Warren Watson
First Thoughts
December 18, 2007

Nine Indiana public school principals and administrators last week completed a unique online course offered through Ball State’s Department of Extended Education.

The graduate-level course, offered through a partnership of Teachers College and the College of Communication, Information and Media, gave those administrators a healthy diet of the First Amendment, media law and an introduction to student journalism. The goal: fortify the knowledge base of those administrators so they can better understand the value of free speech in a school setting.

If you ask Ron Owings, the principal of Northwestern High School, the course represented time and money well spent.

“Thumbs up. I think this course was exceptional,” he said. “I became much more open-minded and understanding regarding student rights.”

Dick Daniel, the principal of Muncie Central High School, added that the course helped him better come to grips with the importance of good communication between an administrator and a student media adviser. “The course was thought-provoking,” he said.

The course will be offered again, according to Joe McKinney, the chair of the Teachers College Department of Educational Leadership.

Owings pointed to the importance of giving students more than theory about the First Amendment. He said that practice makes perfect. “Students must be allowed to make mistakes and learn the benefits of free speech by trial and error,” he said.

Yes, isn’t that what education is all about?