Rediscovering the Democratic Purposes of Education
Rediscovering the Democratic Purposes of Education. Lorraine M. McDonnell, P. Michael Timpane, and Roger Benjamin, Editors. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000.
In recent decades, public education has been politicized as never before, yet discussion of the democratic purposes of education has been sidelined. Have we lost our way amid the flood of policy talk about the economic purposes of education? Has education become a consumer good more than a public good? How would public schools be different if we really cared about democracy and education in democracy?
Rediscovering the Democratic Purposes of Education cogently addresses the political dimensions of public schools, past and present. It weaves together three themes that are often divorced: philosophy and practice in civic education, implications of democratic purposes for education policies, and education politics. The eminent authors of the nine chapters do not always agree—why should they? But in keeping with an ideology that honors deliberation as a way to settle disputes and control conflict, the scholars keep the discourse civil and focused on democratic purposes. The book presents state-of-the-art thinking about democracy and education from a variety of disciplines: political philosophy, history, institutional theory, political sociology and science, and education.
Today, hardly anyone believes that schools in a democracy can or should be apolitical or instruction purely consensual. This book suggests both new and old ways to restore the public's ownership of public education so that the common school can once again be a broadly representative institution.
Published by University Press of Kansas, 2501 West 15th St., Lawrence, KS 66049. Price: $40 hardcover, $17.95 paperback.
—Reviewed by David Tyack, Vida Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of History, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Creating Highly Motivating Classrooms for All Students
Creating Highly Motivating Classrooms for All Students by Margery B. Ginsberg and Raymond J. Wlodkowski. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
Educators across the United States face tremendous pressure to improve student achievement; prominent among school reform policies are new standards and more assessments. Educators can use test information to determine school improvement activities, but such information does not help the teacher know what kinds of learning activities will be effective with 25 students from diverse backgrounds. Teachers facing this problem will find help from these authors. Ginsberg and Wlodkowski observe that, to consistently learn well, students need to feel respected, believe that what they are learning is relevant to their needs, and believe that they can master what they are being asked to learn.
Ginsberg and Wlodkowski suggest that teachers use a theory of intrinsic motivation for formulating what they call the Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching. The four-part framework includes practical suggestions for establishing a sense of inclusion among students in the class and school, helping students develop a positive attitude toward learning, planning activities to enhance meaning through challenging and engaging activities, and finding ways to ensure that students are becoming competent in what they need to learn. The book offers many practical suggestions for teachers who are seeking ways to better challenge their students.
Published by Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome St., San Franciso, CA 94104. Price: $29.95.
—Reviewed by Gordon Cawelti, Senior Research Associate, Educational Research Service, Arlington, Virginia.
Understanding the Teacher Union Contract
Understanding the Teacher Union Contract: A Citizen's Handbook by Myron Lieberman. Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2000.
For parents and students, a teacher strike means tuning into morning radio to find out whether it's time to pack school lunches or find a babysitter. For teachers, a strike might mean standing up to angry taxpayers and responding to negative editorials in the local paper. And for school board members and administrators, a strike means pressure to resolve the dispute quickly so that schools and the community can get back to normal. A community can take a long time to heal after a strike, even if the strike doesn't last long.
To avoid the problems associated with a strike and its aftermath, school boards need to be equal players at the bargaining table, says Myron Lieberman, senior research scholar with the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green University in Ohio. Local teachers unions, he notes, usually have the support of national unions. They bargain strategically, and unapologetically, for improvements in wages, benefits, and working conditions. School boards that are unskilled in contract negotiations can soon find themselves out of their league.
Lieberman's book is a thorough and clear handbook, filled with examples of authentic contract language on such topics as union rights at faculty meetings and teachers' personnel files. School officials and board members ought to carry this reference with them to the bargaining table.
Published by Transaction Publishers, 390 Campus Dr., Somerset, NJ 07830. Price: $39.95.
—Reviewed by Susan Black, Contributing Editor, American School Board Journal, Hammondsport, New York.
Balancing Acts
Balancing Acts: Women Principals at Work by Lisa Smulyan. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.
Balancing Acts: Women Principals at Work offers powerful vignettes of interest to all school administrators. The title, Balancing Acts, captures the essence of the book—and of school administrators' work. Lisa Smulyan skillfully balances the perspective and tasks of the researcher as she brings to life stories of how school leaders balance their personal and professional lives. She respects the administrative milieu and is an honest storyteller.
Despite its subtitle, the book is not limited to a feminist perspective. Most readers will identify with the genuine and well-told stories of administrators. Smulyan pays careful attention to the context of these administrators' daily interactions in their personal and professional lives and in the communities in which they live and work.
Published by State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246. Price: $22.95.
—Reviewed by Elizabeth A. Hebert, Principal, Crow Island Elementary School, Winnetka, Illinois.
Conflicting Missions?
Conflicting Missions? Teachers Unions and Educational Reform. Tom Loveless, Editor. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.
Editor Tom Loveless claims that this compilation of essays offers "a well-balanced, comprehensive analysis on the unions' controversial relationship with educational reform" and illustrates "the many dimensions of the teachers unions' role in American education."
The book does include two essays that are both substantive and insightful. Susan Moore Johnson and Susan Kardos, in the first chapter, make a compelling case for "Reform Bargaining and Its Promise for School Improvement." And in the final chapter, Charles Taylor and Julia Koppich restate their important argument that teachers unions should embrace "Organizing Around Quality: The Frontiers of Teacher Unionism." But everything in between these two excellent chapters is less impressive.
Including Howard Fuller's essay on "Collective Bargaining in Milwaukee Public Schools" without including the union's side does not provide a balanced perspective. After all, as a superintendent in Milwaukee, Fuller had a tough battle with the teachers union. The biggest omission in this book, however, is the voice of the practitioners. No teacher or teacher leader contributed an essay, nor were the national teachers unions given a voice. The Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association locals isn't even mentioned.
The lack of thoughtful and serious research about the role of teachers unions in education reform is a problem. This book does little to change that. In a way, it's evidence of the problem.
—Reviewed by Adam Urbanski, President, Rochester Teachers Association, Rochester, New York.
The chief negotiator for a city school district recalls when he carried his contract in his shirt pocket. Now, he hauls his 200-page contract and accompanying legal papers in a portable file box. In addition to sections specifying salary schedules, hiring procedures, and extra-duty assignments, his district's contract includes provisions for such items as teacher evaluation procedures and staff development.
The increased scope and size of teacher contracts indicates spreading union influence, and much of that influence comes from the national teachers unions. Do teachers unions contribute to overall school reform? Or do they block the way, favoring the well-being of their members? Tom Loveless, editor of the Brookings Institution's collection of nine research papers presented in 1998 at the Program on Educational Policy and Governance at Harvard University, says that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. These papers explicate the complex relationship between union initiatives and school reform. Before making any judgments about whether teachers unions help or hinder educational reform, read this text.
—Reviewed by Susan Black, Contributing Editor, American School Board Journal, Hammondsport, New York.
Published by Brookings Institution Press, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Price: $44.95 hardcover, $18.95 paperback.
