Teaching Awards 2007

Teaching without borders

Great Teacher’s work reaches beyond the Temple University community  

Eli C. Goldblatt doesn’t restrict his teaching to the four walls of a classroom.

Whether he’s walking across campus, returning an e-mail from a former student or leading a community-based workshop on literacy, Goldblatt always finds an opportunity to teach.

Doctoral candidate in English Jennifer N. Maloy (left) discusses her writing with Eli C. Goldblatt, professor of English and 2007 Great Teacher Award winner, who works closely with students both inside and outside the classroom. (Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University)

When he joined Temple University in 1996 to head the University Writing Program, his focus was on how to improve writing in every area of the university. Over the last decade his commitment to teaching literacy has taken him beyond Temple and into the neighborhoods that surround the university. 

In addition to his duties as a professor and director of the First Year Writing Program, Goldblatt organizes workshops in schools, senior centers and underserved neighborhoods around Philadelphia.

“A culture works through its language,” Goldblatt said. “There are so many ways in which literacy shapes and changes a community. There is a power attached to words that some do not have access to.”

As director of the New City Writing: Institute for Literacy and Culture, Goldblatt oversees several literacy programs.

One example of New City Writing programs can be found at Tree House Books, a nonprofit organization that gives children in North Philadelphia access to books, tutoring and after-school programs.

“The kids love to come by after school,” he said. “They play chess, draw pictures, and talk to adults about books in an informal environment.  We find the whole community — parents, teachers, adults in the vicinity, students, and kids — who love to interact with other through and around the written word.”

While teaching in the English department at Villanova, Goldblatt designed a literacy exchange program that linked students with inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, Pennsylvania’s largest maximum-security prison.

“It was a life-changing experience for many of my students and for me,” Goldblatt said. “Being able to experience language and culture in that kind of environment changed our ideas about what literacy can be.”

His hard work and dedication to his field left a lasting impression on former student Jessica Restaino, who is now an assistant professor in the English department at Montclair State University.

“I believe the greatest teachers are trailed by a legacy of students whose lives have been impacted by their efforts,” she said. “There is no question that my life as a scholar, writer and teacher owes a great debt to Eli Goldblatt.”

Among students he’s regarded as a great listener, former student Sara Hoover said.

“Whenever I find myself at a crossroad in life I always check in with Eli,” she said. “Afterwards, I come away with clear idea of the steps I need to take in order to reach my goals. He has been my mentor for years.”

Goldblatt was born in Cleveland and grew up on Army posts in the United States and Germany.

After earning his B.A. from Cornell University, Goldblatt worked in farming, manufacturing and carpentry jobs before enrolling in Case Western Reserve Medical School in 1975.

He went on to teach science, math and English at an alternative high school in Philadelphia.

In 1982 he finished an M.Ed. at Temple in science education and in 1990 he completed a Ph.D. in literature and composition studies at the University of Wisconsin– Madison.

Goldblatt’s second academic book, Because We Live Here: Sponsoring Literacy beyond the College Curriculum (Hampton Press) will be out later this spring.  In addition to his publications in composition, he has published three volumes of poetry and two children’s books.

By Jazmyn Burton