H
ow fitting that, as we celebrate 40 years of coeducation at Williston Northampton, this year’s Cum Laude speaker was Professor Sheila Fisher ’72, valedictorian of the school’s first co-ed class.
Standing before a packed Stephens Chapel, Professor Fisher, associate academic dean and member of the English faculty at Trinity College in Hartford, extolled the talent and accomplishments of this year’s Cum Laude Society inductees.
Then she threw in a twist. A “relationship with work,” she said—referring to academic prowess, rather than the effort that produces a particular result—is essential for one to have a fulfilled life.
What a strong message for our students to hear—no matter where their passions take them. A scholar in her field and one who holds three advanced degrees from Yale University, Professor Fisher now stands as one of the “giants” she remembered from her own school days. Our students clearly understood the significance of her scholarship and accomplishments.
Indeed, Professor Fisher embodies, as a living testimony, the enduring impact that great teachers have on generations of students—not to mention individuals whose lives they steer by the magnetic pull of emulation.
The Guide on the Side
Dropping in on a Williston Northampton history class the other day, I saw the best of the Socratic method taking place among a group of eager ninth-grade students.
Sarah Klumpp’s slightly wry questions ignited instant responses from her students. They, in turn, engaged one another on the topic of the day: the range of women’s rights among a number of Arab states as portrayed in press accounts from the United States to the United Kingdom to the Middle East.
With a terse “how do you know?” or a prying, “are you stating an ethnocentric idea?” Ms. Klumpp masterfully guided her students into higher-level reasoning skills.
Since her students were charged with independent Internet research, they were required to be discerning synthesizers of information. Because they had to present their findings orally, they were practicing clear communication skills. Since they responded to one another without the teacher’s prompting, they had, clearly, taken an important step in becoming thoughtful listeners.
One of the great pleasures of my day is to stop by a classroom and witness our faculty guiding students in precisely these areas as 21st century learners.
The Importance of Ends and Beginnings in Teaching
A number of thoughts coalesced as I listened to dean of faculty Peter Valine make a presentation to Williston’s teachers following the long winter holiday. His focus on classroom instruction and its “ends and beginnings” was especially timely as this was our first year in our return to a trimester calendar. (As an aside, our change to trimesters has realized one of our principle goals which was to bolster the the number and scope of elective courses, including the new Williston Scholar classes.)
How students synthesize and apply the concepts and skills they learn in the classroom depends on the teacher’s ability to facilitate the connections between one class and the next, one problem and the next, one idea and the next. In short, the intentional design of the beginnings and endings of classes really matters. And how teachers connect with students to understand their prior understandings and the many different learning styles arrayed before them is crucial to determining the effectiveness of learning our students experience over time.
The work of Mr. Valine’s Teaching Excellence task force last year established a fresh set of goals toward which we continue to strive. The ongoing work we do as a faculty about the craft of teaching ensures that Williston’s teachers remain on the front end of these important professional conversations.
The View from Taipei 101
The view from the top of Taipei 101—the world’s tallest and greenest building when it opened in 2004—affords one an unobstructed 360 degree view of Taipei. Different from the forest of towers in Hong Kong, which at least in places look at and reflect off of one another, Taipei 101 occupies a singular position in the landscape. There’s nothing even close to it.
From what I’ve gleaned from the Williston Northampton families and alumni who came together for our reception here, Taipei 101 serves as a beacon for globalism. And the city reflects this sensibility, from the wide range of cars seen on the streets, to the international cuisine available, to the broad perspectives represented by our alumni and friends.
As we wrap up our six-city tour, doing so in Taipei serves as an exclamation point to what has been an extraordinary journey. Our students from Asia will travel to their homes shortly after our own return to the Pioneer Valley, and each time this trans-Pacific journey occurs, one perspective infuses another, ensuring that Williston’s education remains relevant, unobstructed, and beacon-like in its own right.
Finding Common Ground in a Shanghai High School
A highlight of our time in Shanghai was our visit to Xuhui High School, a school originally founded by French missionaries at almost the same time Williston Seminary was founded in Easthampton. Today, Xuhui is one of the city’s most acclaimed and sought-after schools.
Similar to American public schools like the Bronx School of Science in New York, Xuhui serves students in Shanghai based upon a demanding election process. The school boasts a well-kept museum, or what we would call an archive, cataloguing its history from the first principal (who has an entire room dedicated to his tenure) to its current educational mission. The school also proudly displays photographs of its graduates who have achieved fame in every variety of field and enterprise.
The day we toured, the school was in the midst of monthly examinations, so we were not able to interact with students. However, from what we were able to view, classrooms approximated their large public school counterparts in the United States. We were generously greeted by Xuhui’s principal who shared with me the nature of her job, and so I can now affirm that both Chinese and American heads of school have common experiences when it comes to administrative meetings!