Boyer Symposium on Education and Society
The Boyer Symposium on Education and Society generatively addresses consequential educational issues facing our society. Featuring leading thinkers and drawing on participants from a wide range educational contexts, the Symposium nurtures scholars and educational leaders who comprehend challenges and capably apply insights to critical issues at the intersection of education and society. As such, the Boyer Symposium embodies Messiah University’s aspiration to bring together people and ideas as a means of renewing and transforming society for the common good.
Educating for the Common Good: Perspectives for Higher Education in the 21st Century
The Ernest L. Boyer Center hosted its inaugural one-day symposium around the theme, Educating for the Common Good: Perspectives for Higher Education in the 21st Century. The Symposium enabled college and university faculty and administrators to consider Boyer's body of work in dialogue with contemporary challenges facing higher education. Dr. Marty Kaplan, Norman Lear Professor of Entertainment, Media, and Society at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism (University of Southern California) delivered the keynote address. Chaired by Todd Ream, Associate Professor of Humanities (Indiana Wesleyan University), a panel of higher education scholars outlined specific issues facing higher education and responded to those challenges using ideas from their research in the Boyer Archives. Panelists included John Cheslock, Associate Professor of Higher Education (Pennsylvania State University), David Guthrie, Professor of Higher Education (Geneva College), Robert Reason, Associate Professor of Education (Iowa State University), Vasti Torres, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (Indiana University), and Cynthia Wells, Assistant Professor of Higher Education (Messiah University). The afternoon was devoted to addressing the specific challenge of making excellence inclusive in higher education, with a session facilitated by Alma Clayton-Pedersen, Senior Scholar (Association of American Colleges and Universities). A special highlight of this symposium was luncheon reflections from Kathryn Tyson Boyer, Ernest L. Boyer's wife and collaborator.
Making Connections: Translating Ideas into Good Practice for School Renewal
The Ernest L. Boyer Center was pleased to host a one-day symposium around the theme Making Connections: Translating Ideas into Good Practice for School Renewal . The aim of the symposium was to provide principals, teachers, teacher-educators, students, and education faculty with opportunities to consider ideas for school renewal but also to see their implementation in current educational contexts. Dr. Paul Boyer, president of Boyer Associates, Dr. Lillian Brinkley, NAESP mentor trainer, and Mr. Patrick Callaghan, Executive Director for Elementary Education at South Western City Schools, Grove City, Ohio, led the symposium by addressing the ideals highlighted in "The Basic School" - a vision outlined by the late Ernest L. Boyer for transforming elementary education. Attendees were given time to reflect on current elementary education practices as well as advice from principals who have used the ideals of "The Basic School" successfully in their elementary schools.
Constructing Hope: Inspired Learning in an Age of Accountability
The Ernest L. Boyer Center and keynote speaker Patrick Callaghan welcomed teachers from across the region for an evening of reflection with the goal of helping them see their roles as deliverers of hope. Inspired by the research of Dr. Ernest L. Boyer, Patrick Callaghan, Jr, Director for Elementary Education, Worthington City Schools, Worthington, Ohio, served as a teacher of students in grades 1-5, an elementary school principal, and the Executive Director for Elementary Schools. Focusing on educational culture, Dr. Callaghan encouraged educators to construct curricula that prioritized an environment of optimism and hope. After dinner, the evening concluded with a question and answer session with Dr. Callaghan that focused on his guiding principle "that as educators, we are not paid to merely teach children, we are on a mission to be their hope for a better future. Hope is not a noun -- something to 'have'. Hope is a verb -- something we strive to 'BE.' "
A Vocational Anchor in a Sea of Change: The Enduring Influence of Ernest L. Boyer, Sr.
Messiah University hosted a NetVUE regional gathering that featured scholars and practitioners whose work addresses the current challenges facing higher education, as well as the avenues for ensuring the future growth of colleges and universities. Faculty, administrators, and co-curricular educators from both NetVUE member and non-member institutions were invited to join the discussions of consequential concerns facing higher education. Topics included declining public confidence, pervasive questions about the value of a college degree, the unbundling of the faculty role, degree compression, and declining resources. Inspired by the work of Ernest L. Boyer, this NetVUE gathering provided an opportunity to share Dr. Boyer's ideals and to consider how they can help navigate the challenges of the present in ways that are attentive to an educator's calling to serve individuals and society.