Two Appointments Made at Graduate School of Education

Over the past three years, the Graduate School of Education (GSE) has nearly doubled the number of faculty positions in the Learning and Teaching area, one of three academic areas at the School. This investment reflects a focus on "the work at the heart and soul of the educational enterprise," in the words of area Chair Professor Robert Kegan. The recent appointments underscore a growing recognition of the importance of new research, practice, and thinking about what Kegan terms "the intricate relationships among students, teachers, and their shared subjects."

The two newest senior faculty appointments -- Catherine Elgin, in the philosophy of education, and Jan Hawkins, in learning technologies -- cover fundamental ground in education, spanning many centuries and uniting multiple fields. "Philosophy is the oldest form of systemic human inquiry and the application of learning technologies to teaching is one of the newest." said Kegan. "Coming from those disparate orientations, Catherine Elgin and Jan Hawkins share a focus on the meaning and possibilities for enhancing the ancient and mysterious human processes of learning and teaching. We proudly welcome these new faculty members."

Catherine Elgin

Internationally renowned philosopher Israel Scheffler, professor emeritus at the GSE, calls Catherine Elgin "an acute philosopher."

"Her writings range brilliantly over a wide array of controversial issues in epistemology, aesthetics, philosophy of science, and the theory of symbols," Sheffler said. "The systematic network of conceptions she develops is not only of intense philosophical interest in its own right but also provides suggestive models for educational treatments across the curriculum, emphasizing the interconnections between science, humanities, and the arts--thus strengthening the creative integration of education at all levels of learning."

Elgin joins the GSE as professor of education. A philosopher who has spent the past 10 years considering the question of what makes something cognitively valuable, Elgin has argued that the pursuit of understanding, rather than the pursuit of knowledge, should be the focus of epistemology's concerns. Elgin's current areas of study are art, language, and the theory of knowledge.

This term, Elgin is teaching Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, a selective survey of the subject, and Art and Understanding, which will explore how the arts function cognitively and how this function connects to issues of arts in education.

Her most recent book, Between the Absolute and the Arbitrary (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997), explores how similar problems arise out of diverse branches of philosophy such as aesthetics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. Elgin is also author of Considered Judgment (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), With Reference to Reference (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1983), and Reconceptions (with Nelson Goodman, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1988), which has been translated and published in German and French and is forthcoming in Italian and Japanese.

A visiting associate professor at the GSE last year, Elgin was tenured at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1984, and recently taught as a visiting scholar at Wellesley, Princeton, and Dartmouth. She was a Bunting Fellow at Harvard from 1994 to 1995, and an Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellow here in 1981-82.

Jan Hawkins

The information superhighway has brought a bounty of information into the hands of more people more rapidly than any other medium of communication. And many educators look to the Internet, and the technologies that support it, to solve problems of accessibility in America's classrooms. But technology doesn't effect change by itself, argues Jan Hawkins, newly appointed as professor of practice at the GSE. Consider the fact that computers donated to schools by corporations lie fallow in the corners of many classrooms because teachers lack basic knowledge on how best to utilize and integrate them into class plans. Teachers must be trained to combine a practical knowledge of technology with a fundamental understanding of how students acquire knowledge and master skills. More importantly, Hawkins emphasizes, curriculum should be designed in harmony with available technology, but technology should not be relied on to dictate the curriculum.

Hawkins joined the the GSE faculty this fall, after more than 15 years of applied research work at the Center for Children and Technology. The overall goal of Hawkins' research is the effective use of technologies in roles that help solve the difficult problems of teaching and learning, both nationally and internationally. Her practical work focuses on creating a nexus for three important fields: the research community; educators, both in practice and policy; and the technology development community, both private sector and nonprofit. Hawkins is also concerned with how complex social systems interact with emerging technologies in ways that provide or prevent access to information for various groups of people based on gender, race, and cultural and ethnic background.

Hawkins is the recipient of numerous research grants from such sources as the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, Apple Computer Advanced Technology Group, IBM, and Nynex. Her research includes a variety of studies and projects she has conducted with schools, teachers, students, and in informal learning settings such as homes and museums. Hawkins has been active in educational reform efforts focused on technology and education around the country.

Hawkins has also served on numerous boards and task forces, including the White House Technology in Education Task Force, the President's Council of Science and Technology Advisors, and the National Advisory Council of Scholastic, Inc. She has been a reviewer on interactive learning environments for the National Science Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, and the Spencer Foundation.

Hawkins earned a B.A. in psychology and English from Tufts University; and an M.Ph. in psychology and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology with a concentration in cognition, both from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.