Articles
Note: This page contains all of the articles that were on the older website, but the links are now consolidated into a single page.
The following links lead to articles on topics related to teacher thinking and its influence on education. A brief description suggests the main thrust of each article. Information from other pages may be repeated in a few of these articles. Many articles are available in printer-friendly format. Note: This page contains all of the articles that were on the older website.
Teachers are constantly bombarded with shoulds—what they should teach, how they should teach, how they should assess learning, how they should deal with disciplinary issues... If we "should," why don't we?
What are beliefs? How do they differ from facts? And why is it so difficult to distinguish between the two in everyday thinking?
In the hierarchy of education, Knowledge is king. But is Knowledge something that teachers can "give" their students?
"Just open up their heads and pour it in?" How do people really learn?
Conventional Wisdom and Thought Viruses
Many of the statements made in education are generalizations that have long since lost their context and are only "partly true." They become "thought viruses" that pretend to be facts, but are anything but.
My classroom is a zoo! I don't have time? We have to cover this topic today. Metaphors such as these have a profound affect on teachers' perceptions and behaviors.
Education means... Ask anyone involved in education to complete that sentence and chances are each one will complete it in a different way. There is no generally agreed upon definition of education! Is it any wonder that efforts to reform education have come up short when there's no consensus about what the purpose of education is in the first place?
Why does a teacher claim to want students to take responsibility for their learning, but then define every action in the classroom? What role do personal values play in teacher behavior?
Teachers education institutions are required by NCATE to assess the "dispositions" of prospective teachers. What are dispositions and can they be realistically assessed?
Many of the typical statements made by teachers and administrators when speaking of teaching, learning, and other factors of education are beliefs, not facts. They are repeated so often that people assume them to be true—even when they are only true in some contexts. Because they "infect" the minds of the listener, these commonly held beliefs are called "thought viruses." Decisions based on these thought viruses are often ineffective or even detrimental to learning.
You won't find much disagreement if you say that the purpose of school is to educate children! The appearance of agreement may be comforting, but it is nebulous at best. The same is true of our assumption that people hold the same meanings for words such as understand, teach, learn, and knowledge.
The brain comes into existence seeking out patterns—categories—in our environment. Later, the patterns/categories are labeled in words to simplify storing and communicating distinctions. Eventaully, catogorizing goes on automatic pilot and becomes mindless.Schools are hotbeds of categorization—labeling. Honors, gifted, remedial, BD,ADD, differently-abled, overachievers, underachievers... Worse, because many educators tend to focus on what needs to be "fixed" in a student, rather than on what already works well, those categories often force teachers into negative perceptions. Mindfully choosing the labels you apply to others is one way to create major changes in yourself and the world in which you live and work.
The Traditional Hierarchy in Education
The focus in many reform efforts remains the more efficient identification, packaging, and transmission of that knowledge even when the supposed objective of the reform is the more effective education of students.
Dichotomies are a favorite device in education. Constructivists battle objectivists, humanists battle intellectuals, standards battle in-depth learning. The military metaphor dominates the language of education. Ideas are seen as ammunition to shoot down the opposition. Researchers and educational experts are the generals in this theoretical battle to win the support of teachers. What if we changed the metaphor? What if we tossed aside the dichotomies? What if we saw educational theories as a garden of resources from which people might choose depending on the circumstances? Or a toolbox filled with an assortment of tools for different purposes?
A key proposition of many standards-based reform programs is that by raising standards to high levels for all students, teacher's expectations will also rise. Disadvantaged students who have previously been 'left behind' because of those low expectations will be given equal educational opportunities. Is that proposition valid? Is there a direct relationship between standards and expectations?
Teacher quality has become a priority in both government and other educational reform efforts for several reasons. How are theorists and reformers addressing the issue of identifying effective teachers? How are they approaching the problem of teachers who are inadequately prepared? How does the factory metaphor limit the kinds of professional development provided for teachers?
Educators spend a tremendous amount of time arguing about who is right and who is wrong. Which theory, which methods, which form of assessment is the "best." It's time to stop wasting our time in futile arguments that no one can win. Each argument contains some truth. Few arguments are true in all contexts. Let's adopt the attitude that there's something of value in each of these arguments and adopt a multiple perspective approach to decision making.
Hidden Elements in a Curriculum
The "official" curriculum of a school is just the tip of the iceberg. Learn about the hidden components in the curriculum, such as the taught, learned, tested, implicit, explicit, and null curricula.
This article discusses teachers' feelings of powerlessness. Includes ways to stop giving away your power, a survey that demonstrates how completely the influence of teachers is ignored on some fronts, and suggestions for reclaiming your power by "thinking mosquito!"
The Many Faces of Character Education
This article presents various views of character education and warns against allowing "glittering generalities" and emotional appeals prevent us from asking the tough questions. Suggestions for creating a "character-building" environment are included.
Presuppositions of the No Child Left Behind Education Act
The provisions of the No Child Left Behind Education Act demand that research-based programs be used in teaching children. To what extent is the act itself "research-based"? How valid are the assumptions it makes about students?
NCLB: Equal Opportunity or Uniformity?
A striking example of why NCLB fails to meet the needs of all students.
Textbooks in the Age of Standards
This article describes how state adoption committees, state standards, and the proliferation of what students should "know and be able to do" have influenced textbook design. Unwarranted beliefs of publishing companies and the lack of research support for present designs are also discussed.
Series on Transforming Schools
Reforming or Transforming Schools
This article is the first in the series on Transforming Education. It explores factors that prevent reform efforts from being effective and discusses the difference between reforming and transforming education. Why transformation is essential, what it entails, and how educators may move toward it are included.
Part 2: How Metaphors Influence Reform and
Transformation
This is the second in a series on Transforming Education. The article examines three metaphors of schools, including school as culture, school as community, and school as hospital. The way in which the inherent logic of a metaphor enables and inhibits perceptions is discussed.
Part 3: School as
Factory: the Greatest Barrier to Transformation
The third in a series on Transforming Education, this article examines the "school as factory" metaphor and its profound effect on the language and organization of schools.
The article contrasts the school as factory metaphor with the school as organism metaphor and examines how metaphors that conceptualize schools (and students) as living things offer more appropriate insights into the education of students.
Part 5: Transforming Education: One Teacher at a Time
This is the fifth in a series on Transforming Education. The article suggests that the transformation of a culture comes about when the individuals within it transform. This transformation is a matter of personal choice. Education can be transformed when teachers choose to take their role as legitimate leaders and experts.
Part 6: Why Transform Education?
Before exploring how educators can begin to transform education, we reexamine why that transformation is so important and why failure to do so is unthinkable.
Part 7: A Shift of Perspective
We look once again at the historical basis of public education in America and why it is inconsistent with the present push for "equal opportunities" for all students. Equal opportunities will not exist until the unique abilities of all students are acknowledged and addressed.
Part 8: Transforming Education: The First Steps
The final article in the series discusses the importance of beginning a true transformation by involving all segments of society. A process used in Scotland is used as a model for the kinds of questions we might ask.
From Other Sources
How Teacher Thinking Shapes Education (Johns Hopkins University School of Education)