Where We've Been and Where We're Going
from NCTE INBOX 6-14-11
Soon the National Council of Teachers of English will celebrate its Centennial, marking 100 years of leadership in literacy education. Founded in Chicago in December 1911, NCTE has grown from its original 60 or so members to 35,000 today. The Centennial slogan is "Reading the Past, Writing the Future." As we gear up for this celebration, now is a great time to look back at where we've been and capitalize on the good work of the past as we face the future.
The NCTE Centennial book Reading the Past, Writing the Future emphasizes the role the organization has played in brokering and advancing the many traditions and countertraditions engaging literacy educators since the organization was chartered in 1911. Take a look at the sample chapter, "NCTE and the Shaping of American Literacy Education." Leila Christenbury, Donna Alvermann, and Anika Spratley expand on some of the ideas in the book in their article "Believing You Can Make a Difference: From 1911 to 2011 -- The Needs of Teachers and Students Keep NCTE and Its Members Moving Forward."
NCTE's 100 years come to life in The Centennial Film: Reading the Past, Writing the Future. Illustrated by vivid archival photographs, dramatic readings from historical documents, and lively scenes from contemporary classrooms and professional conventions, Reading the Past, Writing the Future both celebrates the centennial of NCTE and raises important questions and observations about American literacy education.
The Centennial book isn’t the first piece written about NCTE history -- NCTE Executive Director J. N. Hook wrote A Long Way Together, the history of "NCTE's first 67 years." It includes photographs, appendixes, and a comprehensive view of the work of the Council from 1911 to 1979.
Many of NCTE’s constituent groups are also celebrating milestones. The Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) celebrated its 15th anniversary at the 2011 CCCC Convention in Atlanta. Read more about TYCA's achievements in areas such as research and scholarship in the article "Forging a National Identity: TYCA and the Two-Year College Teacher-Scholar."
The Conference on English Leadership originated in 1968 as the Conference for Secondary School English Department Chairpersons (CSSEDC). CSSEDC was originally formed as a conference devoted to concerns of secondary school English department chairs. It wasn't until 1970 that CSSEDC became a constituent organization of NCTE. Its journal is English Leadership Quarterly.
The Conference on English Education (CEE) serves NCTE members engaged in the preparation, support, and continuing education of teachers of English language arts/literacy. Its journal, English Education, recently published an article titled "What Is English? Revisiting the Nature of Our Discipline with Past Editors Allen Berger and Gordon Pradl." In this article, former editors were asked to respond to questions from one of their own editorials: What is English? How do student achievement and teacher competency affect the public’s perception of what it means to be an English teacher?
Since 1949, the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) has been the world's largest professional organization for researching and teaching composition, from writing to new media. The journal of CCCC, College Composition and Communication, has commemorated the centennial of NCTE by publishing two Symposia, the first in the February 2011 issue of CCC, and the second in June 2011. There is also a book looking back at CCCC, Views from the Center: The CCCC Chairs' Addresses, 1977-2005.
Sign up now for an RSS feed of each week's INBOX Ideas!