2008 Woodie Awards
QEP brings in internationally acclaimed speaker
Stephen D. Brookfield to talk about critical thinking on campus
by Kristen Payne
Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: News
Internationally acclaimed scholar Stephen D. Brookfield is coming to Piedmont College. On Wednesday, he'll be conducting an afternoon workshop for faculty and staff on developing critical thinking in the Lakeside Dining Hall from 1 to 5 p.m.
Since he began his career in 1970, Brookfield has taught in a variety of college settings in England, Canada, Australia and the United States. He has written 10 books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods and critical theory. Four of his books won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education in 1986, 1989, 1996 and 2005.
He also won the Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education in 1986 and the Leadership Award from the Association for Continuing Higher Education in 2001. After 10 years as a professor of higher and adult education at Columbia University in New York, he now holds the title of Distinguished University Professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
"It is exciting to have someone with such a national reputation come to Piedmont," says Teresa Secules.
Secules is the director of the Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, at Piedmont. She has been instrumental in contacting Brookfield and preparing the staff for the workshop through weekly staff lunches.
"We want to be able to think through issues and are looking forward to Brookfield's hands-on workshop," says Secules.
"I look forward to getting a new perspective on critical thinking from such a respectable man," says Charron Davis, Secules' graduate assistant.
Davis graduated from Piedmont last spring with an undergraduate degree in mass communications. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in business leadership management.
James Mellichamp, vice president of academic affairs, says that it's important to get things started off in a big way for the school's five-year QEP. The QEP is a project designed to impact student learning in a positive way. He hopes that by the fifth year, the faculty will be better aware of how to use critical thinking successfully in the classroom.
"We want this to be effective for all majors and disciplines because critical thinking is necessary for any and all future successes," says Mellichamp.
Since he began his career in 1970, Brookfield has taught in a variety of college settings in England, Canada, Australia and the United States. He has written 10 books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods and critical theory. Four of his books won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education in 1986, 1989, 1996 and 2005.
He also won the Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education in 1986 and the Leadership Award from the Association for Continuing Higher Education in 2001. After 10 years as a professor of higher and adult education at Columbia University in New York, he now holds the title of Distinguished University Professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
"It is exciting to have someone with such a national reputation come to Piedmont," says Teresa Secules.
Secules is the director of the Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, at Piedmont. She has been instrumental in contacting Brookfield and preparing the staff for the workshop through weekly staff lunches.
"We want to be able to think through issues and are looking forward to Brookfield's hands-on workshop," says Secules.
"I look forward to getting a new perspective on critical thinking from such a respectable man," says Charron Davis, Secules' graduate assistant.
Davis graduated from Piedmont last spring with an undergraduate degree in mass communications. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in business leadership management.
James Mellichamp, vice president of academic affairs, says that it's important to get things started off in a big way for the school's five-year QEP. The QEP is a project designed to impact student learning in a positive way. He hopes that by the fifth year, the faculty will be better aware of how to use critical thinking successfully in the classroom.
"We want this to be effective for all majors and disciplines because critical thinking is necessary for any and all future successes," says Mellichamp.
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