Presentation Title
Normalites: The Significance of Their Formal and Informal Learning Experiences
Session Name
Concurrent Session 3. Turning Students into Teachers: Case Studies from the Early Years
Start Date
26-3-2015 2:00 PM
End Date
26-3-2015 3:30 PM
Abstract
My presentation will explore the formal and informal learning experiences of three women, Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris, who were members of the first class of the first state normal school in the United States, established in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1839. Through taking an open approach to understanding the educational encounters and transformations of these three women, I will share how I was able to examine them holistically and in totality in order to understand the essence of them. This work resulted in the publication of my book – Normalites: The First Professionally Prepared Teachers in the United States in 2014. During the presentation, I will consider how Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris drew from their initial encounters as “normalites” while serving as teachers, professional leaders, and social activists. While studies have provided analysis of some of the leaders of the initiative, such as Horace Mann and Henry Barnard, there is a lack of rich, published information about the first groups of students. Indeed the general discussions about the nineteenth century normal schools seem to ignore their experiences. Women such as Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris, however, were not only pioneers in the movement, they were in essence part of the geneses of it.
Reference:
Kolodny, K. A. (2014). Normalites: The first professionally prepared teachers in the United States. Information Age Publishing.
Normalites: The Significance of Their Formal and Informal Learning Experiences
My presentation will explore the formal and informal learning experiences of three women, Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris, who were members of the first class of the first state normal school in the United States, established in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1839. Through taking an open approach to understanding the educational encounters and transformations of these three women, I will share how I was able to examine them holistically and in totality in order to understand the essence of them. This work resulted in the publication of my book – Normalites: The First Professionally Prepared Teachers in the United States in 2014. During the presentation, I will consider how Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris drew from their initial encounters as “normalites” while serving as teachers, professional leaders, and social activists. While studies have provided analysis of some of the leaders of the initiative, such as Horace Mann and Henry Barnard, there is a lack of rich, published information about the first groups of students. Indeed the general discussions about the nineteenth century normal schools seem to ignore their experiences. Women such as Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris, however, were not only pioneers in the movement, they were in essence part of the geneses of it.
Reference:
Kolodny, K. A. (2014). Normalites: The first professionally prepared teachers in the United States. Information Age Publishing.