PCSS Conference at Millersville University

Today Educator Preparation at Millersville University is hosting the 4th Annual Social Studies Conference.  Kudos to Dr. Sarah Brooks for providing the leadership to make this event happen.  Stayer Hall is full of social studies folks today!  Sarah gave me the opportunity to provide a few words of welcome.  Here is what I told the crowd:

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to Stayer Hall and to Millersville University.  As most of you know, Stayer Hall is the home to Millersville’s College of Education and Human Services.  We are very pleased to be hosting this event today.

I want to read you a quotation that you have probably heard before.  Then I will ask you if you know to whom these words belong.

"An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people."

Who said these words?  (Thomas Jefferson)

Did he really say them?  Maybe not in just this way.  Jeffersonian scholars at Monticello indicate that this quotation does not appear in any of Jefferson’s writing, although it certainly captures the essence of his beliefs.  It may very well be the case that he spoke those words or at least words that capture that sentiment.

Scott Turow, the American author and lawyer, seemed to pick up on Jefferson’s sentiment when he wrote in 2011,

“Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.”

And then there is this:

“And so here we are, well into the 21^st century and we realize more than ever the importance of a strong system of public education as an essential public good.  We appreciate how important education is to our students’ futures and to the future of our society.  We understand that if our students are to succeed as adults in an increasingly diverse global community, we must ensure strong outcomes in critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, cultural consciousness, information literacy, and the ability to communicate effectively.  And we endeavor to ensure that this work is done within a context of social justice.  “

This is a sentiment, it seems to me, all teachers need to be mindful of, regardless of the subject they teach.  But I think these words mean something more to teachers of social studies.  Social studies teachers, I think you have a special role in all of this.

Teachers who teach (for example) English/language arts, math, science, and the arts provide their students with knowledge and skills they need to be well-informed and successful in life.  Social studies teachers also provide important knowledge and skill bases, to be sure.  But they also provide the framework for all of us to know how possessing all we learn in school in all those other subjects enables us to participate in our society and in our democracy.  Knowing the other subjects makes us a well-informed citizenry.  Knowing social studies helps us understand why that is important.

I put it to you that this work has never been more important than it is right now in our nation’s history, if recent current events are any indication.

Again, welcome to Stayer Hall.  I hope the conference is engaging, informative, and fun.




Until next time...