PHILOSOPHY of EDUCATION SOCIETY

General Business (Membership) Meeting

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Approximately 40 members were in attendance.
 

1. Call to Order  -- Nick Burbules at 6:20 PM

2. Announcements:

    Burbules noted that Sophie Haroutunian-Gordon had been selected President-Elect and
that Suzanne Rice was elected to the Executive Board and Dilafruz Williams was elected to
COPA. He thanked all candidates. Congratulatory applause and cheering followed.

    No Fellow applications were received prior to the Board Meeting. Burbules explained
that the Society has been inconsistent in implementing Fellow status. Constitutionally, no one can
serve as an officer unless he or she is a Fellow. Some have suggested getting rid of the category,
a move that would require constitutional amendment. Discussion ensued and there was mixed
reaction among the membership to getting rid of Fellow category.

    All conference participants were reminded to submit papers and responses to Diana
Dummitt or to Program Chair Suzanne Rice.

    Burbules asked whether there were other announcements.

    Harvey Siegel noted that Wendy Kohli is the Presdient of AESA, and that PES members
might want to support here as she gives her Presidential Address. He also noted that Eric Bredo,
as Program Chair (and President Elect) of AESA might look favorably on proposals from PES
colleagues.

3. Executive Secretary Report -- Barbara Stengel

    Barb Stengel reported that membership was down slightly for the year, but that the
Society's financial status was stable. She indicated that no dues increase would be required at this
time. She also presented the balanced budget for 2001-02 approved by the Board. Stengel
warned that a dues increase would likely be needed for the 2002-03 budget and that this might be
accompanied by some changes in the dues structure.

    Stengel noted that her allowable term as Executive Secretary would be up at the end of
the 2001-02 year and urged members to consider nominating themselves or other well-qualified
colleagues. She reminded interested members that institutional support is very important to make
the job manageable and volunteered to chat with those who might be interested. She also agreed
to put the job description in the July Update to get folks thinking about this issue ahead of the
work of the Election Committee who actually selects a person to fill the position.

4. President's Report -- Nick Burbules

Nick Burbules began by offering praise for Barb Stengel and past Executive Secretaries,
indicating that those holding this post really hold the organization together.

Harvey Siegel noted that he appreciated the paragraph about George Kneller in the
Conference Program and asked that we keep that phrasing in there. The membership informally
agreed that this was a good idea.

5. Educational Theory Report Nick Burbules

Burbules handed out a sheet outlining the journal's "vital statistics." Ed Theory is making
a significant amount of money. Subscriptions are up a bit at about 2000. The manuscript
rejection rate is a little lower than usual because of solicited articles for special issues.
Turnaround time is higher than it's been for a while but Nick promised to get it under control.

    Burbules discussed the Blackwell proposal to the ET Editorial Board to enter into some
kind of subcontractual relationship re marketing and distribution. This could help the journal
especially regarding international distribution and on-line possibilities. The discussion was
preliminary but discussions will continue. Nick will keep the membership informed about
developments in these ongoing negotiations. He suggested that we would get 1) better
international distribution, 2) richer on-line presence, and 3) interesting collaboration with the
other Blackwell publications in related journals (e.g. JPE, EPAC, Curriculum Inquiry). Nick
suggested that he is intrigued by the possibility of an "international on-line community in
philosophy of education". Steve Tozer who had been at the Editorial Board meeting confirmed
Nick's perception of what occurred and what is possible.

    Stone asked for clarification of on-line plans and status. Tozer pointed out UIUC's role in
the publication of the journal and then asked what role PES has in the decision. Burbules pointed
out that PES has no direct decision-making power and members should contact Editorial Board
reps if they have strong feelings. Sharon Todd asked about protecting staff positions; Nick
suggested that that would be attended to and that nobody would be out on the streets. Dennis
Lomas asked what kind of numbers regarding expanded distribution might be anticipated.

    Dwight Boyd asked how ET does with regard to the citation index; Nick had no available
data regarding either question.

    Wendy Kohli indicated that AESA had contracted with LEA re Educational Studies and
that there seemed to be an improvement in the overall presentation of the journal. Burbules gave
a neo-liberal defense of the entire deal. Siegel asked whether Burbules had changed his
metaphysical view and now believed in facts. Amid much laughter, Burbules suggested he
couldn't respond because we were in a different space.

6. Yearbook Report -- Nick Burbules

    Burbules noted that the yearbook was doing well. He pointed out that H.W. Wilson will
index the yearbook in Education Index and Education Abstracts and Stengel indicated that that
would probably include full-text version. Lynda Stone indicated a problem with indexing in
Philosophers Index in that all articles are indexed under Lynda's name as editor rather than under
each individual author's name. Lynda will get promoted with 60 new publications (!) and Nick
will try to fix it. Nick indicated that the yearbook is in pretty good financial shape, reminded folks
that the financial status of the both the yearbook and the Society are tied to authors' getting their
manuscripts in on time. Lynda Stone reminded all that doing the notes wrong costs time and
money.

    Lomas asked about submissions for the yearbook. Rice provided figures; Stone indicated
that that was down slightly from the previous year.

7. Call for Reports from Committee Chairs as needed

Membership -- John Covaleskie

No report.

COPA  -- Lynda Stone

    Lynda indicated that COPA was reconstituting itself as the only elected commission in the
Society. COPA had a heyday; that lapsed for a while but Lynda thinks it's coming back. She
indicated that she was working with the "millennial group" and the Ad Hoc Ethics in the
Educational Professions that Michael Katz and A.G. Rud were co-chairing.

    Specifically, Stone suggested that the following efforts were underway:
1) exploring COPA led projects to move the Society toward public action;
2) two-pronged effort this year:
a) Dennis Philllips will develop an AERA proposal re philosophy and public policy and
b) an AESA double session, using accountability and testing as a vehicle for raising
common issues.
3) think about a long term agenda (possibilities include on-line "impact series" a la PESGB).

    Lynda talked about a shift in focus from how "we're" (PES in particular and philosophers
of education in general) doing to developing our public role in the broader educational domain..

COSW -- Cris Mayo

    No report.

CLSE/CSFE -- John Covaleskie, Steve Tozer

    The organization has just changed its name to Council for Social Foundations of
Education. Tozer thinks NCATE is strengthening and that it's a good thing that we're on board.
He pointed out that CSFE doesn't pay its NCATE dues bill in full (dues to relatively small
constituent group in social foundations) and suggested that there may be some changes in the
future.

    Kohli noted that Tozer is the new President of CSFE so we have influence!!! Bredo
asked how we might insure that NCATE "see" Foundations when they are on campuses for
reviews. Tozer indicated that there are Foundations folks on the Board of Examiners, and that a
program can call and ask specifically for a Foundations person on the Board that comes in. Kohli
asked to alert folks about who the EDFN folks are on the BOE . Bredo noted his empirical study
that equates ed school status and the status of Social Foundations. John Carter pointed out that
INTASC standards don't mention social foundations, so be wary. Tozer suggested an activist
stance.

Hospitality Committee -- Steve Tozer and David Hansen

    Tozer attempted to educated members about the realities of hotel contracts and warn folks
not to use internet to get cheaper hotel rates. Specifically, he reminded all that while one or two
may be able to get cut rates on the internet, ultimately it will cost the Society and individual
members. Because all charges (room rates, room use charges and refreshment charges) are based
on room occupancy with reservations made through the group, PES loses bargaining power when
individuals opt out.

    Burbules praised Tozer and others who put together a most hospitable conference!

Ad Hoc Committee for Ethics in the Educational Professions -- Michael Katz

    No report.

Jobs for Philosophers -- Barb Thayer-Bacon

    Barbara Houston reported for Barb Thayer-Bacon. She thanked committee members who
put together a special session on publishing and grant writing and acknowledge all who had
participated as presenters. She recommended that similar sessions occur every three years.

Resolutions -- Eric Bredo

Eric thanked the members of committee and presented a full slate of well-crafted
resolutions. (The complete listing of resolutions can be found by clicking here.)

David Blacker moved that the resolutions be accepted as a whole; Jeanne Connell
seconded the motion. A vote of the membership accepted the resolutions

Applause, cheers and whoops followed the various individual resolutions, including a
standing ovation for Nick Burbules.

8. Old Business

Don Arnstine reported on the findings of the Millennial Group survey. How much
concern is there among the membership of the society re public consideration of issues in
schooling/public education???

There were five questions; Don reported central tendencies among the 112 respondents.
Re #1 (American schools now achieve distinctly educational objectives that morally justify
compulsory attendance?), respondents tended to answer "yes", but many did not answer and Don
speculated that the question was poorly worded. Re #2 (high stakes standardized tests), most
agree it's "for ill." Re #3 (issues worthy of critical examination by phil of ed), nearly all said
"yes." Re #4 (merit your own critical examination) , the vast majority said "yes." Re #5, (does
your professional work deal with these issues?), 79 indicated that their teaching was linked to
these issues, 70 noted that their research dealt with these issues, 34 indicated that their
departmental work was related, and 46 indicated that they were involved in related work in local
schools. Don was compiling a list of names of folks who wanted to get on board. He indicated
that there was a very good discussion at COPA session about where to go, including possible
affiliations with other organizations.

For a complete listing of the Millenial Committee Survey results (including graphs!!), click
here.

Nick Burbules asked that we post the results on the PES web site.

Siegel asked whether a motion of support is needed for the work of Don's group. The
general sense was that this was not needed but many members indicated their support nonetheless.

Siegel moved that the Executive Board charge COPA to supervise the mobilization
of the membership in the effort to bring to the public serious philosophical
consideration of standardized testing in the public schools. Haroutunian-Gordon
seconded. Houston called the question. Motion passed.

9. New Business

Because there was no new business, Burbules took the opportunity to thank:
Program Chair Suzanne Rice, Site Coordinators Steve Tozer and David Hansen, and the
membership at large for an enjoyable conference.

10. Passing of the Gavel

The gavel was successfully passed from Nick Burbules to Barbara Houston.

11. Announcement of 2000-01 Meeting (Program Chair, Hospitality, etc.) and future
plans

Barbara Houston announced that the 2002 meeting will be in Vancouver at the Coast
Plaza Hotel. Sharon Bailin, Jerrold Coombs and Pamela Courtney Hall will constitute the
Hospitality Committee chaired by Heesoon Bai. Some discussion followed regarding exchange
rates and the costs in Canadian locations..

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 

Barbara S. Stengel
Executive Secretary
 

CONTACT: PES Executive Director Jeff Milligan
850-644-8171; milligan@coe.fsu.edu