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Tag Archives: teacher motivation
School Reform: Once Again A Tale of Teacher Power
Summary: Amid the relative merits of “direct instruction” and “inquiry” approaches to curriculum, a narrative emerges that suggests teacher empowerment may be the more important variable. In the ongoing assault on school dysfunction, debate rages between those who advocate “direct … Continue reading
Charter Schools and the Selling of Short Term Teachers
Summary: How is it that young charter teachers achieve results comparable to their more experienced traditional public school brethren, and why do so many in both camps leave teaching so prematurely? Whether or not any charter iteration creates a … Continue reading
School Reform: Teacher Entrepreneurs Need Not Apply
Summary: Innovation and entrepreneurship by teachers tend to be dead on arrival because of a broader school culture which favors hierarchical directives. How are teachers to be established as the cornerstone player in a decentralized school culture, as I argue … Continue reading
Posted in School Bureaucracy, School Reform
Tagged administrative style, communication in schools, empowering teachers, entrepreneurship and teachers, flat oranizations, innovation in schools, school administrator training, school reform, teacher morale, teacher motivation, teacher professionalism
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School Reform: The Finnish Reinvention of Teaching — A Tale of Revolution in Culture
Summary: A central feature in the successful reform of Finnish schools has been the placement of teachers at center stage, as professionals on a social par with doctors and lawyers, and with autonomous responsibility for the academic growth of their … Continue reading
Schools and Politics: Charters Schools and Teachers’ Unions
Summary: Last week, as part of a discussion of charter schools, I cited the Harlem’s Children Zone as an umbrella project that has changed the “context” of associated schools, and thereby the expectations of students and the realities from which … Continue reading
Schools and Culture: The Wearing Down of Teacher, Part B
Summary: Last post I reacted to news that 46% of teachers leave the profession in their first five years, and suggested some of the reason has to do with ills in the culture, ills that create students too little connected … Continue reading
Schools and Bureaucracy: Reflections on Survival and Other Personal Idiosyncrasies: Part C
Summary: Being the last installment of a series of reflections on long term survival in the belly of the educational beast.….. Despite the relentless bureaucratic monolith, pockets of encouragement and support for individual vision occur, which have helped my longevity. … Continue reading
Schools and Bureaucracy: Reflections on Survival and Other Personal Indiosyncrasies — Part B
Summary: Continuing reflections on survival during a career in schools. Another benefit of working in schools snuck up on me, and was particularly accentuated by a growing love of mountaineering and the birth of my children. School vacations are rather … Continue reading
Schools and Bureaucracy: Reflections on Survival and Other Personal Idiosyncrasies (Part A)
To summarize, the topic of the moment, derived from my just previous post, is a reflection on my survival over years of career in high school without escape, first as an English teacher, then as a counselor. How have I … Continue reading
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