Last Friday (2/20/09), the SCIED faculty at Penn State met for an all day retreat at St. Joseph Institute -- a magic wand event. The setting was lovely and it was nice to get away from campus and spend some uninterrupted time discussing program issues. A centerpiece of discussion was defining who we are as a group and what we hope to accomplish through our graduate programs in SCIED. In many ways, we were talking about our "brand." When I first came to Penn State, there was a strong emphasis on teacher education in SCIED. It was part of the draw for me and it is where I have placed my energy over the years. Colleagues have come and gone over time, but I think we are still seen as a faculty who take teacher education seriously -- whether it is through our partnerships with teachers and schools, our collaborative efforts with scientists to develop meaningful science learning opportunities for future teachers, or our use of technology to support learning to teach (video analysis, e-portfolios, etc.). True, we have more folks who study the discourse and practices of science, as well as science learning and learning environments. So how do we capture this new brand in a way that makes sense for the group? More to come as we work this one out.
Faculty in photo (left to right): Deb Smith, Greg Kelly, Annmarie Ward, Kate Sillman, Rick Duschl, Leigh Ann Haefner, Scott McDonald, Carla Zembal-Saul (with wand) and Bill Carlsen.