Dean Carole Basile
The Next Normal
In 1885, Arizona State University, where I serve as dean of Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, came into this world as the Territorial Normal School at Tempe. Since the early 19th century, the term ”normal school” has been used in the U.S. to refer to institutions that train high school graduates to be K-12 teachers.
At MLFTC, we want to push conversation and action about education beyond normal. In this blog, I and others affiliated with MLFTC share some of what we are doing and why we are doing it. We’ll reflect on what we’ve learned and what continues to challenge us.
Normal isn’t good enough. It doesn’t deliver enough for learners, educators or communities. We need to think, argue and act our way toward next practices in education.