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.