Monitor on Psychology - November 2011 - (Page 86)

personalities The man who gave Head Start a start As Edmund Gordon turns 90, he looks back on his career and forward to improved educational opportunities for low-income families. What first interested you about psychology? When I was in college, I thought I was heading into medicine. But after college, I entered divinity school, which wasn’t a new thing for me as I’d been very close to the church most of my life. But what I was looking for in divinity school was preparation for a career in human service. I ended up in a position counseling students and 86 “Get as much and as broad an education as you can,” advises Dr. Edmund Gordon. “Psychologists ought not limit themselves to the things we identify as ‘psychology.’” realized that my divinity training was not adequate preparation for counseling people. I realized I was trying to practice psychology with no actual training in psychology, so I decided to go back and study it. M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y • n ov e M b e r 2 0 1 1 Collette Fournier/rCC e dmund Gordon, EdD, has seen America’s black community undergo significant changes in his lifetime, from the civil rights movement to the inauguration of a black president. His long career as a psychologist weaves in and out of that history, with appointments at numerous universities, groundbreaking research into how education shapes minds and his role in 1965 as a founder of the federal Head Start Program, which provides education, nutrition and health-care assistance to children living in poverty. Teachers College at Columbia University, where Gordon founded the Institute for Urban Education in 1973 and once served as dean, recently held an event to celebrate Gordon’s career and influence on U.S. education policy. The Monitor spoke with Gordon about how he became a psychologist, his opinion of Head Start today and how we can improve education for everyone.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - November 2011

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Guest Column
‘Grand Challenges’ offers blueprint for mental health research
Documentary seeks to reach parents of LGBT kids
Treating veterans will cost at least $5 billion by 2020
Selfless volunteering might lengthen your life
Combat and stress up among U.S. military in Afghanistan
South Africa to host international psychology conference
Study uncovers a reason behind sex differences in mental illness
Navy psychologist gives a voice to combat trauma
In Brief
Psychologist suicide
On Your Behalf
Journey back to Heart Mountain
Psychology is key to pain management, report finds
ACT goes international
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Behavior change in 15-minute sessions?
Health-care reform 2.0
Perspective on Practice
Giving a heads up on concussion
Practice Profile
Searching for meaning
Inspiring young researchers
Aging, with grace
Public Interest
Thank you!
APA News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
The man who gave Head Start a start
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - November 2011