DEPARTMENTS
L E T
U S
R E M E M B E R
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
DEAR LA SALLE FAMILY, If you were to visit La Salle today, you would discover that the two end classrooms on the first and second floors of McLean Hall have a somewhat different look to them. Variably called innovative classrooms, or classrooms of the future, these rooms don’t have whiteboards, let alone chalkboards. The paint applied to the walls allows for being written on and erased, so students can put up problems just about anywhere. Pupil desks can be coupled together in pods for group tasks or separated for testing and other solo work. Several monitors allow students to dock their laptops and show work to their group or the whole class.
The absence of this “front of the room” is not
Rather, he relentlessly probes, requires students
simply a question of fashion, a reflection of the
to elucidate their thinking, poses counter
fact that departments have office space at La
arguments. As principal also, his nine years
Salle, or a concrete way to inculcate the maxim,
focused on “teaching excellence” have resulted
“good teachers never sit in the classroom.” It is a
at La Salle in an instructional climate that is
window onto a whole different style of teaching
stimulating, student-centered, and focused
recognized as more effective and relevant in
on continuous growth by students, whatever
the third decade of the twenty-first century. The
their ability level. These classroom prototypes
lecturing teacher at the podium dispensing
piloted this year harvest the pedagogical seeds
knowledge, even on a platform in some earlier
he planted.
La Salle classrooms, has been removed from his perch. Now, information is everywhere, and the challenge is not so much accessing it but evaluating available data, constructing new knowledge from the interaction of what is already available and the insights of a group of
Those used to traditional arrangements would
learners. The teacher’s role transitions to that of
likely enter these rooms and puzzle at the
a guide, a mentor—a coach, if you will.
arrangement of furniture a bit before asking an obvious question, “Where’s the front?” Each room totally lacks the traditional teacher’s desk and chair with podium on a central axis anchoring the room to “the front,” ordinarily in close proximity to a door.
Think of coaching in the context of La Salle alumni, and few names would come to mind more quickly and elicit more respect than that of Joe Mihalich ’74. Born in the shadow of La Salle College (as it then was), a professor’s son, he grew up in the world of Big Five basketball and played at both La Salles himself before a three-decade career as head coach
Mike O’Toole ’68 was an instructor who
at Niagara and Hofstra, including frequent
understood the “teacher as coach” model
championship appearances. Still involved on
years before it came into pedagogical and
La Salle University’s staff today, he coaches all
psychological high repute. His classes, while
of us now on how to deal with life’s inevitable
always rigorous, were and are rarely focused
challenges with an inspirational grace, wisdom,
on student mastery of things he already knows.
and serenity.
EXPLORER THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF LA SALLE COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL WINTER 2023 2