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71 Van Dempsey: Dempsey Brings Together Universities and Public Schools to Improve Education

Posted on: Sunday, 2 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Evelyn Ryan, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Apr. 2--The person who nominated WVU's Dr. Van Dempsey for the Top 100 pointed to his work bringing together university and public school projects to help improve education.

Dempsey, an associate professor of Social and Cultural Foundations, has spent the last seven years as director of the Benedum Collaborative and the Benedum Center for Education Renewal, both at WVU.

He came to WVU in 1991, "largely in part of what was then the Benedum Project," he recalled. The Benedum Project was named for its funding source, the Benedum Foundation of Pittsburgh. It focused on improving education by developing new ways to train teachers as well as new approaches in the classroom.

A key element in the project was the WVU-school partnership. Participating schools were named Benedum Professional Development Schools, and given the opportunity to craft programs to meet their specific needs. Today, 28 schools in five counties are in the partnership.

Dempsey took the concept on the road, developing similar relationships between the state's other public colleges and universities and their local school districts.

Now, he's looking at the larger picture -- developing partnerships among several colleges and universities.

Dempsey, a North Carolina native, became intrigued with what he calls "the culture of schools" while still a teenager. So it was only natural that he would use his college career to become a teacher. His first job was teaching social studies.

"I taught for three years and then I realized, it's not the teaching that intrigues me, but what causes a school to work," he said. He also was interested how the politics of education played out.

"Understanding these layers is what school is about," Dempsey stressed. "Schools do more than just offer knowledge. They are moral institutions, social institutions. For good or bad, school teaches a kid how to live in a democracy."

Those who wish to change schools and education can't leave out a key element -- the people.

"People are invested in their local life and local culture," Dempsey said. This often focuses around the local school, especially in more rural areas.

Policymakers must deal with the concept of "local ownership of schools." While more than 60 percent of the money for a county's school comes from the state, the people in the county name the board that controls the entire budget. Parents should stay on the forefront whenever education is considered. After all, when you are looking at how to deal with students, "the important part, from a policy point, is that they are somebody's children before they are in education," he said. "Part of what makes schools good places is that they are a dynamic structure, complex systems. We focus too much on things we think we can control in them, but don't, instead of on what we can do to exploit what they are." Today's high-tech, rapidly-changing world does call for changes in the classroom, Dempsey said.

"It will be increasingly more important for education programs to break out of the structure they've been in for years," he said. "With the pace of change moving so fast, schools are going to have to learn how to remake themselves even faster."

For example, political and economic history is changing so much that textbooks are hard put to keep up with it. This is where the Internet can be effective.

"Another thing I hear a lot is that we have to figure out what we should not do -- what we are doing that we should stop doing," he said. Textbooks can be replaced with digital access, offering the most up-todate information.

"Another piece I've started thinking about a lot more is the relationship between education and the economy. We have sort of lost the relationship between education, the economy and democracy. It's not about access to knowledge to participate, it's about access. Period." Van Dempsey POSITION: director of the Benedum Collaborative and the Benedum Center for Education Renewal, both at WVU EDUCATION: bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from the University of North Carolina FAMILY: married with three daughters, two in North Carolina, one in South Middle School

QUOTE: "You can't mandate what matters, but mandates do matter."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

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Source: The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)

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