{"id":9654,"date":"2016-06-14T13:54:14","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T17:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=9654"},"modified":"2017-06-18T18:51:08","modified_gmt":"2017-06-18T23:51:08","slug":"a-lifelong-learner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/2016\/06\/14\/a-lifelong-learner\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lifelong Learner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Bitting\u2019s career spanned 50 years of educational evolution. Through that time, he sought to answer the question \u201cHow do we best educate our children?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bitting, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development<\/a>, and assistant dean for diversity in the College of Education, retired this spring after 27 years at NC State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have spent my entire life in schools in one form or another \u2013 there probably isn\u2019t an aspect of school I don\u2019t have experience in, from sweeping the floors to being a teacher, principal and a professor,\u201d said Bitting.<\/p>\n

Bitting\u2019s experience as a student at North Carolina Central University during the height of the civil rights movement inspired his interest in educational access and opportunity for all students. He recalled professors asking students in class why they weren\u2019t on the picket line if there was a protest against segregation in downtown Durham.<\/p>\n

Here, equity \u2013 in the classroom and in society \u2013 began to shape Bitting\u2019s educational interests.<\/p>\n

After graduating from NC Central in 1967, Bitting, like many young African-American men from the South, headed north. He started out in New York City as a social worker, then moved into a middle school teaching position during a teacher\u2019s strike in 1968. From that point, working with children became a focal point of his career.<\/p>\n

By the early 1970s, Bitting had gained classroom experience and become an assistant principal in Brooklyn. Even on the administrative side of education, he saw in students a remarkable capacity to learn and engage with the world. His experiences, along with time studying at St. John\u2019s College in New Mexico, continued to mold Bitting\u2019s work in philosophy and education.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring that time, I was forced to confront my own biases and prejudices, and reconcile my interests as a philosopher and an educator,\u201d said Bitting.<\/p>\n

He wanted to find out how to help children thrive throughout their time as students, to harness their energy and natural curiosity and keep them passionate about learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe send children to school, which is very exciting for them, but the first thing we say to them is sit down and don\u2019t move,\u201d said Bitting. \u201cWe put them in a structure which is counter to everything they\u2019ve done up to this point. Learning and play used to be all the same, and now learning becomes work. By third grade, all their enthusiasm is gone, and we have to try to rekindle that excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitting never lost that enthusiasm for education. After earning his bachelor\u2019s degree and first master\u2019s degree from St. John\u2019s College in 1974, the Winston-Salem native earned a master of science in education administration from City University of New York in 1975. Bitting graduated with a master of arts in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982, then returned to complete his Ph.D. in philosophy of education in 1985.<\/p>\n

He came to NC State in 1989 as an assistant professor in what was then the Department of Educational Leadership and Program Evaluation. He spent his time on campus researching and teaching ethics, moral education and development, and multicultural and indigenous education. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bitting served as assistant dean for diversity from 2006-2007, overseeing diversity development for academic programs and members of the campus community, as well as leading conversations around the need to produce culturally competent graduates. Bitting was widely considered the College of Education\u2019s go-to resource for mentoring best practices, and spent much of his time mentoring graduate students, faculty and other professionals. He also led efforts in creating a climate survey for faculty and developed a framework for a college-wide curriculum audit. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bitting\u2019s colleagues, including Dean Mary Ann Danowitz, recognize the influence of his educational philosophy on the College of Education.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPaul is a wonderful professor and a true leader in every sense of the word,\u201d said Danowitz. \u201cHis efforts to increase diversity and classroom equity have touched countless students, and helped to close the achievement gap in our state. He leaves a legacy of love for education that will continue to impact the way we prepare future educators to innovate in the classroom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, Bitting sought to show educators how to keep students invested in learning. Keeping a passion for education alive meant developing excellent teachers, who in turn could create an environment that fosters empathy for and among students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEducators need to think about what others are feeling, and put themselves in the position of their students,\u201d said Bitting. \u201cIf you want to truly educate children \u2014 to get them to develop an ability to think critically and reflectively \u2014 you need empathy, which is key to creating equity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"Paul Bitting\u2019s career spanned 50 years of educational evolution. Through that time, he sought to answer the question \u201cHow do we best educate our children?\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nBitting, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development<\/a>, and assistant dean for diversity in the College of Education, retired this spring after 27 years at NC State.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have spent my entire life in schools in one form or another \u2013 there probably isn\u2019t an aspect of school I don\u2019t have experience in, from sweeping the floors to being a teacher, principal and a professor,\u201d said Bitting.\r\n\r\nBitting\u2019s experience as a student at North Carolina Central University during the height of the civil rights movement inspired his interest in educational access and opportunity for all students. He recalled professors asking students in class why they weren\u2019t on the picket line if there was a protest against segregation in downtown Durham.\r\n\r\nHere, equity \u2013 in the classroom and in society \u2013 began to shape Bitting\u2019s educational interests.\r\n\r\nAfter graduating from NC Central in 1967, Bitting, like many young African-American men from the South, headed north. He started out in New York City as a social worker, then moved into a middle school teaching position during a teacher\u2019s strike in 1968. From that point, working with children became a focal point of his career.\r\n\r\nBy the early 1970s, Bitting had gained classroom experience and become an assistant principal in Brooklyn. Even on the administrative side of education, he saw in students a remarkable capacity to learn and engage with the world. His experiences, along with time studying at St. John\u2019s College in New Mexico, continued to mold Bitting\u2019s work in philosophy and education.\r\n\r\n\u201cDuring that time, I was forced to confront my own biases and prejudices, and reconcile my interests as a philosopher and an educator,\u201d said Bitting.\r\n\r\nHe wanted to find out how to help children thrive throughout their time as students, to harness their energy and natural curiosity and keep them passionate about learning.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe send children to school, which is very exciting for them, but the first thing we say to them is sit down and don\u2019t move,\u201d said Bitting. \u201cWe put them in a structure which is counter to everything they\u2019ve done up to this point. Learning and play used to be all the same, and now learning becomes work. By third grade, all their enthusiasm is gone, and we have to try to rekindle that excitement.\u201d\r\n\r\nBitting never lost that enthusiasm for education. After earning his bachelor\u2019s degree and first master\u2019s degree from St. John\u2019s College in 1974, the Winston-Salem native earned a master of science in education administration from City University of New York in 1975. Bitting graduated with a master of arts in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982, then returned to complete his Ph.D. in philosophy of education in 1985.\r\n\r\nHe came to NC State in 1989 as an assistant professor in what was then the Department of Educational Leadership and Program Evaluation. He spent his time on campus researching and teaching ethics, moral education and development, and multicultural and indigenous education. <\/span>\r\n\r\nBitting served as assistant dean for diversity from 2006-2007, overseeing diversity development for academic programs and members of the campus community, as well as leading conversations around the need to produce culturally competent graduates. Bitting was widely considered the College of Education\u2019s go-to resource for mentoring best practices, and spent much of his time mentoring graduate students, faculty and other professionals. He also led efforts in creating a climate survey for faculty and developed a framework for a college-wide curriculum audit. <\/span>\r\n\r\nBitting\u2019s colleagues, including Dean Mary Ann Danowitz, recognize the influence of his educational philosophy on the College of Education.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cPaul is a wonderful professor and a true leader in every sense of the word,\u201d said Danowitz. \u201cHis efforts to increase diversity and classroom equity have touched countless students, and helped to close the achievement gap in our state. He leaves a legacy of love for education that will continue to impact the way we prepare future educators to innovate in the classroom.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nOver the years, Bitting sought to show educators how to keep students invested in learning. Keeping a passion for education alive meant developing excellent teachers, who in turn could create an environment that fosters empathy for and among students.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cEducators need to think about what others are feeling, and put themselves in the position of their students,\u201d said Bitting. \u201cIf you want to truly educate children \u2014 to get them to develop an ability to think critically and reflectively \u2014 you need empathy, which is key to creating equity.\u201d<\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Bitting\u2019s career spanned 50 years of educational evolution. Through that time, he sought to answer the question \u201cHow do we best educate our children?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":9656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[185,203],"tags":[226,227,244,186,245],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-9654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research-and-impact","tag-ced","tag-college-of-education","tag-educational-leadership","tag-elphd","tag-policy-and-human-development"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9654"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ced.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=9654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}