Dr. Herbert Kohl, author of "Teaching the Unteachable," to lecture November 13

SALISBURY, MD----Renowned educator and writer Dr. Herbert Kohl, author of Teaching the Unteachable, The Language and Education of the Deaf and 36 Children, lectures at Salisbury State University on Monday, November 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Part of the annual Riall Lecture Series, coordinated by the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies, Kohl’s talk, "36 Children 36 Plus Years Later," is in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Kohl attended the Bronx High School of Science, studied philosophy and mathematics at Harvard, Oxford and Columbia University, then became a sixth grade teacher in the New York City public schools, his childhood dream. He has been teaching and writing for over 35 years. During that time he has taught every grade from kindergarten through graduate school.

In 1964 his first book, The Age of Complexity, about analytic and existential philosophy, was published. His first writings on education, Teaching the Unteachable, The Language and Education of the Deaf and 36 Children, were published from 1965-67. In 1968 he moved to Berkeley, CA, where he was visiting professor at the University of California, ran and taught at a public alternative high school in the Berkeley Unified School District and was co-director of the teacher education program at the Center for Open Learning and Teaching.

For 10 years he wrote a monthly column for Teacher Magazine and contributed many reviews and articles for publications such as The New York Times, The London Times and The New York Review of Books. He also wrote a number of books during that period.

He and his wife Judith wrote The View from the Oak, which won the 1977 National Book Award for Children’s Literature.

In 1977 Kohl moved to Point Arena, CA, and established the Coastal Ridge Research and Education Center. In Point Arena from 1977 to the present he was involved in seminars which ranged from a month-long session for the heads of teachers’ colleges from Botwsana sponsored by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and funded by AID, to sessions on testing and evaluation with Courtney Cazden and Asa Hilliard, and education alliance building with people from Rethinking Schools, the Network of Progressive Educators and other progressive educational organizations.

In addition to his work in Point Arena he was on the board of Atari Education Foundation and consulted with the Vivariuim Project of Apple Computers.

Kohl has worked with Amnesty International and co-authored a curriculum on Conscience and Human Rights for them. With Judith Kohl and Myles Horton, founder of the Highlander Center, he co-authored The Long Haul, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. At the center of his teaching and writing has been a commitment to equity and justice.

Admission to Kohl’s lecture is free and the public is invited. A book signing reception in the Social Room follows his talk.

For more information, please call the SSU Public Relations Office at 410-543-6030.