Dixon, John

CONVOCATION, OCTOBER, 1988
JOHN LESLIE DIXON
to be Doctor of Letters

A university is by definition an international institution, for scholarship and research, reading and learning, writing and teaching cannot be fenced in by artificial boundaries, and the mind and spirit of humanity will recognize no limits. This university, the University of New Brunswick, has special responsibilities to our Province, to Canada, and to the society which supports us, but a just concern with the "here and now" must never blind us to our larger responsibilities to the "long ago and far away," to that global community of all those who seek to learn and to share their learning, their visions and their dreams with all who inhabit this planet. It is therefore right and proper that we should seek to honour two men whose roots lie to the east and south of our country, but two men whose distinguished careers are truly international in scope and achievement and influence.

John Dixon is an Englishman, and his early education at the Universities of Oxford and London imbued in him a deep respect and an abiding love for the language with which we celebrate this festive and ceremonial occasion tonight. His entire working life has been dedicated to the service of the literature and the language of English, to teaching those of us who share his discipline how to discharge the hard and demanding task of teaching English to our students. Our language is the centre and core of our culture, and the quality of our civilization is directly and indirectly a reflection of the success (or lack of success) of teachers of English at all levels, from kindergarden to graduate school. The evidence is not always all that encouraging, and the work of educators such as John Dixon remains vital to our ultimate survival.

Some measure of the international range of his talents is a mere recital of the honours which have come his way in the last twenty years. He is an Honorary Citizen of the City of Winnipeg and an Honorary Fellow of the University of East Anglia. He has delivered keynote addresses to National Associations of Teachers of English in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Hawaii, and Canada. Indeed his first visit to New Brunswick was in 1969 when he was the keynote speaker for the second annual conference of the Canadian Council of Teachers of English held in Fredericton, and he returned in 1983 as Distinguished Lecturer in the Faculty of Education.

One who has had the pleasure of knowing him better and longer than I has written that his:

influence and understanding is based on
15 years of teaching experience in urban
schools of London, plus 17 years in teacher
education in Yorkshire; but his influence
has been achieved largely through his publications
and a series of lectures, institutes and workshops
that he has conducted throughout the world.

Twenty years ago he was the co-director of the First International Seminar on English Teaching held at Dartmouth College, USA, and out of his personal experiences at that conference grew his book Growth Through English, which remains today immensely influential and read by teachers of English on three continents; John Dixon is one of a handful of British teachers and researchers who during the last two decades has had immense influence in North America on curricula, textbooks and teaching methods. In Canada one sees this influence in the English Language Arts curricula of every province, including New Brunswick.

In speaking of his early years he has written:

In retrospect, I suppose it was an experience I share with many Canadians that set me on my path: going from a small farming village in Cumberland and a cloistered college ... to teach in two inner-city schools. The culture shock made me question again some of the orthodox assumptions about my subject and began a longer-term struggle to develop alternative structures for English.

The struggle still goes on and his most recent work - Writing Narrative and Beyond, of which he is co-author - is already proving a major help to those who are charged with attempts to promote and measure literacy in a world where language and its effective use seem not to be a major concern, or at the very least a task posing a daunting and demanding challenge. So it is that I am proud to present to you tonight, Mr. President, a man who has brought honour to all those who share his calling as a teacher and as a teacher of teachers, and a man whose high achievements command our admiration and respect.

Insignissime Praeses, amplissima Cancellaria, tota Universitas, praesento vobis JOHANNEM LESLIE DIXON ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum DOCTORIS IN LITTERIS in hac Universitate.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2