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- Dr. Ed Steiner
College of Education Faculty Oral Histories
Dr. Ed Steiner
LB: Today is February 21, 2006. I am Lou Bower. I am interviewing Dr. Ed Steiner, a retired professor from the College of Education and a science educator from the Secondary Education Department. Ed, thanks for coming in today and sharing some of your experiences and memories of the College of Education and your career.
ES: I have a lot of good memories.
LB: But before we get to USF just by way of background, what were some of your personal and professional experiences before hearing about USF and joining the faculty here?
ES: Prior to coming to USF, I was a high school science teacher. I taught high school for seven years teaching biology, chemistry, anatomy, and physiology. I became interested in working on a doctorate program, which I did at the University of Texas at Austin, and I was there for the three years prior to coming to USF. It was while I was at the University of Texas that I heard about USF. It was a new school, just starting out as a teaching college and university, and it looked very interesting. I looked into several other universities and a position with one of the organizations in Washington D.C. It looked to me like USF was the place where there would be a lot of growth and a lot of opportunity, so I decided to come here. Before going to UT Austin, I was I high school teacher, and prior to that I had a variety of work experiences. I’ve done everything from delivering newspapers, to working in grocery stores, and being a locomotive fireman on the railroad. The wide range of experiences has given me the perspective that I have today.
LB: Now Frank Breit spoke highly of the University of Texas. Did you study at the University of Texas in science education? Was that the place to go in those days?
ES: Yes, it was. It had one of the best science education centers in the country. There were three or four that were pretty well known for their research and work in science education. At that time when I was at the University of Texas, it was right after the time that the national movement got under way to develop new textbooks, up to date science materials for grades K-12 in subjects like math and science text books as well as laboratory books. One of the things that I did at the University of Texas was to help develop some of those textbooks, particularly laboratory manuals. Frank was there right before I went to UT. Frank came to USF in 1968 and then I came in 1969, so we’ve known each other a long time.
LB: So Jean Battle was the dean at that time?
ES: Jean Battle was the dean of the College. Charlie Manker and Bob Shannon were associate deans. They had both been here at USF as the two associate deans for some time, I guess as long as Jean Battle was the dean. My understanding was they came to start the college during USF’s beginning days.
LB: What was the structure like when you arrived? Was there a department of secondary education or was science education separate as a program? Do you remember that?
ES: No, there weren’t any departments. There were programs and there were program coordinators. I guess Dean Battle was not in favor of having departments because the College was small, small enough that faculty had frequent contact with each other, so the College structure was based on the programs. Each program had a program coordinator and they would meet on occasion together with the dean or his staff. It wasn’t until sometime later, I would guess in about the early ‘70s when faculty members started talking about having departments. There was a rather lengthy study that ended up with a recommendation from a faculty committee that we have 14 departments. That was kind of hard to get by the president and the vice president at that time since they thought that was too many departments. However, the 14 department structure was finally approved and we had 14 departments. After a few years, some of the departments merged and the number of departments became smaller. The number continued to decrease over time until now the College is comprised of seven departments and one school.
LB: Now you were a faculty member and I know you continued to teach. At some point you became a department chair.
ES: Right.
LB: Was that for science education or for all of the Secondary Education Department?
ES: No, we didn’t have a secondary education department originally. I became the chair of a large department for the first time I think it was in 1974 or 1975. At that time, there were four large groups or departments in the College. I do not recall the names of the four departments. Faculty members usually were referred to them as departments A, B, C, and D.
LB: Oh, yes. I remember.
ES: I became chair for a short time, about six months, of one of those departments, and it was during that time that the study of the department structure was taking place. Then soon after that, in about 1975 was the time when the 14 department structure was approved. At that time, I became chair of the Science and Health Education Department. It was science and health combined. That organization remained for some time and then there was a union with mathematics education to form the Mathematics and Science Education Department. Some other areas were combining also. Finally, this would have been some years later, the Secondary Education Department was formed and that was made up of the subject areas like science, math, social studies, and English, that prepared teachers to teach in secondary schools. The subject areas with this common mission formed the Secondary Education Department.