550472 research-article2014
HEBXXX10.1177/1090198114550472Health Education & BehaviorFreudenberg
Noreen M. Clark: Perspective
Noreen Clark’s Five Lessons on Teaching, Research, and Mentoring
Health Education & Behavior 2014, Vol. 41(5) 550–551 © 2014 Society for Public Health Education Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1090198114550472 heb.sagepub.com
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH1 I was Noreen Clark’s first doctoral student, although at the time her clear advice and easy style led me to believe I was one more in a long string of previous trainees. I also became the project director of the Asthma Self-Management Project, a National Institutes of Health study that Noreen led to develop an evidence-based intervention to strengthen the capacity of parents and children to manage their asthma. Soon after I finished my doctoral degree, Noreen left Columbia for the University of Michigan, but we remained friends until her death. Reflecting on the lessons I learned about teaching, research, and mentorship from Noreen, I realize she had some clear principles on these processes. As far as I know, she never articulated these in a single place, but her professional life embodied these understandings. I am pleased to present here Noreen Clark’s five rules for good teaching, mentorship, and research.
1. Wherever You Go, Take People With You When Noreen went on a journey, she always took people with her with the goal of sharing her opportunities with others. Whether she was pursuing a new intellectual exploration, traveling to China or the Philippines, or visiting one of her vacation homes, Noreen always had students, staff members, colleagues, and friends with her. She did this because she liked their company and because she saw expanding the horizons of others as part of her mission as an educator. Through her commitment to taking people with her, Noreen magnified her direct impact on her fellow travelers and also expanded their reach and their capacity to improve public health.
2. To Be a Good Teacher, Become a Good Listener We have all encountered the inspiring but opinionated teacher who wants every student to be just like him or her, who talks more than listens. Noreen’s approach was the opposite. She listened not only to the words of her students but also to what they were not saying, to the verbal and nonverbal indicators of their fears and apprehensions. For me, a headstrong fellow even in my 20s, this meant that Noreen
understood I needed first to gather my own evidence and critique it, and then I would be ready for her wisdom. For others, it meant the first task was bolstering their confidence. Whenever I am tempted to give my seemingly wise advice to a student or colleague, the spirit of Noreen whispers in my ear, “But have you listened Nick?” and if the answer is no, I take a breath and shut my mouth.
3. Good Mentors Are Both Coaches and Critics Noreen served as a mentor to dozens. From my own experience, from conversations with colleagues and from observing Noreen in mentoring action, I learned my third lesson: Good mentors are coaches and critics. We have probably all experienced mentors who followed one playbook or the other. And being coached or criticized can be helpful. But it is the combination of the two that has the most payoff. This kind of mentor has both the nonjudgmental caring that a coach demonstrates—a commitment to pushing the mentee’s personal best just a little further—and the critical evaluation that comes from judging a person against some higher standard. When Noreen criticized, it was not to berate, belittle, or show how smart she was; it was to inspire a deeper understanding of how to achieve the desired goals.
4. Think and Act Across Levels, Scales, and Disciplines No one better demonstrated the capacity and the willingness to cross borders than Noreen. She worked with educators, pediatricians, endocrinologists, community development specialists, nutritionists, community leaders, funders, foreign policy organizations, and many more. Her intellectual curiosity made her understand that no discipline has the monopoly on truth, and she was as impatient with narrowly 1
City University of New York School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA Corresponding Author: Nicholas Freudenberg, CUNY School of Public Health, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10035, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from heb.sagepub.com at RUTGERS UNIV on April 5, 2015
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Freudenberg focused health educators as the harshest critics of our discipline. She was also able to work on different organizational levels, across sectors and scales. Many people talk the interdisciplinary talk; few balance on that tightrope in practice as well as Noreen.
5. The Bottom Line Goal of Public Health Is to Improve the Health of the Public Noreen was a researcher—she authored more than 150 scientific articles, she was a teacher who taught thousands of students over the years, but at heart and whatever she did she
was a public health practitioner. She understood and demonstrated in practice that the bottom line of public health is improving health of the public. Whatever she did had to offer a clear path to that goal. Around Michigan, the nation, and the world are the progeny of Noreen’s five rules. I do not think she ever set out to create this cadre of Noreenistas, but what a gift to the world and what a legacy for anyone to leave her survivors to cherish and nurture. Author’s Note This essay is based on remarks the author made at the Celebration of Life event for Noreen held in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Downloaded from heb.sagepub.com at RUTGERS UNIV on April 5, 2015
HEBXXX10.1177/1090198114550472Health Education & BehaviorFreudenberg
Noreen M. Clark: Perspective
Noreen Clark’s Five Lessons on Teaching, Research, and Mentoring
Health Education & Behavior 2014, Vol. 41(5) 550–551 © 2014 Society for Public Health Education Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1090198114550472 heb.sagepub.com
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH1 I was Noreen Clark’s first doctoral student, although at the time her clear advice and easy style led me to believe I was one more in a long string of previous trainees. I also became the project director of the Asthma Self-Management Project, a National Institutes of Health study that Noreen led to develop an evidence-based intervention to strengthen the capacity of parents and children to manage their asthma. Soon after I finished my doctoral degree, Noreen left Columbia for the University of Michigan, but we remained friends until her death. Reflecting on the lessons I learned about teaching, research, and mentorship from Noreen, I realize she had some clear principles on these processes. As far as I know, she never articulated these in a single place, but her professional life embodied these understandings. I am pleased to present here Noreen Clark’s five rules for good teaching, mentorship, and research.
1. Wherever You Go, Take People With You When Noreen went on a journey, she always took people with her with the goal of sharing her opportunities with others. Whether she was pursuing a new intellectual exploration, traveling to China or the Philippines, or visiting one of her vacation homes, Noreen always had students, staff members, colleagues, and friends with her. She did this because she liked their company and because she saw expanding the horizons of others as part of her mission as an educator. Through her commitment to taking people with her, Noreen magnified her direct impact on her fellow travelers and also expanded their reach and their capacity to improve public health.
2. To Be a Good Teacher, Become a Good Listener We have all encountered the inspiring but opinionated teacher who wants every student to be just like him or her, who talks more than listens. Noreen’s approach was the opposite. She listened not only to the words of her students but also to what they were not saying, to the verbal and nonverbal indicators of their fears and apprehensions. For me, a headstrong fellow even in my 20s, this meant that Noreen
understood I needed first to gather my own evidence and critique it, and then I would be ready for her wisdom. For others, it meant the first task was bolstering their confidence. Whenever I am tempted to give my seemingly wise advice to a student or colleague, the spirit of Noreen whispers in my ear, “But have you listened Nick?” and if the answer is no, I take a breath and shut my mouth.
3. Good Mentors Are Both Coaches and Critics Noreen served as a mentor to dozens. From my own experience, from conversations with colleagues and from observing Noreen in mentoring action, I learned my third lesson: Good mentors are coaches and critics. We have probably all experienced mentors who followed one playbook or the other. And being coached or criticized can be helpful. But it is the combination of the two that has the most payoff. This kind of mentor has both the nonjudgmental caring that a coach demonstrates—a commitment to pushing the mentee’s personal best just a little further—and the critical evaluation that comes from judging a person against some higher standard. When Noreen criticized, it was not to berate, belittle, or show how smart she was; it was to inspire a deeper understanding of how to achieve the desired goals.
4. Think and Act Across Levels, Scales, and Disciplines No one better demonstrated the capacity and the willingness to cross borders than Noreen. She worked with educators, pediatricians, endocrinologists, community development specialists, nutritionists, community leaders, funders, foreign policy organizations, and many more. Her intellectual curiosity made her understand that no discipline has the monopoly on truth, and she was as impatient with narrowly 1
City University of New York School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA Corresponding Author: Nicholas Freudenberg, CUNY School of Public Health, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10035, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from heb.sagepub.com at RUTGERS UNIV on April 5, 2015
551
Freudenberg focused health educators as the harshest critics of our discipline. She was also able to work on different organizational levels, across sectors and scales. Many people talk the interdisciplinary talk; few balance on that tightrope in practice as well as Noreen.
5. The Bottom Line Goal of Public Health Is to Improve the Health of the Public Noreen was a researcher—she authored more than 150 scientific articles, she was a teacher who taught thousands of students over the years, but at heart and whatever she did she
was a public health practitioner. She understood and demonstrated in practice that the bottom line of public health is improving health of the public. Whatever she did had to offer a clear path to that goal. Around Michigan, the nation, and the world are the progeny of Noreen’s five rules. I do not think she ever set out to create this cadre of Noreenistas, but what a gift to the world and what a legacy for anyone to leave her survivors to cherish and nurture. Author’s Note This essay is based on remarks the author made at the Celebration of Life event for Noreen held in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Downloaded from heb.sagepub.com at RUTGERS UNIV on April 5, 2015
