Vicki Caruana, Bill Ferriter, and others at the Teacher Leaders Network (among an increasing number of other online education communities) do a good job of describing teachers’ interests, sentiments, and concerns. Together, they reach out to industry and public policy makers in order to influence product and policy decisions that may affect school students. I think most people support that effort and wish them well.
As a business person and a teacher, several things come to mind about why teachers and industry deciders talk past, rather than with each other, even when speaking face-to-face.
In short, educators and industrialists use different logic for assembling similar words. Using their own views, neither considers the other credible for making decisions that will affect their interests.
Business people expect little or no return on their investment in the conversation. Teachers expect business people “to understand” and help make their job easier to do what teachers think they should do, whether or not business people agree with teachers.
This situation appears to have produced an uneasy isolation that sometimes turns into a spitting contest and less frequently into cooperation. That said, business contributes about $2.5 billion a year to schools in the US and schools receive about $35 billion a year from public sources, about the sixth(?) largest public “budget” in the world (depending on who counts what).
In the spirit of comity, I want to list a business person’s view of teachers and education as a counterpoint to those posted by teachers and our supporters. I trust that teachers will consider that business people hold such ideas as sincerely and firmly as teachers hold theirs.
This list reflects a middle road, velvet glove description of what I’ve seen and heard reasonable, key business people say about teachers and schools. You’ve heard or read about these ideas spoken in public forums using more politically correct terms. Adding counterpoint testimonials from other business people does not negate or balance the relevance of this list.
I think all teachers know these ideas. I urge each of us to consider them in order to tap the vast resources of industry to help resolve school issues of importance to our students.
1. Get real, Teachers. Show me something I don’t already know about schools and their relationships to other parts of the world. Then, we may have something to talk about.
2. Don’t bring me your problems. Any fool can criticize. Bring me your solutions. Show me what you’ve accomplished with what you have, so I know how much credibility to assign to your words.
3. Education does not mean the same thing as schooling. Take care of school and education will come along. That’s what you’re paid to do.
4. The context of schooling changed in 2002 with the introduction of the Tablet PC, probably not to return to any earlier context. The impact of this change will likely have more profound influences on what teachers do than any previous political or other action since the creation of the printing press and telephone.
5. Teachers now compete with a mass market of learning on demand. That is, almost anyone has the ability to go online and learn whatever they decide, when they decide to do so, and to whatever criteria each person sets for learning. Show me how you have changed your classroom actions to compete with or complement that reality?
6. A geometric increase has occurred each of the last several years among public school administrators in moving to one-on-one learning in classrooms, as underway for example in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and lead by smaller schools in this country and countrywide schools in Asia.
7. Initiate something new in your school promptly to fix what you think is a problem. Measure the results. Then, tell me what learning increases you accomplished. Refine what you did. Redo it. Then, refine it again, etc. Figure out a way to do so within whatever rules you have in your school. There’s always a way to do so. If you wait for someone else to go first, then you’ll be behind. Remember, when chased by a lion, always make sure you run away with someone slower than yourself.
8. Above all, don’t believe your own press releases. While you’re as good as your last performance, someone else wants your place on your stage, and might take it from you unless you improve over last time.
That’s a big load, but it’s just an opening of what we as teachers can address to persuade others of our many good contributions we make daily to schooling.
First, though, those who decide to work with rather than against such business sentiments will find student learning increasing faster than students in other classes. That’s OK. So far, each teacher can decide what results they want for their students. Yep, I think so. Y’all come back, ya’ hear!
I’ll stop for now.
In repsonse to point #5: Show me how you have changed your classroom actions to compete with or complement the reality that we live in an education on-demand world. This was obvious to me – an observant and reflective practioner. I asked myself “What does a classroom offer that is not available to my students online?” My answer was “a real time interaction with peers who are struggling with the same curricular questions and tough questions that must be explored.” Therefore my classroom has been restructured to reflect that (small groups, socratic seminars, writing to time constraints that asks students to grapple with large themes.)Changing my classroom culture came from years of professional development courses, observing students, learning from my peers, reading, etc. Though it is true that students have a great deal of information at their fingertips through technology, they can travel a very narrow road when getting an education on demand. What a classroom can offer with a reliable guide is the opportunity to confront ideas that may or may not be palatable but which need to be heard, read, considered before a judgement is passed. I shudder to think what every child might consider adequate in an on demand education. Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect, blamed his willingess to go along with the regime on an incomplete and narrow education that focused only on math and science. http://www.flakmag.com/books/speer.html He was, as his critics note, uncritical.In addition to that, professional teachers already do what you suggest (#5): initiate, test, consider growth, readjust, etc. Our recent Silent Sustained Reading program went through just such a rigorous evaluation in its first year. I have to add that this teacher initiated program would not have had all the pre and post testing in place had we not had a very tenacious, experienced reading specialist with both the time and the expertise to find the testing vehicles and locate the funding to do the school wide testing – all independent of any outside help. Not every school has the luxury of someone with this kind of time. She will be refining the program this year, if she doesn’t quit her job and go into sales full time as she has threatened.I would like to note that all these attempts to behave in a professional manner do not come without some struggle on the part of the teacher. We’re easier to manage, in the buiness sense, if we simply do what we are told. Holding ourselves and others accountable to effective practice often subjects a teacher to the frustrating and demeaning language borrowed from the business world: “Not a team player.” Just as in some corporations, sticking your head up can mean having it chopped off.Point #4 is a bit self-serving. Advertising for your business?
pjjOK, Robert, I’ll bite. First of all, you can check my own track record on my web site here: http://tlc.ousd.k12.ca.us/~acody/lessons.htmlI taught science, math and technology in an urban middle school in Oakland, California, for 18 years, and am now working as a coach for science teachers in my district, helping them do more hands-on science, and conduct inquiry into effective practices in their classrooms. Now, to get to your assertions and advice. In your preamble, you state that “Business people expect little or no return on their investment in the conversation.“ That has not been my experience. It seems to me that business people often have an agenda when they enter dialogue with educators. It may be a very broad one – they are fearful of global competition – see the Nation at Risk report in 1983. Or they may be entrepreneurs interested in the wider use of tablet PCs, as seems to be the case with you. But to say that business leaders expect no return on their investments seems to fly in the face of what we know about how such people operate in this world. You go on to say that schools changed with the introduction of the tablet PC. Well, that may have changed some schools, but those of us teaching in Oakland are still puttering along with maybe one or two computers in the classroom, and we do not have tablet pcs for any, let alone every student. You assert that “ …almost anyone has the ability to go online and learn whatever they decide, when they decide to do so, and to whatever criteria each person sets for learning.” That has not been my experience teaching my 6th graders in Oakland. Most of them do have the ability to go online, but what they seem interested in learning about are the latest video games and rap artists. I think teachers have a critical role to play in setting challenges for students and building their skills to meet them, and online resources are just one element to be developed. You suggest: “Initiate something new in your school promptly, measure the results, then tell me what learning increases you accomplished.” This is a great piece of advice. I am working on a new project in my district called POSIT. You can check it out at http://www.projectposit.org. We are working with 67 teachers grades 4 to 8, and each of them will be doing a teacher action research project in the coming school year along the lines you suggest. We will be sharing their projects online. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with teachers, and was glad to find at least one with which I could heartily agree. I do not expect business folks to simply make my job easier without understanding my goals and methods. But I think teachers have an expertise in working with children, and in working within the school system, that is sometimes trivialized or downplayed by business folks who feel their “real world” experience trumps all. Nobody in this dialogue has all the answers, but we can always learn from the perspectives of others. Anthony CodyOakland, California
Bob wrote (as a surrogate for business leaders, if that’s possible): “Teachers now compete with a mass market of learning on demand.”The key word is “demand.” Who creates the urge to learn? Business and the Internet may lead the horse to water, but expert teachers convince him and her to drink. And help the horse make good drinking choices.
While reading this post, I realized I did not clarify sources of my abstracts. I’ll not cite names, some of which you would recognize (they speak for themselves and don’t need any promotion from me), others you likely would not know. Most of these ideas came from senior people found in companies traded on the New York (or an Asian) Stock Exchange; executives in government; and top ranked atheletes, educators, and entrepreneurs. Their industries include agribusiness, food processing, airlines, print and electronic programming and publishing, electronic hardware manufacturing and distribution, insurance, construction, arts, … Most have have at least some college registration, but say they taught themselves how to get where they are. They’re school friendly to the point that they encourage others to attend, but do not see schools as having helped them markedly accomplish what they have. Does this mean they succeeded beyond, or in spite of their teachers’ expectations? I think someone should formulate this question into a worthy dissertation study in ed leadership.
Thanks, Mary, Anthony, and Anonymous, for your thoughtful comments. They read as though each of you has likely contributed importantly to student learning. As a teacher, I think we share a common understanding of how and why that happens. Mucho kudos to each of you and your colleagues. I don’t the source of Anonymous’s inference that teachers individually or in association should make choices about what’s appropriate for a student to learn, regardless of experience, credentials or degrees held. I understand that Anonymous reflects popular rhetoric of incumbent teachers. The historic mission of a school has been to make what is known by one generation available to those who do not know it. No one can “larn ’em,” and no teacher has the right to force-feed or manipulate the person to learn. Historic and contemporary rhetoric do not necessarily fit together. It’s interesting and not surprising to learn that you have found business people working with teachers when they decide to do so. I, too, hope they have helped student learning. They have contributed about $2.5B to schools annually. But that doesn’t mean they don’t talk in code with and about us. As you’ve likely guessed, my list is simply an early effort to decode and abstract that talk, so we may decide what each of us will do about their thinking in order to assist students further. I share these abstracts, because I know teachers who have not had access to some of the senior decision makers I’ve come across. I’m guessing, as I think you are too, that we have more we can do, and not all of it will follow existing school channels. Right? Did I address your points? (I hope readers will link over to the sites you offered.)
You state: “The context of schooling changed in 2002 with the introduction of the Tablet PC, probably not to return to any earlier context. The impact of this change will likely have more profound influences on what teachers do than any previous political or other action since the creation of the printing press and telephone.”Renee Moore, NBCTTeacher Leader NetworkWhile this prophecy may manifest itself later, it’s more of a marketer (or educational consultant’s) sales dream. The same prediction was made when computers were first introduced to schools. Much public and private money has gone into the purchase of hardware, software, infrastructure…much less has gone into the development of the people who are to use these technologies. Hence situations such as Anthony’s in Oakland or mine here in the Mississippi Delta where we actually have an abundance of computers within the schools (the majority of our students still do not have access to computers or Internet outside of school), but their impact on student learning has been woefully short of their advertised claims. Where is the concommitant investment into the preparation, training, and development of the most crucial factor of all: the teachers?
Good points, Amy and Renee, as follow-ups to Mary, Anthony, and Anonymous. You clearly, concisely, and thoughtfully describe what I also understand many teachers think and say about classroom situations, learning, and accountability. That said, business people and other senior decision makers I described see these same school situations differently. Many of them can recite situations as you have. Then, they say, in effect, “So, what have you done with what you have to increase student learning promptly in spite of these conditions? Show me your results, so I know how much credibility to give your ideas and suggestions.” That’s a difficult position for us as teachers. It contrasts with what some consider dominant classroom teacher thinking about learning. I expect that you know that business talk assumes that learning is, in part at least, a predictable, mechanical process. And, databased classroom programs based on experimental controlled empirical research studies supports that predictability. Business people don’t care what procedures teachers use. They want more results from the same resources we use, irrespective of what we think are barriers to those increases. In that sense, yes, Amy, schooling can be seen as a production issue. So what, they argue? The tough decoded logic used about mobile PCs in schools, Renee, goes like this: Desktop and mobile PCs exist and will likely continue in schools. Schooling will change, because of these communication devices. Teachers must get themselves up to speed, if they want to increase their students’ learning beyond what exists now. Others will help, but each teacher has responsibility to get herself or himself up to an expected increasing rate of schooling changes. Other teachers in and out of the US are making these changes. US public school teachers should also. In reality, I expect the transition to one-on-one teaching with mobile PCs will take a decade or so in many schools, and an unknown percentage of teacher turnover. What constitutes classroom teaching will likely change. Digital Natives are starting to enter teacher prep programs. These programs will change at an unknown rate. Major prep programs are moving rapidly toward ways of handling ubiquitous communications in and out of schools in order to increase student learning. Perhaps DNs will have a different interest in using PCs in classrooms as they replace retiring teachers. Does any of this make sense? Thanks again for your efforts. Teachers’s thoughtful efforts bring honor to students we serve.
I think your points all spring from a belief that technology (and who really knows exactly what defines the parameters of technology???) should have reformed education and it didn’t. Further that the failure was because teachers didn’t utilize it appropriately. It also seemed like your points all were asking…so what are you going to do to deliver the “product” in a technology-efficient manner which will undoubtedly show greater student learning gains.I agree that we are in the midst of another crossroads as technology morphs and taking all of us (those in school and in the business place) to places we’d never dreamed of going. I think it is a new kind of silver bullet “hope” that we all long for and see in our future. I think many of the things in which you are interested are addressed by CoSN’s work http://www.cosn.org/ in defining what school computing should look like and how we can maximize the return on our investment.I offer this idea to contrast with your points…I do not believe that technology is the end goal.Simply using it doesn’t guarantee the outcomes you mentioned as being important to business. But as an important component and when directly tied to curriculum/instructional targets, a well trained teacher can amplify learning to be sure. For example, I have looked at much of the programmed learning software available for middle school math students….it’s boring and repetitive. They hate it. It doesn’t engage the learner by merely repeated practice and drill. Contrast that with an accomplished teacher utilizing a virtual manipulative website, an interactive whiteboard and feedback devices to help students investigate, through experimentation, probability. It is the power of the interaction between teacher, student and technology that is what you’re after I think. Can these tools be powerful if used in concert with expert knowledge about student needs? You bet. Just as I don’t think it is the scalpel that performs the surgery…it is the effective tool in the hand of the experienced, expert surgeon that finds success for the patient.One might argue that most businesses have a much larger total cost of ownership for each piece of hardware they deploy than schools…including a wider array of support personnel and training. Do you have any knowledge if most districts meet the goal of providing 30% of the cost of the original investment in training??? I don’t and can only offer my observation of my own district and nearby districts where training budgets do not. You asked for solutions, not a recitation of problems….so I’d advocate for schools thinking through not only their purchase plans, but their implementation/evaluation policies, and setting aside larger training budgets/support budgets. I don’t think I mean you have to spend more money…it just needs to be distributed in a different way. Buy less, train users how to really use it, hire people to support it/fix it when it breaks and know how you’re going to decide if it worked or not BEFORE you buy any piece of hardware/software…and I’ll bet you’ll have a much more effective disposition of technology resources. I’ll bet you’ll leverage that technology in many of the ways that I think you yearn for and the business people you mentioned expect.
I would like to respond to the following point, “A geometric increase has occurred each of the last several years among public school administrators in moving to one-on-one learning in classrooms.”In Maine, four years ago, we have moved to a one-on-one learning environment in our 6th through 9th grade classrooms. When we first started this project, many (business leaders, school administrators, policy leaders and consultants) naively thought all that was required was to place the laptops in the hands of children, provide them web access and their learning would soar. Guess what? It did not, and no number of outside consultants could bring up the students’ achievement. Want to know what did? Students making significant relationships with the teachers in their classrooms. Bringing back teachers who had been laid off and making classess smaller so that significant, personal relationships could be developed. Both teacher performance and student performance increased significantly when the focus was on the culture and relationships and not on the tools and software. These stronger relationships allowed for a renewed focus on learning that focused beyond state tests. This fall with the full support of our business community here in Maine, we are rolling out one-to-one laptops at the highschool level. Both our classroom professionals and our business leaders agreed, focus on the relationship more than on the laptop. It is only a tool. If used strategically with good teaching and caring relationships in place learning will flourish.
More good points, Marsh and Ellen. We appear to agree that teachers can and sometimes do address schooling as key business people expect. Kudos to you. And thanks for describing what you do and have seen, so others can follow up with you for more information. In case this is of interest, I do not remember meeting any business person who expects computers or any other equipment or procedure to fix any school issue immediately or in the future. Nor do I remember hearing anyone “blame” teachers for what students don’t learn. Business people accept the world as imperfect and likely to remain that way. We calculate likelihoods of risks, benefits, etc. That’s how businesses operate or they close. We expect that some teachers will make major efforts to increase student learning while others will not. We leave these decisions to teachers, and look for results in changes of student learning rates. In turn, business people will probably continue to create ways to compete with teachers for increasing student learning rates, regardless of what teachers do. Does that make sense?