the norm: why traditional schools are as they are chapter 2 by: ariella luberto
TRANSCRIPT
The Norm: Why
Traditional Schools Are as They Are
Chapter 2
By: Ariella Luberto
The Culture of Schools
The concept of culture helps us reexamine schools as places of human community with peculiar histories and stories.Grasp the underlying values of the school as a work environment then…
Act to reshape the organization into a purposeful collection of individuals who believe that schools are for:
• Students• Learning• Improvement• Self- Protection• Complacency
(Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2010)
Beliefs and Expectations(One-Room
Schoolhouses) Traced to idyllic-looking, clapboard, one-room school houses of pioneer times
Teachers are responsible for: Total Instruction
Maintenance of the building
Keeping the stove filled with wood
Cleaning the floors
All that transpired within its four wallsAlthough the old one-room school is physically gone, it still holds a pervasive grip on the minds and actions of many teachers and schools today.
(Glickman et al., 2010)
A time when..
Collective action in a school was automatic
What the teacher wanted to do about curriculum and instruction was what the school did
Independence, isolation, and privatization prevailed
Each teacher saw his or her students, as his or her own school.
Discuss: Do you think this is a positive or negative mindset? Are beliefsand practices in the past, such as these, acceptable today? Why or why not?
(Glickman et al., 2010)
Characteristics of Today’s Education derived from the
One-Room Schoolhouse Isolation
Classrooms set up structurally in a way that teachers are difficult to supervise, do not receive feedback from others, and cannot work collaboratively
Communication amongst faculty is scarce (On the way to the classroom, Lunch, and leaving the building)
Lack of knowledge about what other teachers are doing in their classrooms
Adapting to this isolation can lead to psychological isolation. A teacher feelslimited to their classroom, their students, and their teaching. (Glickman et al., 2010)
Avoiding Psychological Encounters Teachers routinize classroom activity
Routinization of teaching: Allows the teacher to avoid conflict between being overwhelmed by the responsibility of a large number of students and neglecting the personal needs of individual students Ex: Listen to a 20 min presentation,
followed by 10 minute worksheet, then 20 minutes of seatwork
There is even a routine of the teaching career… (Glickman et al., 2010)
Daily Routine Be at school before students
Remain until they have departed
Specific times for recess and lunch
Time allocations for a subject
Assigned and responsible for a certain amount of students
Expected to remain physically in the classroom the entire day
Scheduled responsibilities for duties lunch, recess, and dismissal
Begins and dismisses each classTeachers must abide by these routines because “School goes on, studentskeep coming, the bells keep ringing, and teachers cannot make individualreadjustments of their professional time.”
(Glickman et al., 2010)
Inadequate Entrance to the Profession
Inadequate Resources
The useful materials are taken and the useless ones are left for the new teacher
Difficult Work Assignments Problem children/Lowest achieving assigned to newest teachers
Larger classes and more duties are given to beginners
Unclear Expectations Unaware of what is expected from them professionally
Sink-or-Swim Mentality “Trial by fire” – The idea that it’s only fair that you experience the
same trials and tribulations that veteran teachers once navigated
Reality Shock Having idealized visions of what teaching will be like, only to be
surprised that other contributing factors will destroy this vision(Glickman et al., 2010)
Inequity
Lower Income communities: Not provided the same
resources
In need of ill repair
Health and safety hazards
Large class sizes
Materials out of date or nonexistent
Shortchanged on human resources
Teachers:• Teaching outside their
fields• Relocate as soon as
possible
Students:• Placed in remedial tracks• Miss out on higher level
curriculum• No attempt to be
culturally/ethnically/racially understood
• Racism goes unacknowledged
(Glickman et al., 2010)
Unstaged Career
Education majors: Enroll in courses
Spend time in schools/Observe
Perform as student teacher
Graduate from College
Receive your own classroom
Discuss: In comparison to professions such as physicians and lawyers, are teachers adequately prepared for their career? (Glickman et al., 2010)
A lack there of,
Dialogue about Instruction Successful schools talk with one another in a problem-solving,
action-oriented way which is… Generated through faculty meetings, in-service workshops,
observations, conferences, the faculty lounge, and other informal occasions
More likely than not, time is not planned for this type of talk to occur
Lack of such dialogue is related to the one-room schoolhouse legacy, which accepts isolation, privacy, and lack of career stages
Involvement in School-wide Curriculum and Instructional Decisions Not expected to contribute experience, knowledge, or wisdom to
decisions about the common good of educating students
Shared Technical Culture Need to develop common purpose, expertise, and methods for
analyzing and solving problems How? BY TALKING! (Glickman et al., 2010)
A set of restricted, teacher-centered instructional methods
Emphasis on short-range goals
Satisfaction with successes with individual lessons, students, and projects
Reliance on personal experience rather than educational research
Narrow limits on the types and degree of collaboration
A reflexive resistance to curricular or instructional innovations
(Glickman et al., 2010)
Cultures within Cultures
Each school has cultural characteristics of its’ own.
Types of different cultures within a school:adult culture and student culture
These cultures may be based on:• Race• Socioeconomic status• Differences in gender• Sexual orientation• Religion
• Different academic departments• Different instructional teams• Age• Career stages
(Glickman et al., 2010)
Blaming the Victim and Structural Strain We cannot improve education by
legislating higher standards and higher stakes
The problems in this chapter remain largely unaddressed
The problems are aggravated by the external control brought about by legislated reform and diminishing ability of teachers to engage in professional decision makingOver all, either the work environment of schools must be
altered or we must accept that, regardless of extrinsic rewards, school are not the place for our best teachers and thinkers. What do you think? (Glickman et al., 2010)
References
Glickman, D, Gordon, S., Ross-Gordon, J. (2010). Supervision and
Instructional Leadership. 9th Edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.