Note: This event is now at capacity and RSVPs are no longer being accepted.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education will honor the remarkable career and groundbreaking work of Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings on Thursday, March 21, at Gordon Dining and Event Center on the UW campus.
“This was really instigated by former students of mine who kept saying that they really wanted to do something – and do something that is ‘uniquely you,’” Ladson-Billings says.
The free public talk and reception will feature a welcome from UW School of Education Dean Diana Hess at 5 p.m. That will be immediately followed by a presentation from Ladson-Billings. A public reception will follow.
Ladson-Billings was a faculty member on the UW-Madison campus for more than 26 years and held the Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education. She was a professor with the departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Policy Studies, and Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
Ladson-Billings is also currently serving a four-year term as president of the National Academy of Education. Last year, the American Educational Research Association’s Division B honored Ladson-Billings with a Lifetime Achievement Award at their Annual Meeting April 13-17 in New York City.
At the March 21 event, Ladson-Billings will deliver a talk titled, “Dreaming in Public: Renewing the Commitment to Education for Democracy.”
“I will be talking a little bit about my own growing up and my background. Growing up in a working-class background, we didn’t dare dream too big because you had just seen so much disappointment and the expectations were for people not to go too far,” Ladson-Billings tells Madison365, speaking of her childhood experience growing up in very segregated ‘50s and ‘60s Philadelphia. “You were happy to graduate from high school or maybe go into the armed services or begin a job.
“So, often the dreams were unspoken unless you were some extraordinary athletic or artistic talent, people didn’t know what the dreams were that kids had,” she adds.
In many respects, that’s still true today.
“Yes, unfortunately, that’s still true for a lot of kids,” she says. “But, I also think that today you get to a chance to see more people who actually made dreams come true because they are actually in the public and in the community. Young people have a sense that ‘Well, you did this, so I can do it, too.’”
Ladson-Billings has been a mentor and inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands, of students. According to the UW School of Education, Ladson-Billings has been a doctoral advisor for 53 Ph.D. students, including 17 African-American women, along with innumerable masters and undergraduate students who have mentored under her.
“That’s probably my greatest legacy – to have that many students finish – and the high proportion of them who are students of color,” Ladson-Billings says.
Ladson-Billings is recognized across the United States and beyond as a pioneer whose work on culturally relevant pedagogy and critical race theory has altered how educators approach their teaching. She is perhaps best known for her book, “The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children,” which was first published in 1994 and continues to be used in teacher education programs around the country.
The March 21 event will center on showcasing Ladson-Billings’ legacy. Does she feel comfortable talking about legacy?
“I think as long as it points back to students and what they are doing now and the fact that they are producing students, too. I literally go to conferences and people will walk up to me and tell me that they are one of my grandchildren because they are studying under one of my former students,” Ladson-Billings laughs.
In 1995, Ladson-Billings became the first black woman to become a tenured professor in the School of Education. In 2004, she received the Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education post in 2004 and in 2005, she became president of AERA. Ladson-Billings chaired the nation’s No. 1-ranked Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UW–Madison from 2008-11.
“I really want to focus on the fact that the work is never just about me and it shouldn’t be just about me,” she says. “It needs to be about the sustainability and the fact that it continues beyond me through the things I’ve been able to mentor and supervise. I think that’s always the big takeaway.
“A lot of times when people talk about famous so-called ‘academics,’ I will often ask, ‘What’s their legacy?’ And there’s a quote in there that says, ‘the legacy just can’t be about you,'” Ladson-Billings adds. “There are really famous people that when I ask folks, ‘Name one of their students,’ and nobody can name one. So, what have they done other than polish their own star?”
Public Talk and Reception Will Honoring Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings will take place Thursday, March 21, 5-8 p.m. at Gordon Dining and Event Center. You can RSVP for the event by clicking here.
