Address By Commissioner Of Education Earl McGrath to the American Council on Education, The Education of College Teachers

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The Education of College Teachers* Little new can be said on the subject of the education of college teachers. For a quarter century at least, papers on this topic have been read at the meetings of various academic groups, and the journals of professional societies abound with similar articles. As long ago as 1920 School and Society contained an article lamenting the difficulties of administrative officers in finding faculty bers who possessed both a broad liberal education and the ability to teach effectively. In 1930 the need for an improved education for college teachers had assumed enough importance to justify the Institute for Administrative Officers of Higher Institutions at the University of Chicago to devote an entire program to this topic. The 17 papers read at that conference contain many practical suggestions for the improvement of college teaching. It's an old subject! Many words have been said on it, but little action taken. C. Since members of the profession have long recognized what needs to be done, why renew the discussion of the subject today? There are two good reasons for doing so. First, the reforms that have been per- sistently, but futilely, advocated through the years are now more ur- gently needed because of changes occurring in the colleges themselves. Second, there now seems to be evidence that some institutions respon- sible for training college teachers are beginning to alter their pro- grams in desirable ways. Current discussions of the matter may accelerate the needed reforms in these and other institutions. Address given before the meeting of American Council on Education, Washington, D.C. by Earl J. McGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education May 6, 1949