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Solving the Real Crisis in EducationLeadership for Powerful schools, powerful

purpose

Presentation to the Georgia Association of Educational LeadersAtlanta, GeorgiaFebruary 4, 2008

Carl Glickman Scholar in ResidenceProgram in Education Administration and Policy

The University of Georgia, AthensCarlglickman@aol.com

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The Context of

Education and Democracy

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The Idea

If learning were to occur through purposeful activity, participation, and assessment, students would become knowledgeable, wise, and self reliant. Then, as adults they would be wise,

inquisitive, problem solving citizens of the larger society.

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Civic Indicators

• Trust in one another has steadily declined over the last 30 years.

• Memberships in civic and religious groups continue to drop.

• People are less connected to family and friends.

• More Americans are living alone.

• People are less well informed about public affairs.

• Trust in key institutions have been largely on the decline. (America’s Civic Health, 2006, p.10 )

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• Americans have withdrawn from… their communities (in) tackling issues of common concern….

• In 1975, most college graduates (58%) had worked on a community project within the last year.

• By 2005, that proportion had been cut to 35%- a 40 % drop.

• For those without high school degrees, the decline was from 32 % to 15% a drop of almost 55%.

(America’s Civic Health, 2006)

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Essential Questions and the

Challenge for Educators

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The Challenge of Democracy,

Government, and Schools

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The Challenge of Identity,

Categories, and Groups

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A person can be

a British citizen, of Malaysian origin, with Chinese racial characteristics, a stockbroker, a non vegetarian, an asthmatic, a linguist, a body builder, a poet, an opponent of abortion, a bird watcher, an astrologer, and one who believes that God created Darwin to test the gullible.

(Sen, 2006)

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The Challenge of Diversity

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Inhabitants of diverse communities

• tend to withdraw from collective life, • tend to distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color

of their skin, • tend to withdraw even from close friends,• tend to expect the worst from their community and its

leaders, • tend to volunteer less, to give less for charity, and work

on community projects less often,• tend to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform

more, but have less faith that they can actually make a difference … (Putnam, 2007)

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Interlude: what is he saying, how does it relate to you?

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1. Making classrooms intellectually interesting

places for students

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Exam question number one:

How do you ensure that classroom teaching promotes intellectual interest for all students?

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2. Making schools intellectually interesting

places for adults

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Exam question number two:

Since apathy, attrition, and “burned out” teaching is correlated with lack of interest, how might one change professional development programs, faculty meetings, and other gatherings of faculty to spark greater interest in work?

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3. Defining citizenry with core elements of teaching

and learning

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Habits of mindHabit 1) question of evidence, or “How do we know what we know?’

Habit 2) question of viewpoint in all its multiplicity, or “Who’s speaking?”

Habit 3) question of connections and patterns, or “What causes what?”

Habit 4) question of supposition or “How might things have been different?”

Habit 5) and finally, question of why anything matters, or “Who Cares?”

(Meier)

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Skills Demonstration Portfolio provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate your readiness to take on

the highest office in our culture, that of citizen.

A. Demonstrations of active citizenship in the school or greater community

Here you should include explanations or two ways in which you have been involved in the political processes of the school or greater community. There are a variety of ways to demonstrate this including…playing a role in some part of school governance, assisting with some effort in the community such as registering people to vote or working at the polls, being involved in a campaign, registering to vote and voting, being involved in the school’s site-based committee, serving on the School Improvement Committee, being an officer in a club, working on the First Amendment Committee, and so on.

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B. Taking a standCitizens in our democracy have the right to take a stand on

issues and have their voice heard. However, they also have the responsibility of making sure their voice is informed by facts and reasoning. Include here any evidence you have of taking a stand on an issue that demonstrates your ability to make sure your stand is based on evidence and not just emotion. This could include a paper that you have written in school, a letter to the editor of the school paper or local newspaper, a proposal you have made to change something at the school or in your community some time when you intervened to stop something you knew was wrong or dangerous, or some other time you took a stand. (Wood 2005)

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The Pedagogy of Democracy

• Students and teachers working together to make students’ learning a contribution to their larger communities

• Students demonstrating their learning in public settings and receiving public feedback

• Students having escalating degrees of choice , both as individuals and as groups, within the parameters provided by the teacher and school

• Students actively working with problems, ideas, materials, and people as they learn skills and content

• Students being held to high degrees of excellence in both their academic objectives learned and their contributions to a larger community (Glickman, 2007).

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Exam question number three:

How do we define and assess an educated citizen in our school, and what should be consistent teaching and learning practices?

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4. Enlarging Student Identities

through Common Work

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Exam question number four:

How might we expand efforts to link our students with people different from themselves in collaborative work resulting in improving a larger community?

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Conclusion

• Leadership for what

• Getting the focus right

• What do I do as a leader

• The path chosen

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Video References

The following are web sites for ordering the videos shown in this presentation. Copyright permission was given to show selective vignettes.

• www.service-learningpartnership.org (Video of service learning)• www.Ondinerareyproductions.com (video segments of two

different classroom teachers in two different schools ) • www.shoppbs.org/ sm-pbs-the-merrow-report-school-sleuth-

vhs--pi-1405203.html (video on what makes for a successful school)