In Support of Adults
by Amy Magin Wong
“My experience as a teacher was a relatively lonely one,” says
Sarah Levine, Ed.M.’77, Ed.D.’80, who taught in the late ’60s
and early ’70s. “We’d put all of our energy into supporting [the]
kids, but there wasn’t a lot of support — intentionally — for the
adults.” Levine has since devoted her career to rectifying this
sense of isolation, by promoting and advocating for the growth
of adults who work in and for the schools — the teachers,
school leaders, and parents.
“When I first started talking about this in the ’70s and ’80s,” she says, “it was an energizing and novel thought — that we adults continue to develop throughout our lives.”
Levine entered the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1974 with the intent to understand if others in the education field had experiences similar to her own, and, to learn how the organizational development of schools could make growth more provocative and supportive for adults.
She earned a joint doctorate in school administration and leadership, and human development, and then served as associate director of The Principals’ Center at the Ed School from 1983 to 1989. During her tenure there, Levine worked closely with many school leaders, teaching and leading summer institutes for them. “Principals weren’t having any opportunities for their own professional development,” Levine explains. “They were supposed to be the ‘learned,’ providing the ‘learning’ for all of the others.”
Then Levine put her perspectives into practice when she herself became a principal at a school in Belmont, Mass. “We talked a lot at Harvard about creating a community of learners, and at this school we did it,” she says, proudly noting that the school is still flourishing today.
Now retired and living in Denver, Levine continues to provide consulting, notably for the Colorado League of Charter Schools and The Principals’ Center. She also leads workshops, many of which are for experienced teachers and leaders at the cusp of deciding when they are going to retire. “They ask themselves what kind of lives they want to lead, and what legacy they are going to leave for their schools,” she says. “They are very attuned to and interested in bringing themselves and their schools into balance.”
Levine says that her entire educational philosophy and practice grew out of her time at the Ed School, which has had a profound influence on how she works with children, teachers, and school leaders. Now, she is “doing something in return for that gift,” as an enthusiastic volunteer member of the Ed School’s Alumni Council.
“It is a wonderful time to be involved,” she says, “both to learn about the future direction and vision for the school, and to give feedback from the perspective of someone who was there a long time ago, as many on the council are more recent graduates.”
Levine aims to keep alumni connected and aware of what is going on with the Ed School as the institution evolves. She encourages them to reflect back on their experience there and its effectiveness in their lives, as professionals and as individuals. “If it comes up as robustly as mine,” she says, “then give generously to the school.”
Next spring, Levine and her husband, Randolph, are bound for Nepal as volunteers in the Himalayan Dental Relief Project, bringing free dental care to impoverished children. There, they will also meet children from a school they have been sponsoring, whose population comes primarily from remote mountain areas. And, as avid hikers, they plan to trek the Everest trail. “This trip — serving and supporting children and their families — is a reflection of a personal value honed at the Ed School,” she says.
— Amy Magin Wong is a freelance writer whose last pieces in Ed. profiled Sarah Mandanis, Ed.M.’94, and Layli Uddin, Ed.M.’07.
About the Article
A version of this article originally appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Ed., the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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