Mark Selle

Writing and Presentations

Writing

• 2018. Truth in Education. While comparing definitions of education formulated by Mortimer Adler, John Redden & Francis Ryan, and John Dewey I found that Dewey’s theory of truth accounted for the difference in his definition compared to the other two, which are more similar. These observations motivated me to write about the relevance of “truth” to education, an idea also key to the findings in my doctoral dissertation.
• 2013. My Philosophy of Teaching. Influenced by Socrates, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Adler, I developed this short statement because, although leadership can be all-consuming, I have always kept my hand in teaching and always will.
• 2010. The WASL Has No Clothes: A Fairy Tale. While preparing for a presentation, I revised this original 2007 post I created for the Columbia Virtual Academy blog. It is a short two-page piece that demonstrates my interest in and continuing concern about the relationship between politics and education.
• 2004. Sexuality Education Beliefs: An Emerging Grounded Theory Beginning with Planned Parenthood and the Catholic Church (Doctoral Dissertation). I wrote on sexuality education beliefs because of an interest both in that topic and a fascination with the politics of education.
• 2002. High Performing, High Poverty Schools: An Annotated Bibliography. This work annotates 20 sources included in an initial review of the literature on high performing, high poverty schools. These are the same sources reviewed in the May 9, 2002 presentation below.
• 2002. Disengagement, Conflict, and Mistrust: The School Principal and Sex Education. I conducted this pilot study by interviewing principals and teachers in two rural school districts as well as teacher trainers working at the state level. This pilot helped to shape my subsequent doctoral dissertation.
• 2002. Power in Rock Point School District: A Study Based on Elite Theory. I conducted this power study to deepen my understanding of classic research by Hunter and Kimbrough (referenced in the work), which looked at community and political power structures. My study is unique in its look at a single small-town school district.

Presentations

• September 3, 2013. Education: The Art Most Noble (PDF Slides). I delivered this presentation to students and faculty at Paideia High School in Valley, Washington.
• June 28, 2013. The Heart of Education (PDF Slides). I delivered this presentation to about 50 teachers for the Summer Institutes program. My contact, Jim Walden, originally sought me out as a speaker in 2010 (when I gave a similar presentation for the Summer Institutes). Its point is to inspire teachers to understand the nature of education. Based on research on the history of the liberal arts and its focus on instilling the classical intellectual and moral virtues, this presentation develops an inspirational definition of education which is applied to contemporary educational issues.
• November 20, 2010. School Board Leadership (PDF Slides). I was part of a panel presentation on this topic (see the PDF for more information) for the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) Annual Conference in Spokane, Washington. Diane Ravitch also joined this presentation via Skype. The point of the presentation was to underscore the importance of the local governance of public schools and to situate school boards within a historical context.
• October 15, 2010. The Heart of Education (PDF Slides and Notes). Inspired by my research into the nature of education, I have given versions of this presentations a number of times. This one was for the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (WSASCD) Annual Conference in Spokane, Washington.
• September 16, 2002. Difficulty and Diversity: The Context and Practice of Sex Education (PDF Notes). I presented this research article by Katie Buston and Daniel Wight, published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education to faculty and graduate students at Washington State University.
• May 9, 2002. High Performing, High Poverty Schools: A Preliminary Review of the Literature (PDF Notes). I presented this preliminary literature review addressing the research question, “What factors distinguish high poverty, high achieving schools?” to faculty and graduate students at Washington State University.