The Norm

1. The Norm R. Martin Reardon’s summary of Chapter 2 Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P. & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2005), 15-29

2. Culture of Schools • Concept of culture helps us to focus on human community aspects • Are schools different? • What makes for different expectations in different schools? • Legacy of One-Room Schoolhouse • Teaching honorable but menial; poorly paid • Second only to the preacher in prestige • Independence, isolation • Privatization of teaching • Currently, repeated every few yards down a school corridor? • Research on norms of improving schools… • Do not isolate teachers • Encourage professional dialogue & collaboration • Teaching in effective schools is a collective enterprise Session 3: 8 slides

3. The way things are? • Isolation • Spatial scattering of teachers working at same time; in contrast to medicine, law • Classroom setup makes teaching difficult to supervise • Teacher will talk to only a few adults for short time per day; lack of knowledge of others teaching • Physical leads to psychological isolation; initially involuntary, but powerful; demise of open-space design • Psychological Dilemma & Frustration • Intense, incessant psychological environment; thousands of encounters each day in confined space • Extra pressure of increasing accountability • Intensification leads to routinization as coping mechanism • Enables avoidance of hundreds of individual decisions by factory production approach Session 3: 8 slides

4. The way things are? (ii) • Routine • Imposed by administrative policy • Immune to research e.g., on teen sleep cycles? • Start, end & break; class size; # of times/wk • Stay with students in class; tasks outside class • Entirely different from “profession” • Makes teaching neither terribly interesting nor exciting? • Inadequate induction • 46% of teachers leave within 5 years (Jan 17, 2006) • Only 15 states finance mentoring for new teachers (Jan 17, 2006) Session 3: 8 slides

5. The way things are? (iii) • Inadequate Resources • “Flight of the vultures” • Jockeying for best teaching space • Difficult Work Assignments: New teachers get… • Least interesting & most difficult courses • Larger classes & more duties • Unclear Expectations • Failure to socialize novice teachers • Video: One administrator sitting at front of class with 15 new teachers in desks in rows declaiming…but then asking for input • Sink-or-Swim Mentality • “trial by fire” for all neophytes? • “weeding out” weak teachers • Experienced teachers reluctant to help; new teacher reluctant to ask • Reality Shock • “collapse of the missionary ideals” in the face of “the harsh reality” Session 3: 8 slides

6. The way things are? (iv) • Effects of Environmental Difficulties • New teachers have more –ve attitudes about themselves, their teaching, their profession & students at the end than at beginning of their first year • Many of the most promising teachers are the ones who leave • Remainder develop • A survival mentality • Narrow set of teaching methods • Resistance to experimentation—which may become lasting • Unstaged Career • No transition years like other professions • Law: pass the bar; clerk/legal aide/junior member; writing & research that are credited to his/her superior; partner/public prosecutor/defender • Teaching: same classroom space after 20 years; same raises as every teacher • Only way “up” is “out of classroom” • Lack of Dialogue about Instruction • About 2 mins per day? Essential dimension of successful schools is missing? • Dialogue about teaching & learning; not just social talk • Instructional dialogue is not planned • Lack of dialogue makes public school unique as a work institution? Session 3: 8 slides

7. The way things are? (v) • Lack of Involvement in Curriculum & Instruction • Schools premised on having mature, competent adults, but treating them as children • Schools are impoverished intellectual climates for adults • Lack of a Shared Technical Culture • Isolation, lack of dialogue, inadequate induction, lack of involvement all contribute • Lortie (1975): • Absence of concrete models for emulation • Unclear lines of influence • Multiple & controversial criteria • Ambiguity about assessment timing • Instability in the product • Conservativism • A set of restricted, teacher-centered instructional models • Domination by teacher: frontal teaching, monitoring, seat work, conducting quizzes • Short-term v long-term instructional goals • Success of individual lessons/students/projects v continuous growth for all • Reliance on personal experience v research • Narrow limits on types & degree of collegiality & collaboration • Reflexive resistance to curricular or instructional innovations Session 3: 8 slides

8. Structural Strain • Blame educators for low academic achievement (e.g. Nation at Risk, 1983) • Realization that public education is in trouble not accompanied by more resources… • instead, more regulation, control, monitoring • Wise (1988): “legislated learning” • State-mandated curriculum; high-stakes tests • All of this takes a toll on teachers • High-stakes testing lowers student motivation • What is needed is a change in the work environment v continuing to blame teachers • Larger cultural influences • Public policies • Children in poverty (Clinton’s “promise”) • Underfunded schools • Poor quality child-care • Inadequate funding for special accommodations • Beyond policy • Seeking an end to racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, religious prejudice, etc. • Short-term hope? School will become oases of equity & social justice • Long-term? School will become society’s primary vehicle for developing a more democratic & just society Session 3: 8 slides