BY TIFFANY CAPUANO

Maurice Berube, eminent scholar of educational leadership and counseling and author of eight books, prefers not to work with co-authors in his writing, but he will be happy to have Clair T. Newbold’s name included in his new upcoming work, “Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence.”

Had it not been for Newbold, a graduate teaching assistant and doctoral student in the urban education program, an important piece of the book may not have been written.

The book examines the thoughts and lives of four major educators who have profoundly influenced American education, Berube said: John Dewey, the late American educational philosopher; Howard Gardner, the father of the theory of multiple intelligences and a Harvard University professor; Carol Gilligan, chair of the Center for Gender Studies at Harvard; and John Ogbu, a University of California-Berkeley professor and father of the theory of caste regarding the education of African-Americans. The book will be published in the spring.

Berube had planned to meet with each of the three living educators alone, but asked Newbold to participate in the interview with Gilligan, an internationally known feminist researcher and the author of “In a Different Voice.” He was told by a colleague that if a woman helped conduct the interview, Gilligan would be more willing to open up during the session. In addition, Berube noted that Newbold was very familiar with Gilligan’s work and was planning to write her dissertation on gender and education.

“I think she was happy to hear that I was coming,” said Newbold. “When we got to Cambridge, she was thrilled to be included in the book and impressed to be among the company of other educators in the book.

“I would have thought that someone who was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential people would be used to being in the spotlight, but she was genuine, down to earth and very accommodating,” said Newbold.

Berube noticed a “connection” between the two. “I was conducting the interview, but about halfway through Clair started opening up and talking, and she (Gilligan) right away agreed, ‘That’s what I’ve been talking about in all of my work,’” Berube recalled.

Newbold said she thought her gender did indeed help make the connection, and Berube agreed. “I needed a woman to go in with me. Gilligan really opened up – I don’t know if it’s a sisterhood thing or what. Now that I have finished the chapter, I realize that Clair understood Carol Gilligan better than I did,” he said.

Berube and Newbold asked Gilligan questions related to her personal life, such as her schooling, her relationship to Dewey and other educators, why she chose to study feminism and who her outstanding teachers have been.

“I asked her what was her relationship between she and her mother when she was 11 or 12,” said Berube. “She reared back and instead of answering the question went into a cultural and historical discussion about patriarchy and about mothers and daughters. At that age in Gilligan’s life, she struggled with her relationship with her mother. This struggle has helped a now older Gilligan explain why female teachers and therapists have difficulty relating to girls that age.”

“What I got most from her work is that women can experience something that has happened to them, and they don’t know how to make it real for themselves . . . almost as if they are in denial,” said Newbold. “Women tend to doubt their own feelings as being valid, because for such a long time women have looked to men to tell them how to think.”

The 45-minute interview left a lasting impression on Newbold. “She is the Einstein in education. If you are into gender and education, she is the backdrop. She supplies the paradigm within which we work.

“Directly and indirectly, she is going to point me in the right direction,” said Newbold of her newly formed relationship with Gilligan. “She has already given me leads and informally is assisting me with my dissertation.”

Newbold’s dissertation will focus on gender and education, specifically looking at female athletes who are 11 or 12 years old. “I have a daughter who is very bossy and is a tremendous athlete. She draws confidence from that and I’m wondering if there is a connection between self-confidence and grades in school, and girls in sports and grades,” said Newbold.

Just within the past few years, there has been a significant increase in written research on gender and education, according to Newbold. “What you have going on now is a bunch of ‘Gilliganites’ running around who are writing books,” she observed.

Newbold helped write about half of the chapter on Gilligan for Berube’s book, but she is no novice when it comes to writing. She penned a chapter on gender equity in middle school science education for a college textbook on science education and also wrote an opinion piece earlier this year for The Virginian-Pilot about a proposed light rail system.

A science teacher for many years, Newbold hopes to teach at the college level once she completes her doctoral program.