Newspapers in schools:
Where literacy and good citizenship intersect
Edna Downing (B.S., ’41, English education), recipient
of the University’s highest honor, the Outstanding Achievement Award,
has had a distinguished career as a teacher, administrator, and
consultant in public schools. Most significant among her achievements
are Downing’s pioneering contributions to the Newspapers in Education
curriculum.
Edna Downing (B.S., '41, English
education) consults with Deborah
Dillon, literacy professor and chair
of the Department of Curriculum and
Instruction.
Downing found inspiration in her mother and maternal
grandmother, pioneer educators and successful teachers who were among
the first women principals and superintendents. Another influence on
her career was her adviser at the college, Dora V. Smith, who
encouraged her service in educational organizations.
As a teacher, Downing hoped that her students would be
“successful and encouraged through my classes. That’s the test—it’s
not just subject matter, but it’s people opening up and expanding
their horizons through language and literature.”
Downing continued her education after graduating from
the college by earning a master’s degree in education from Macalester
College. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Iowa and
University of Minnesota until taking a leave of absence to care for
her mother who was terminally ill.
Early in her career Downing joined several
professional organizations. She was a charter member of the Minnesota
Council of Teachers of English and later president. Among other
honors, Downing was president of the English Section of the Minnesota
Education Association. She is a life member of the National Council of
Teachers of English and was its director and liaison officer for many
years.
Downing is nationally recognized for her book on the
use of the newspaper and the study of mass media in the classroom, How
to Read and Use the Newspaper—Units for English, grades 7–12, written
with the guidance and support of John Haefner, a faculty member at the
University of Iowa and a national leader in promoting the use of
newspapers in the classroom.
The first and only text published on the subject,
Downing’s book was selected as the best book written by an educator by
the American Newspaper Foundation and nearly 300 educators,
publishers, and editors brought to Washington, D.C. to evaluate
publications. Downing was selected to put on the first workshops on
the Newspaper in the Classroom sponsored by the State Department of
Education and the University of Minnesota, and her work in this area
still is widely used today.
“I recognized that teachers need a dynamic tool
relevant to students’ lives to teach basic reading skills and also
critical reading skills—the newspaper. I’m hoping they can see how
important the press is in our democracy,” Downing says. “I’m hoping
they can become more literate citizens and more critical citizens, and
to see what would happen to a democracy if they weren’t aware. There’s
something bigger than ourselves that we should be involved in.”
To this end, Downing has shown her commitment to
literacy and the college by establishing the Edna Carolyn Downing
English Education Endowment for Scholarship, Literacy, and School
Partnerships. The fund supports a student scholarship, the Edna
Carolyn Downing Scholarship in English Education; the college’s
literacy program; and the Patrick Henry Partnership Project and/or
other partnerships of the college with the Minneapolis Public Schools.
She is committed to her lifelong Minneapolis
neighborhood, Camden-Weber, and is excited about the college’s
partnership in that neighborhood with Patrick Henry High School.
“I’m so thrilled,” Downing says. “It’s changed the
whole group of Henry students. It’s such a wonderful project,
attending to their needs and challenges. The teachers are dedicated.”
Through her gift, Downing is supporting English
education and encouraging teachers to use the newspaper as a tool in
teaching English and the basic skills of reading and writing.
—Rebecca Noran
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