Ernest L. Boyer’s Career in the Context of Post- World War II American Education

Valuing the Engaged Work of the Professoriate: Reflections on Ernest Boyer’s Scholarship Reconsidered

“…However, as the nation entered into the mid-20 th century and the second World War, demands for the reorientation of higher education to serve the national interest grew more insurgent. As a period of panic set in after the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 poured millions of dollars into higher education to increase the study of science, math, and foreign languages (Boyer, 2014).…”

“…Tasked with examining the quality of education in the United States, the commission produced A Nation at Risk, which quickly became the iconic educational statement of the 1980s (Ravitch, 1990). A Nation at Risk, which called for a more rigorous assessment of teaching and learning, provided the nation a "much-needed jolt" and emphasized the previously understood belief that American society could not prosper if schools, colleges, and universities were not responsive to the needs of society (Boyer, 2014;Ravitch, 1990). Expanding upon A Nation at Risk, in 1985 Frank Newman and the Carnegie Foundation published The Newman Report I and II which examined the different ways that institutions of higher education could "assume Wendling Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol.…”

“…As a result of the increasing focus on the relationship between higher education and American society, a handful of scholars, activists, and strategists weighing in on the relationship between higher education and society rose to national prominence. Ernest Boyer, then-President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching became one of the most prominent voices of the movement for educational reform (Boyer, 2014;Ravitch, 1990). His groundbreaking 1990 work Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate examined faculty priorities and asked institutions of higher education to place teaching and scholarship in the larger context of American society and urged institutions to recognize and reward faculty work that works in and with community.…”

“…In 1979, Boyer began his service as President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where he remained until his death in 1995 (Hill, 2010). As is well known, the policies and direction of The Carnegie Foundation have historically reflected the personality and interests of its leadership -standing for academic rigor and high academic standards (Boyer, 2014). Boyer, who was known for his "infectious optimism" regarding the ability of education to advance both individuals and American society, approached higher education primarily through the lens of service and connectedness (Hill, 2010, p. 2).…”

“…Even though it was a small book of less than 100 pages, it sparked a revolutionary change in how institutions of higher education would view the role of faculty, engagement, and community. Boyer produced nine reports during his time at Carnegieby far the most influential and controversial of the nine was Scholarship Reconsidered, due to its critique of the prioritization of certain forms of faculty scholarship and teaching as well as the traditional structures built into institutions to reward faculty work (Boyer, 2014). Criticizing institutions that only rewarded, both monetarily and through promotion and tenure, teaching and research that were disengaged from community and disseminated scholarly outputs in traditional academic channels that are not widely available for public consumption, Boyer advocated for institutional change in the late 20 th century (Boyer, 2014).…”