My entire career (my entire life) has been spent in the field of
education. As I'm fond of saying, I walked through the door of
Gardendale Elementary School in 1951 and never left. As an
English major in the 60s (Vanderbilt, 1967) I thought I wanted
to be an English professor. Since the Russians had beaten us
into space, I had some college loans that could be partially
repaid by teaching in the public schools. I planned to teach a
few years while I worked on a masters in English lit, then off
somewhere for a doctorate and leather-patched tweeds.
But the problems and challenges of schools and schooling turned
out to be more compelling. I did eventually finish that masters
in English lit (University of Alabama Birmingham, 1975), but I
also acquired a principal's license and spent 17 years teaching
English in every grade from 7th to 12th, and working as a middle
school administrator. Working on my doctorate in educational
administration (University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, 1985) rekindled
the old thoughts of academe, and I ended up a professor after
all, but in the field where I think I was meant to be.
My work as teacher and researcher is focused around issues of
bringing about change in educational organizations. Change
depends on planning, but planning alone is not enough; for plans
to come to fruition, an educational leader must also possess an
understanding of change. And so I teach and study planning and
the change process. As a related interest growing out of this
work, I have focused on various aspects of technology in schools
and school districtsinquiry, and technology considered as a vehicle through which
planning and change may be understood and effected.
In recent years I have extended my understanding of what a
classroom is through work which has plunged me at least neck-deep
in distance education. With a colleague in our educational
computing group I co-teach a course, EDCI/EDFA 591, Topics in
Educational Restructuring, offered over the Internet. Course
materials may be seen at the Purdue School of Education Web site
(http://www.soe.purdue.edu/). I am also leading our effort to
establish a cohort doctoral program which uses computer
conferencing and interactive video teleconferencing to deliver
courses and maintain the cohorts at our West Lafayette and
Calumet (near Chicago) campuses simultaneously.
I enjoy music, either listening to (and tinkering with) my stereo
system, or singing in our local civic chorus. For our spring
concert we're working on the Bach Mass in B-minor. Singing that
amazing work is going to be a life-altering experience. My
greatest joy is my family: wife, four children, three-year old
grandson, and a granddaughter on the way.
bmcinern@purdue.edu