Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 18, 2011 Page: 52
79 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
(institutional and instructional),
grouping patterns of professionals
(multiple affiliation), and space
(both physical and virtual) (Jacobs,
2010). We understand that it is
going to take many long and hard
years to begin to change these pil-
lars of education, but we believe
public education must begin to
address these issues for the better-
ment of our future and the future
of our students.
Before I conclude this article, I
want to leave you with a point of
thought in an attempt to start a dis-
cussion or dialog concerning the
pillars. Here's my analogy. A
well respected financial advisor
approaches you and begins to tell
you about this company in hopes
that you agree to invest. This com-
pany has been in business for over
100 years and is very reputable.
This company has a very solid fi-
nancial situation because it is
backed by guaranteed government
money. In fact, this company has
never defaulted on any loans nor
failed to make any payment. How-
ever, this company has never
changed its business structure or
philosophy since the day it opened
in 1892. They operate under that
old saying, "This is how we have
always done business, so why
change now?" Moreover, one out
of every six items produced by this
company fails to meet the mini-
mum quality standard, and client
satisfaction rating is even worse.
In the past recent decades, the
amount of expenditures has steadi-
ly increased, but quality of the
product being produced has not
changes. At times in the past, this
company's employees have asked
for changes and some changes
were made. But they were only
fads that lasted long enough to si-
lence the unreasonable employeeso the company could get back to
business as usual. So, do you in-
vest? Or do you pass?
If you have not figured it out by
now, our business (yours and
mine) is public education. We still
operate on a system that was de-
veloped in 1892, based on the rec-
ommendation of the Committee of
Ten. The system was designed to
fulfill the needs of the emerging
industrial age. If you look closely,
much of the public school's opera-
tions have an appearance of a fac-
tory assembly line. A product, the
student, moves from one station, a
grade level, to the next station re-
ceiving a part, knowledge, from a
worker, the teacher, until the prod-
uct is fully assembled thirteen
years later. The problem with this
situation is that children are unique
individuals that need individual
parts to be assembled correctly,
but the assembly line mentality of
education keeps on giving them
the same old part that was de-
signed in 1892. So, do you invest
in a long standing tradition or do
you join the discussion/dialog on
the need to restructure public edu-
cation to truly fulfill the demands
for educating the children of the
emerging technology age and be-
yond?
References
Brookhart, S. M. (2010). Assess
higher-order Ttnking skills in
your classroom. Alexandria,
VA: Association of Supervision
and Curriculum Development.
Dufour, R., Eaker, R., & Dufour,
R. (2005). On common ground:
The power of professional learn-
ing communities. Bloomington,
IN: National Education Service.If you have not figured it
out by now, our business
(yours and mine) is
public education.52
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 18, 2011, periodical, 2011; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201694/m1/56/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.