1. Unlocking the Golden Door of Freedom: The Wisdom of George W
Unlocking the Golden Door of Freedom: The Wisdom of George W. Carver for Today’s Beginning Teachers
Edward Williamson, Ph.D. and Gail Slye, Ed.D.
Drury University
MACTE Spring 2019 Conference, Columbia, Missouri
March 27, 2019

2. Our presentation
We will use the life and wisdom of George W. Carver to identify strategies to enhance student learning along with teacher resilience and empowerment.
We will present research-based interventions designed to support novice teachers.
We will brainstorm responses to issues facing students and teachers in today’s educational environment.
We will identify opportunities and develop strategies to maintain a positive sense of wellness in the classroom.
Best of all, we will learn about a very famous educator and scientist who was born in Missouri!

3. George W. Carver’s letter to Booker T. Washington (1896)
“Of course it has always been the one great ideal of my life to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of “my people” possible and to this end I have been preparing myself for these many years; feeling as I do that this line of education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom to our people.”

4. Carver’s educational preparation
Born a slave near the end of the Civil War in Diamond, MO
Orphaned and raised by his former owners
Barred from attending his neighborhood school
Taught by private tutors
Walked to Neosho to attend the Neosho Colored School (est. 1872)
Left after about a year to attend school in Fort Scott, KS

5. Later educational adventures
Homesteading in Kansas
Rejected at Highland College
Simpson College (studying art)
Transfers to what is now Iowa State
Earns an undergraduate degree (1894) and a
graduate degree (1896)
And, the rest is history…

6. Brainstorming Activity
How can we use Carver’s wisdom and experiences to respond to issues facing teachers today?
Injustice and oppression
Diminishing educational resources
School violence
Declining prestige of schools
Other issues?
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” G.W. Carver

7. Carver’s “I Can” attitude

8. Equipment
One of George W. Carver’s favorite poems (actually written by Edgar Guest)
Carver read this poem during his commencement address at Selma University in Selma, AL on May 27, 1942.
George Washington Carver died at Tuskegee Alabama on January 5, The George Washington Carver National Monument was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt on July 14, It was dedicated on July 14, 1953.
How does this poem help explain Carver’s resilience? How can it help you be empowered and resilient as a teacher?

9. Resilience and Empowerment
Resilience and empowerment are widely employed concepts in community psychology and other social sciences (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013, p. 333).
Empowerment and resilience are mechanisms through which concerned interventionists might support marginalized and underserved communities (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013, p. 333).
The resulting model shows how both resilience and empowerment are iterative processes in which individuals and/or communities recognize an unsatisfying state and develop an intention or goal to do something to change this state (Brodsky & Cattaneo, 2013, p. 338).

10. Empowerment of Teachers within “The Golden Door of Education”
Teacher empowerment:
is identified as a process by which educators acquire the competence to be responsible for their personal and professional growth and recognize resolutions to their individual problems.
centers around cultivating individual competence to confidently undertake and master a professional calling.
involves the growth of professionalism as a component of the school setting.
is one concept that is frequently aligned with the satisfaction of teachers.

11. Empowerment of Teachers within “The Golden Door of Education”
Teacher Empowerment Scale

12. Empowerment of Teachers within “The Golden Door of Education”
The Teacher Empowerment Scale addresses the following dimensions:
Decision-Making: the means by which individuals involved in the school environment come to an agreement about matters concerning the school that directly affect their work
Professional Growth: to learn continuously, and to expand one’s own skills through the work life of the school
Status: a personal attribute that is created through the acquisition of professional esteem and collegial respect
Self-Efficacy: having the skills and ability to help students learn, are competent in building effective programs for students, and can effect changes in student learning
Autonomy: controlling the conditions of one's work life
Impact: having a tangible effect or observable influence on school life

13. Thank you for being here today!
Long before George W. Carver was a world-renowned scientist and educator, he was simply a young man who wanted an education.
You have chosen the most honorable of professions and will make a huge difference in the lives of your students.
Picture of George W. Carver around the time he left the Moses Carver farm to attend school in Neosho, MO (ca. 1876).