Moving beyond 'blame the teacher'

[n2doc]

The problem with schools isn't teachers; it's a management system that pushes them aside.

By Saul Rubinstein, Charles Heckscher and Paul Adler
September 16, 2011

Most of the current efforts to improve public education begin with the flawed assumption that the basic problem is teacher performance. This "blame the teacher" attitude has led to an emphasis on standardized tests, narrow teacher evaluation criteria, merit pay, erosion of tenure, privatization, vouchers and charter schools. The primary goal of these measures has been greater teacher accountability — as if the weaknesses of public education were due to an invasion of our classrooms by uncaring and incompetent teachers. That is the premise of the documentary, "Waiting for Superman," and of the attacks on teachers and their unions by politicians across the country.

We see distressing parallels between this approach to quality in education and the approaches that failed so badly in U.S. manufacturing. Recall the reaction of domestic manufacturers in the 1970s as Japanese competitors began to take market share: Many managers and an army of experts blamed American workers. They denounced workers' "blue-collar blues," lackadaisical attitudes and union job protections as the chief impediments to higher quality, productivity and competitiveness.

It took nearly two decades for manufacturers to realize that this diagnosis was deeply flawed and that the recommendations that flowed from it were leading U.S. industry further into decline. Recall the success of Japanese-run auto transplants operating in this country during the 1980s: They reached world-class quality levels with a U.S. workforce, in some cases a unionized workforce, while domestic auto companies continued to blame American workers and saw their quality levels stagnate.

Noticing the discrepancy, a growing number of manufacturers turned to the teachings of the quality guru W. Edwards Deming. Deming argued that U.S. industry's failure was not in its workers but in the system they labored under. He taught that pushing workers to work harder in a poorly designed system cannot improve outcomes. U.S. firms were being outcompeted because they relied on an outdated management system in which decisions were all top-down, tasks were narrowly specialized and workers were told to leave their brains at the factory door. To fix quality, manufacturers needed to fix these systems, and to do that, they needed to involve workers in that effort. Do those two things, and American workers were willing and able to achieve world-class levels of performance.

more
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-adler-teachers-20110916,0,2592824.story

[femmedem]

1. My biggest disagreement (only major disagreement) with a candidate I'm volunteering for

is over merit pay for teachers. I just forwarded this article to him. Thanks.

[mopinko]

2. no. blame the students came first. then blame the parents.

now it is, rightly, on teachers. i have no doubt that many "bad" teachers will go because they are disliked for no good reason by egomaniacal principals. but they will be largely, largely outnumbered by those that are flat out unfit.

[demtenjeep]

3. you have no earthly idea of what you are talking about

go somewhere else to attack teachers like that.

[mopinko]

4. i didn't attack anyone.

and that sort of reaction is unlikely to result in thoughtful discussion. like in the rules.

there are bad teachers. to pretend otherwise entrenches everything. evaluating teachers should be a given. the imperfection of the instruments is outweighed by the cost of doing nothing.
schools voting and volunteering to do a better job for their students are being called scabs here. i would think that would be considered an attack on teachers as well.

i specifically do not want to see deletions in this thread. so let us please try to have a meaningful discussion on this very important topic.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. No offense, but are you sure you read and understood this article?

>>>>There are bad teachers. to pretend otherwise entrenches everything. evaluating teachers should be a given. the imperfection of the instruments is outweighed by the cost of doing nothing.
schools voting and volunteering to do a better job for their students are being called scabs here. i would think that would be considered an attack on teachers as well. >>>>>>


None of these questions.... near as I can tell.... are addressed by the article being discussed.

It does not contend that there are no bad teachers.

It does not contend that teachers should not be evaluated.

It does not call *anyone* scabs.


It does question ... and call into doubt....fundamental premises of the school "reform" movement. ( It does this quite effectively, actually.) Why that should occasion a tsunami of non-sequitor counter arguments is a puzzler. For *me* anyway.

Perhaps you can explain.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. +1

[mopinko]

8. the tsunami was in reaction to the umpeenth time

commenting about teachers led to being accused of attacking teachers and to being told to leave.
i found it quite stunning, actually. it is pretty hard to engage in conversations out here on the board once you have this little grey man on your shoulder. so being put in a situation where i would respond differently without him is a little, well, flummoxing.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Long past due. Great article. nt