CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ― A new book examines the ideas that shaped teaching practices and student learning across the past century and the innovative University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scholars behind them.
Credit: Photo courtesy of College of Education.
“Arguments for Learning: An Intellectual History of the College of Education at the University of Illinois,” co-written by education policy, organization and leadership professor Bill Cope and Walter Feinberg, the Charles Dunn Hardie Professor Emeritus in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, is a critical history of the work of faculty and students in the college and its contribution to national and international educational reform.
“We have called this a ‘symptomatic’ history, because even though the focus is on the College of Education and related education developments at the U. of I., the questions address the whole field, nationally and globally,” Cope said. “Consistently over the past century and a quarter, Illinois has been a leading voice in the arguments for education.”
Photo courtesy of College of Education.
Established as the School of Education in 1905, the unit was elevated to independent college status in 1918. From its founding through the present, the authors examine issues such as the push to professionalize teaching practice; pedagogical innovations such as the development of the “new math” that aimed to overhaul mathematics instruction; the inception of educational research as a discipline; initiatives focused on equity and diversity; and the societal forces that altered the social foundations of education.
Beginning with the PLATO computer system, the precursor to the internet developed at Illinois in the 1960s, Cope and Feinberg also look at the revolutionary impact of learning technology.
As they began the project, the authors said that it became clear that while the college was the book’s focus, a broader scope was necessary to reflect the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of educational advancements that began at Illinois. Accordingly, the book tells “the stories of the intertwined intellectual lives of educational thinkers,” in a variety of disciplines ― including psychology, philosophy and engineering ― whose innovative approaches improved the experiences of students of all ages and abilities on campus and beyond, the authors wrote.
“As a faculty member for over 40 years, my research for the book has enabled me to better understand and appreciate the work of my colleagues both past and present,” said Feinberg, who joined the faculty in 1967. “My hope is that ‘Arguments for Learning’ can provide people both inside and outside the college with an informed understanding of its rich history and its important role in American education.”
Photo courtesy of Bill Cope.
The book was a collective effort, steered by an advisory committee of current and retired faculty members chaired by Cope, with input from several former deans who reflected on their time with college in interviews, and the contributions of colleagues who penned first drafts on the histories of their departments.
Former Dean Mary Kalantzis, who commissioned the book project in 2015, reflected on the various challenges that the college and higher education more broadly confronted and wrote in the book’s introduction:
“Beyond the pressures of the moment, we need to recall our roots, seeking inspiration in the great challenges, necessary struggles, and insistent changes demanded by the project of education reform. The story that unfolds in this book speaks to the breakthrough work of enlightened scholars working with inspired students in challenging times.”
The book was published by the University of Illinois Press.
