Category Archives: Education

Chicago’s Vivian Paley promoted the value of play in the classroom

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Chalkboard Champion Vivian Paley: Kindergarten teacher, early childhood education research, author, and passionate advocate for child play in the classroom. Photo Credit: The New York Times

One of the most remarkable teachers I have been reading about recently is Vivian Paley, a pre-school and kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher, and author originally from Chicago, Illinois. She devoted her lengthy career to proving the value of storytelling and fantasy play in the learning process.

Vivian was born in Chicago on Jan. 25, 1929. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1947. She earned a second degree, a B.A. in Psychology, from Newcomb College in Louisiana in 1950. She earned a Master’s degree from Hofstra University in New York in 1962.

After earning her degrees, Vivian inaugurated her teaching career in New Orleans. There, she once revealed, she felt burdened by what she considered to be an overemphasis on strict learning boundaries and memorization. She came to believe that such an approach stifled both learning and teaching. This experience became the catalyst for her later work. In the 1960’s Vivian relocated to New York, where she taught at public schools in Great Neck and Long Island until 1971. At that time she returned to Chicago, where she accepted a teaching position at the Lab Schools associated with the University of Chicago. There she was free to develop innovative instructional practices, conduct experiments, and pursue her research. In all, Vivian’s career as an educator spanned 37 years. Vivian retired from Lab in 1995, but in the years that followed she continued to lecture and hold workshops around the world.

Many professional educators believe that the most significant impact Vivian has had on the profession is in advancing the theory that storytelling and fantasy play are essential elements in academic and social growth. Her research on the subject was discussed at length in her books A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play; The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter; and Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays: Fantasy Play at Four. In these books, Vivian demonstrates that storytelling and fantasy play help young learners immensely as they make sense of their environment, develop language skills, collaborate with their peers, and successfully function in the classroom.

For her work as an educator and a researcher, Vivian has earned many accolades. In 1989, she garnered the prestigious MacArthur Award. Known unofficially as the “Genius Grant,” the prize is given each year to between 20 and 30 individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their field. The recognition comes with a cash prize of $625,000. Vivian is the only kindergarten teacher to earn the award.

Vivian also earned the Erikson Institute Award for Service to Children in 1987 and the David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Teaching in English in 1999. She also garnered the John Dewey Society’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2000 and was named an Outstanding Educator by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2004.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on July 26, 2019, in Crozet, Virginia. She was 90 years old, but she will always be remembered as an advocate for child play.

Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler

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Educator and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler of Chino, California. Photo credit: Boys Republic

There are many amazing educators who have made a major impact on their communities. One of these was teacher and philanthropist Margaret Brewer Fowler, who was a significant figure in the history of Chino, California.

Margaret was born in 1863 in San Francisco, California. Her mother’s family were among the earliest settlers of the Oregon Territory, and her father, a graduate of Yale University, was a prominent attorney in San Francisco. In 1882, Margaret and her parents immigrated to Hawaii, which was an independent kingdom in those days. In Hawaii, Margaret became a teacher in various Hawaiian schools, including the Kawaihao Seminary, the Punahou Preparatory School, and Honolulu High School. In fact, Margaret served as the principal at the Punahou School. In all, Margaret spent 14 years as an educator in Hawaiian schools.

When she left Hawaii, the experienced educator traveled east and enrolled in New York University, where she earned her Master’s degree in 1899, a rare accomplishment for a woman in those days. In 1902, Margaret married Eldridge Fowler of Detroit, Michigan. The couple moved with Eldridge’s daughter from a former marriage to a luxurious home in Pasadena, California. Two years later, Margaret’s husband passed away, leaving his young wife and daughter a considerable fortune.

After her husband’s passing, Margaret became a substantial donor to the Young Women’s Christian Association and its World Committee. Always interested in furthering education for women, she became a founding trustee of Scripps College, the women’s school at what is now known as the Claremont Colleges in Claremont, California. She also became a trustee of the California Institute of Technology. In Chino, Margaret was instrumental in establishing Boys Republic, a residential treatment center for troubled boys. She purchased the land, paid to have the buildings constructed. and financed the operating costs of the center. Boys Republic still exists today, helping adolescent boys to stay out of jail and to redirect their lives in more positive directions.

In 2001, Margaret Brewer Fowler was named to the Chino City Hall of Fame. To read more about this amazing educator, click on this link to the Boys Republic.

Pennsylvania’s Laura Towne: She taught emancipated slaves

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Laura Towne

Chalkboard Champion Laura Towne from Pennsylvania opened a school for emancipated slaves as the War Between the States raged around her. Photo credit: Beufort County Library

American history is full of Chalkboard Champions who risked life and limb for their students. One of these educators is Laura Towne, who taught newly-emancipated African Americans, even though the Civil War raged around her.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1825, Laura was raised in Philadelphia, where she moved in socially progressive circles. She was formally educated as both a homeopathic physician and as a school teacher. She was also a dedicated abolitionist.

During the Civil War, Laura was one of the first Northern women to go south to work with newly-freed slaves. She traveled to St. Helena Island in Port Royal, South Carolina, where she founded the first school for freed slaves, even though the War Between the States continued to rage all around her.

Laura Towne was practical, independent, down-to-earth, and strong-willed. She readily entered into the life of St. Helena Island, where she began her work attending to the medical needs of the freed slaves. In June, 1862, Laura gave up her medical practice, and together with Ellen Murray, her life-long friend and fellow teacher, opened the first school for freed slaves. Laura named her institution the Penn School. Nine adult students enrolled in the school, which operated out of the back room of an abandoned plantation house. Unlike most schools established for emancipated slaves, Laura’s school offered a rigorous curriculum, which was modeled on the schools of New England.

Laura spent forty years running her school and grew to love the life she had established in Port Royal. She and Ellen eventually adopted several African American children and raised them as their own. Upon her death in 1901, Laura bequeathed the Penn School to the historically Black College Hampton Institute, at which time the school began operating as the Penn Normal, Industrial, and Agricultural School.
Laura Towne: A true Chalkboard Champion. To learn more about her, click on this link to read her biography published by the Social Welfare History Project sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Florida educator Connie Lane Lewis earns honors from DKG

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Florida educator Connie Lane Lewis has been named a Key Women Educator by the Alpha Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. Photo credit: DKG Alpha Kappa Chapter

It is always my pleasure to write about an outstanding educator who has made significant contributions to her learning community. Today, I write about Connie Lane Lewis, an outstanding teacher from Tallahassee, Florida. She has been named a Key Women Educator by the Alpha Kappa Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (DKG).

DKG ia a prestigious professional organization that promotes the professional success of women educators. The organization works to improve professional preparation, to recognize women’s work in the teaching profession, and to fund scholarships for teachers who need support to improve their professional skills.

Connie Lane Lewis worked much of her career as a professional educator at Florida University High School (FSUS), a laboratory school sponsored by Florida State University located in Tallahassee. The school is often referred to as Florida High, although the facility actually serves students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. She taught there from 1971 to 2004.

At FSUS Connie taught dance, archery, rhythmic exercise, gymnastics, tumbling, and computer science to students at both the elementary and secondary levels. In addition, she served as the high school’s coach for track and field and cheerleading. Furthermore, she served as a choreographer for middle school and high school musicals at FSUS. In addition to her work in the classroom, Connie served as the Membership Chair for the Florida State Association for Health, Physical Education, and Dance. She retired in 2004 after 35 years of teaching.

In addition to the recognition she has earned from DKG, Connie earned a Florida State Service Award in 1980. She was named District Teacher of the Year at FSUS in 1988. She also earned a Florida Retrofit for Technology Grant in the amount of $200,000, and she was named a finalist for an Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award in 2001.

Even in retirement, Connie is very active. Currently she serves as the Communication Chair and Webmaster of DKG’s Alpha Kappa Chapter. In addition to DKG, Connie belongs to the Beta Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and serves as the organization’s newsletter editor.

Connie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She earned her Master’s degree in Physical Education and Dance from Florida State University. She also earned a Certificate in Computer Science.

To learn more about the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, click on this link: DKG.