USC Rossier Magazine

Institutions that are as ubiquitous as schools of education often suffer from a lack of understanding about their importance. We often only understand such institutions’ importance to the health and progress of our society when they’re gone. To explore the significance of schools of education now, in this issue of USC Rossier Magazine, we turn to this very question: Do we still need schools of education?

Whenever a transformative technology emerges, it brings with it a mix of emotions: fear, hope, skepticism and excitement, to name a few. This issue considers artificial intelligence’s impact on teaching and learning and explores the USC Rossier community’s research and engagement with a rapidly changing technology that just might reshape our world.

In this special double issue, we look at how USC Rossier research projects are being put into practice to create equitable learning environments where all students can thrive.

In this issue, we explore the wide and varied work—past, present and emerging—of USC Rossier graduates, faculty and students in the communities near and around USC.

What makes one an effective leader changes with the culture and context of the moment. In this issue, we explore what it means to be a good leader in these times. What skills do leaders need to successfully serve their communities, and what are the questions leaders should ask as we rebuild and revitalize our educational systems to adequately respond to the truths elucidated by the pandemic?

In this issue, you will read about how the USC Rossier community is considering the ways education can be re-envisioned and how these transformations can help us work toward our mission of achieving educational equity.

In 2020, the status quo was shaken up, challenged, and, quite possibly, forever altered. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, another crisis—systemic racism and the killing of Black men and women by police—fueled months of protest. This issue considers the macro effects of a microscopic virus and how the demand to end structural racism will require us to reshape education to ensure a more just and equitable future.

“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” President FDR wrote this message to educators in September 1938, during American Education Week. His words were clear: An educated democracy is the only democracy that works.

Students, staff, faculty and friends came together to celebrate the capstone event of USC Rossier’s Centennial Celebration on Aug. 24 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The interactive exhibits highlighted not only impactful moments and people from the school’s history, but also the current work and experts who will transform education in the next century.

“Teacher” is just one of many roles required of this generation of educators. They have to navigate natural and political forces, find new ways to collaborate, develop novel techniques to engage students and still make time for personal and professional growth.

Insight flows from many sources—from momentous personal and familial histories, from deep commitments to communities and ideals, from decades of professional research and service. At our best, we draw these sources together into a collective vision for the future of education.

From neuroscience and computer science to educational psychology and sociology, the interdisciplinary research underway at USC Rossier is reshaping what it means to teach and learn in the 21st century.

Equity is not the same as equality, diversity or inclusiveness. It is not about espousing policies intended to benefit all students. Practices that work well for white students may be harmful to students of color and perpetuate inequality.

At a time when the direction of national education priorities is unclear, collaboration among teachers, administrators and researchers is charting a path forward for the more than 6 million public school students throughout the state.