UW–Madison School of Education Dean Marcelle Haddix delievered the keynote address at the School Superintendents Association’s (AASA) recent National Conference on Education, where she encouraged attendees to embrace hope and envision a brighter future.
According to an article published on the AASA website, Haddix — a leading scholar on literacy and teacher education — focused her 45-minute address on three major themes: cultivating lifelong literacy, strengthening the teaching profession, and building up leaders.
AASA reports that Haddix urged the audience to broaden their understanding of what it means to be literate both today and in the future. She emphasized that literacy, teaching, and learning should center the needs of each student, not just a “one-size-fits-all solution.”
“It can also mean uplifting diverse stories and experiences so that everyone sees themselves reflected, while also learning about others and their experiences,” Haddix said. “We want literacy for all and to cultivate lifelong learners, readers, writers.”
Haddix also highlighted the need to grow pathways for future educators and promote teaching as an essential profession, the article notes.
“We have to reclaim the narratives on teaching and tell our stories,” Haddix said. “This helps us in creating teacher pipelines, introducing the field to young people much earlier. In terms of retention, we need to support cross-generational teacher mentor networks.”
Speaking directly to the educators in the room in Nashville, Tennessee, Haddix stressed the importance of collaboration. She urged leaders not to work alone, but instead to build coalitions and seek partners who can support their work.
“We need collective strategy, not to do this work in isolation or in silence,” Haddix said. “As I often tell my team, we are stronger together.”
Haddix closed on a hopeful note:
“I am here because I am the dream of my ancestors realized; someone prayed for me before they even had a thought of me,” she said. “They imagined new possibilities. They planted the seeds that are blossoming in me. They dared to dream. They dared to have hope. So every time I enter a room I know that I am not entering alone. I carry their hopes and their dreams with me, and now it is our responsibility to be that ancestor for the generations to come.”