I am writing in hopes that we may begin in earnest a dialogue about the state of the college and its future. I received your letter dated February 1st to James Honan as part of the board of trustee packet report that I received last month. I found that what you had to say was informative and timely. I have been associated with Goddard since 1989 -- first as an on-campus undergraduate and now as an off-campus graduate student. I am afraid that this college is dying, giving up its progressive and democratic traditions to the ethos of business management and fiscal determinism.

In attending two board meetings, I discovered that there is an absence of serious discussion or debate about progressive education. Instead, trustees are asked to support the president which is not necessarily one and the same as the principles of progressive education. The board does not have sustained discussion about how the school can actualize and build upon the values first asserted by Dewey, Kilpatrick, and Pitkin.

Instead of active inquiry there is confusion and ignorance about the purpose of Goddard. This became apparent when, at the February board retreat, a discussion centered on raising funds from foundations, friends, business, and/or associates to support the college caused one board member, to the sympathetic nods of several others, to say: "When asking for money I don't know what to say to others that is unique about Goddard that would get them to give to the school." Apparently a direct appreciation (or understanding) of the inherent value of progressive education is of less concern or value than the crafting together of sophisticated marketing tools to sell the college. Ironically, many board members assume to be authorities on the subject of progressive education and how best to apply its principles based on having previously been Goddard students. As for those trustees who are not alumni, their values and operating assumptions in management and education remain a mystery to me and to the community at large.

In order to counter this problem I would like to try to pull togther a workshop around progressive education that would be used as a tool to initiate discussion among new and returning students during orientation week for both the on and off-campus programs. [I believe that if the student body, in additon to staff and faculty, have a working understanding of what progressive education is about then we may be all the more articulate in holding the board and administration accountable to these principles.] I know that there are alumni that are interested in sponsoring such an endeavor. I have been actively researching John Dewy and William Kilpatrick in addition to reading "To Know For Real." My focus has been primarily around the issue of democracy and its relationship to education. Can you tell me of other important issues that are at the heart of education at Goddard? Do you have any ideas as to how to make this workshop experience a direct reflection of what progressive education is all about, thereby building upon Goddard's tradition of active experimentation???

In solidarity,
andrew