Moving beyond blaming the teachers.

[freshstart]

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."

Read more here:

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

[MedicalAdmin]

1. Excellent post.

Welcome to DU.

[musiclawyer]

2. Good article but it stops the analysis half way

If you really want better schools get better parents. Sorry that's the truth.
Studies have shown that parental expectation is everything Doesn't matter is kid is rich or poor
The problem among the vast poor in this country is that kids come into the world with their parents unprepared or ill equipped to even feed them a proper breakfast, much less read to them every night and expect to help with homework
Changing that culture requires not an educational revolution. It requires a cultural one.
The schools are rotten from the outside in. Not the inside out. I want just one politician to say this obvious truth. I would be impressed

[freshstart]

3. I hear what you are saying,

However, I think the authors do a good job of describing the flawed system under which many teachers work. In fact, these same flawed systems are in many workplaces. When workers "check their brains at the door" nobody benefits: not the worker, not the system or company, and not the customer. Teachers are educators...and they are on the front-lines...and they know where the problems are and could collaborate with other teachers to improve the system if they are involved in the system and not treated like removable parts.

I'm not sure how one would change culture without education. And I'm not sure how the act of placing blame will improve anything.

[CTyankee]

5. When you talk about a "cultural" revolution, aren't you talking about poverty?

The devastating effect of poverty on children in this country has been dismissed since the republicans started accusing anyone talking about poverty as racists. There has been a concerted effort by the RW in this country to deflect criticism from our capitalist system and focus it on teachers unions. Weakening the union movement in this country has been what the republicans are all about for a generation and trying to disguise it with a faux "concern" for poor kids. Some of us are not fooled.

So much of what you are saying, as you admit, comes directly out of poverty situations and we know the mechanisms by which whole segments of our population have been lifted out of poverty, which are social safety nets. Plenty of middle class Americans had forebears who came here dirt poor and illiterate. Right? so what happened...

[CTyankee]

4. A great article. This kind of reform is remarkably similar to what Finland did to

reform its educational system nationwide.

[meow2u3]

6. Bad bosses always blame those who suffer the most from their bad decisions

Either the managers don't realize, or don't care, that a fish rots from the head down.

[tcaudilllg]

7. It's about class size and child interest.

The ditch diggers can stew in the office if they please. It's not like they are going to become lawyers or software programmers.