Table of Contents
Mager's curriculum vitae and selected reports and statements
The Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse University Teaching Center and the Professional Development School
The teachers in transition study
Meredith Professorship and "A bridge to the city" project
Teacher education and program development
Teaching: the career and profession
The education of teacher educators
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Summary |
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| Creator: | Mager, Gerald M. |
| Title: | Gerald M. Mager Papers |
| Dates: | 1976-2021 |
| Size: | 8.75 linear feet |
| Abstract: | Reports, presentations, correspondence, and other materials created and collected by Gerald M. Mager while he was a professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Biography
Gerald M. Mager is a professor emeritus of the School of Education at Syracuse University. While a professor at the University, he taught education courses such as principles of learning in inclusive classrooms, leadership for student learning, and current research on teaching. His research interests included inclusive education, the experiences of new teachers and professors and how to best support them, and the relationship between teachers and parents, among other topics.
Mager attended the education program at John Carroll University for his undergraduate and graduate degrees, graduating from those programs in 1970 and 1973, respectively. He attended a doctoral program at Ohio University in the mid-1970s and graduated in 1978. That same year, he accepted a position as an assistant professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University. Mager taught courses on campus and coordinated the Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse University Teaching Center, which offered professional development activities for local educators and placed student teachers from the School of Education in local schools. In 1988, he was named the Chair of Elementary Education and helped to design and facilitate the inclusive education and special education programs. Five years later, in 1993, Mager received tenure and the rank of professor. In 2001, he received the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship for Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding teaching at the University. From 2007 to 2014, Mager served as the Associate Dean of the School of Education. He retired in 2015, having taught at Syracuse University for 36 years.
Mager was involved in many professional organizations and committees at the state and national levels. He was on the executive board of the New York State Association of Teacher Educators and took part in the evaluation of teacher certification procedures as a member of the New York State Teacher Education Certification and Practices Board and the Professional Standards and Practices Board. Mager was also involved in organizations on campus; he was the treasurer of the Syracuse University chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, a professional organization for educators, and served four terms on the University Senate.
Scope and Content Note
The Gerald M. Mager Papers consists of reports, clippings, course materials, research notes, publications, correspondence, and other materials collected and created by Mager. Mager also arranged and described his papers himself before donating them to the Syracuse University Archives, and the University Archives staff has maintained all his series and folder titles, along with his original arrangement. The materials, dating from 1976 to 2021, reflect Mager's long career as a professor at Syracuse University and his work in the field of teacher education. The collection is divided into sixteen series:
Mager’s curriculum vitae and selected reports and statements contains general reports and other items that provide an overview of Mager's career as a professor at Syracuse University.
Mager’s teaching includes syllabi, class notes, sample assignments, exams, and other materials related to his teaching career at the University. Some of the materials in this series are from specific courses offered by the School of Education, such as EDA 772: Leadership for Student Learning and EDU 760: Pedagogical Strategies in Teaching Undergraduates.
Early career work consists of materials from the start of Mager's career as an educator in the late 1970s. These materials date from before he was employed by the University through the first few years of his appointment as an assistant professor. Some of the materials include evaluations of educational programs and articles that he wrote as a doctoral student.
The Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse University Teaching Center and the Professional Development School contains reports, newsletters, presentations, and other materials from Mager's time as coordinator of the teaching center. The materials highlight a few of the activities he undertook as coordinator, sometimes in conjunction with the Professional Development School of Syracuse University.
The New York State Association of Teacher Educators, the Confederated Organizations for Teacher Education, and the Association of Teacher Educators consists of presentations, articles, conference and workshop materials, and other items related to Mager's involvement with these professional organizations for teacher educators. There are materials in this series from Mager's two terms as NYSATE President and his involvement with planning committees for events hosted by the other organizations.
New York State Teacher Education Certification and Practices Board and the Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching includes reports, correspondence, conference materials, and other items collected by Mager during his long appointment on these two boards, spanning from the mid-1980s to the early 2010s. This series also contains items like Mager's identification badge for the State Education Department building and his nametag from a related conference.
The first year teacher study contains reflections, reports, and clippings related to a study on the experience of new teachers that Mager participated in while he was a doctoral student at Ohio State University.
The new professor studies consists of surveys, presentations, reports, articles, and other items from a series of studies on the experiences of new professors in the field of education, conducted by Mager and Betty Myers in the 1980s. Both were assistant professors in the School of Education when they began the study. This series also contains manuscripts by Mager and Myers on the study that were never published.
The teachers in transition study includes papers, presentations, and manuscripts related to a study on teachers who were making changes in their teaching assignments conducted by Mager and other teacher educators in the early 1980s. A grant proposal to the Central New York School Study Council for this study is also included in this series.
The New York Mentor Teacher-Internship Program statewide evaluation and other work related to mentoring contains correspondence, reports, presentations, and other materials from Mager's involvement with the program. Mager was the official statewide evaluator of the program from 1986 to 1989; some of the materials in this series detail his evaluation processes and findings.
The New York Partnership for Statewide SystemsChange, the Higher Education Support Center for SystemsChange, and the New York State Task Force on Quality Inclusive Schooling consists of correspondence, presentations, proposals, reports, and articles related to Mager's involvement with these three initiatives promoting inclusive education practices in schools and communities across New York State.
Meredith Professorship and “A bridge to the city” project includes reports, correspondence, and other materials from Mager's time as a Meredith Professor in the early 2000s. This series also contains Mager's nomination for the professorship and the final report from the project he completed for the award, which created a relationship between the School of Education and school districts in New York City.
Teacher education and program development consists of materials related to Mager's scholarship and research in the field of teacher education. Some items in this series include an article he wrote about the value of field experience, teacher certification exams he helped develop, and a book chapter he wrote with others about the inclusive education program at Syracuse University.
Teaching: the career and profession contains correspondence, presentations, and articles about Mager's work in advancing teaching as a profession and studying it as a career. There are materials such as research notes on parent-teacher relations and a presentation on teaching as a profession the 1990s in this series.
The education of teacher educators consists of materials related to Mager's work with doctoral students studying to become teacher educators and his position as co-chair of the Association of Teacher Educators Commission on the Education of Teacher Educators. Some of the items in this series include reports from the commission, agendas for commission meetings, and presentation proposals.
Miscellaneous work includes materials on a variety of topics that do not readily fit into the other series. The items range from journal article reviews and school building design consultations to School of Education reorganization plans and orientation materials. This series also contains materials from Mager's time as a member of the University Senate.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Access to audiovisual material requires advance notice to produce a use copy.
Records from the University Senate are restricted for 50 years from date of creation. Requests to use restricted materials must be obtained in writing from the office of origin.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Related Material
The University Archives holds a clippings file on Gerald Mager. More materials related to the School of Education can be found in the Syracuse University School of Education Records.
Selected Search Terms
Names
Subjects
Types of material
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Gerald M. Mager Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Gift of Gerald M. Mager in 2021.
Processing Information
Materials were housed in acid-free folders and boxes. Original series and folder titles for all items except audiovisual materials were maintained.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: Emily Banach
Date: 2021
Revision history:
Supplemental Finding Aids
A detailed inventory of the collection was also given to the University Archives by the donor. The inventory provides descriptions of the items in the collection and their relevance to Mager's career. A digital version of this inventory can be found here.