From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk
Professor Michael Klonsky teaches in the College of Education at DePaul University in Chicago. He also serves as the national director of the Small Schools Workshop, and on the national steering committee of Save Our Schools, a national movement dedicated to supporting public schools. Klonsky has blogged, spoken and written extensively on school reform issues with a focus on urban school restructuring. Klonsky received his MA in Education Studies in 1992 and his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from UIC in 1996. He talks with Communications Director Eva Moon.
Can you talk about how your UIC education laid the groundwork for your future work?
The college, under both of our deans, Larry Braskamp and then Vicki Chou, was a wonderful place to learn and develop as an educator. My personal interaction with some of the leading lights in the curriculum field exposed me to a broad range of theoretical and practical approaches to public education. It was Dr. [William] Schubert who first and most creatively raised these three fundamental questions to his graduate students: "What knowledge is most worthwhile? Why is it worthwhile? And how is it acquired or created?"
Can you tell me how you got your start on the small schools road?
The early school reform movement engaged hundreds of mostly young teachers in transformation efforts within their own schools. Many began approaching those of us within the COE who had been