Organizing Schools for Productive Learning

ISBN-13: 9781402083945 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 112 str.

Shlomo Sharan; Ivy Geok-Chin Tan

Opis

A major problem confronting schools is that many students are turned off from learning and are bored. Boredom is destructive of learning. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative of the US government (2001) stemmed from the claim accompanied by sharp debates pro and con that many schools in the United States fail to achieve basic educational objectives, and that many schools are doing a poor job for a wide variety of reasons and surely not just because of student boredom (Brigham, Gustashaw, Wiley, & Brigham, 2004; Essex, 2006; Goodman, Shannon, Goodman, & Rapoport, 2004; Sunderman, Tracey Jr., Kim, & Orfield, 2004). The model of school organization and instruction presented here seeks to provide an effective plan for significant improvement in secondary school education, one of whose central aims is to make students genuinely engaged in what they are learning. The NCLB legislation emphasizes, inter alia, the need for school improvement. Without it one cannot reasonably anticipate improvement over current levels in student engagement in learning and in academic achievement. The NCLB literature frequently employs the term school improvement to refer to the quality of the teachers, such as their academic credentials, instructional competence, and their knowledge of subject matter. Similarly, school restructuring is said to include steps such as transforming the school into a charter school, replacing the teaching staff, or inviting a private company to administer the school. The use of those terms in this work is distinctly different."

Spis treści

LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Introduction Students are bored in school Why the boredom? The road to productive learning in school Chapter 1 Two Models of School Structure Structural change: necessary but not sufficient Organizational regularities in school 1. The one-by-one formula The 'one-by-one' formula and the hierarchical nature of bureaucracy A hard-nosed view of the one-by-one concept 2. The greater than one formula A policy of instructional coherence The discipline oriented organization of schools Human organization is contrived What structure cannot do for teachers School organization and teaching practices: a summary of our goals Chapter 2 The School as a Community; the School in the Community Part 1: The school as a community School organization and community Communities and other enterprises The goals of the school as a community Community and academic disciplines Qualities of leadership Part 2: The school in the community The community as a site for learning Chapter 3 Student Engagement in Learning A cognitive-affective concept Engagement and the learning environment Engagement and students’ conceptions of learning Meaning and student autonomy Chapter 4 Class Size and School Size What is a large class? Teaching methods omitted from studies of class size Does class size inhibit innovation? School size Chapter 5 The Integrated Curriculum The fusion of academic disciplines The problem of relevance The problem of integration Chapter 6 Duration of Class Sessions and the Problem of Teaching Method The anticipated demise of the 50-minute hour Alternative teachingmethods and the 50-minute hour More alternative schedules Extensive and intensive study projects How schedule reform affects teaching: some research Teachers’ evaluations Results regarding students Some conclusions Chapter 7 Student Assessment Assessment as testing Alternative assessment Summative and formative assessment More alternative approaches to assessment Chapter 8 A Systems Approach to Organization and Instruction in Schools Systems integrate, bureaucracies separate A system is not a collection Classrooms as social systems Can schools adopt new principles of organization? References

Blurb

This book offers an alternative approach to secondary school organization. In line with the definition formulated by John Dewey's philosophy of education, the new approach aims to promote productive learning. The book shows the way to extricate schools from their past in order to respond more successfully to the requirements of the information age in which we are living today.

The chapters treat the primary components of teachers' work in schools in light of systems' theory as opposed to the organization of instruction prevalent in today's schools that is designed in light of bureaucratic theory. The book demonstrates how the current principles of organization impede the change and improvement of instruction and by necessity create boredom and the routinization of teachers' and students' activity in schools.