Narrator:
Just as diversity is part of education's future, technology is providing new and exciting ways to teach.

Aaron Doering, assistant professor, learning technologies; Ph.D., 2003:
Adventure learning is where you take a real-world experience and tie it to a k-12 curriculum with an online learning environment to provide for collaborative opportunities. I take all the images that we've collected throughout the week and download it here to the computer. It's delivered to the University of Minnesota, then posted online for millions of students worldwide. They are so motivated to learn--it's authentic--they see what's going on in the real world. Tying this K-12 curriculum to an online learning environment to an exciting adventure in the real world is the perfect mesh of technology, of content, and motivation to get students to want to learn, and that's ultimately our goal.

Robert Bruininks, president, University of Minnesota; former dean, College of Education and Human Development:
One of the great hopes I have is that we will bring fields together that study in the broadest sense the development of human capital throughout the life-span. By looking at these issues in a far more interdisciplinary way, I believe the University of Minnesota will be one of the premier centers of scholarship and education in the world.

Narrator:
A century of learning, research, facing challenges, and inspiring minds, however impressive, is not the end of the story of the College of Education and Human Development. The future lies ahead, with countless new lives, new approaches, and new discoveries. The college will face that future, uniquely equipped with its strong traditions of preparing teachers, promoting literacy, researching new ways of learning, and exploring human development.

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