Loading...

Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation

by Matthew Lynch (Volume editor)
©2014 Textbook XII, 177 Pages
Series: Counterpoints, Volume 461

Summary

Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation provides scholars and laymen with an assortment of theoretical and practical perspectives for questioning contemporary practices and forging new methods of education reform and innovation. This volume is the leading collection of contemporary essays by the major thinkers in the field of education reform and innovation. Carefully attentive to both theory and practice, this is the definitive source for learning about education reform and innovation, while also enhancing the existing literature.
This book attempts to move the field to the next phase of its evolution and provides the U.S. K-12 system with the tools that it will need to return to its former preeminence. Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation generates a corpus of new and original scholarship that significantly examines the field of education reform and innovation broadly conceived. Each chapter examines one or more of the critical topics that are missing from or underrepresented in the extant literature. The various chapters of this book integrate into their analyses the conceptual, political, pedagogical, and practical histories, tensions, and resources that have established education reform and innovation as one of the most vital and growing movements within the field of education. A central tenet of this project is that we need to make visible the multiple perspectives and theoretical frames that currently drive
work in the field.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Copyright
  • Table of Contents
  • Dedication
  • Acknowledgments
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: What We Already Know About Education Reform in America
  • The Crisis in School Reform
  • Reversing the Disastrous State of American Schools
  • Envisioning Teachers as Professionals
  • The Need for Focused Professional Preparation
  • Change Is Unavoidable
  • Visionary School Reform
  • Community Involvement
  • Road Map to School Reform
  • Consolidating Components of Positive School Change
  • Effective Leadership for Change
  • The Importance of Collegial Trust
  • Involving the Community
  • The Cost of Change
  • Allowing Time for Change
  • Premature Contentment
  • Addressing Problems
  • Implementing and Sustaining Reform
  • Barriers to Implementing and Sustaining Reform
  • Sustaining Reform Indefinitely
  • Final Thoughts
  • References
  • Chapter 2: Reimagining Urban Education: Civil Rights, Educational Parks, and the Limits of Reform
  • Introduction: Reform’s Possibilities and Impossibilities
  • Growth in an Atmosphere of Racial Exclusion in a Non-Deindustrializing City
  • Educational Reform Frustrated: Civil Rights Activism Meets District Resistance, 1963–1966
  • The Choice: Systemic Democratic Radicalism or District-Approved Incrementalism
  • Reimagining the City for Educational Opportunity
  • The OSU Advisory Commission Report
  • Grand Reform That Failed to Pass: Civil Rights Proposal Spurned
  • References
  • Chapter 3: Reimagining Success: Ordinary Orders and University
  • Introduction
  • A Genealogy of the University of Toronto
  • An Experiment in Mental Hygiene
  • The Same But Different
  • Re-Storying the Ordinary: Unnatural Adjustments and Paradigm Shifts
  • The Conception of the University as Institution of Power
  • References
  • Chapter 4: Reflections on Educational Reforms: English Language
  • Analysis
  • Background to the Study
  • Method
  • Results and Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Chapter 5: Student Teachers as Active Participants in Schools’ Policy Contexts
  • Pre-Service Teachers Raise Policy Concerns
  • Policy Is Now Everyone’s Field
  • The Meaning of Current Policy Environment for Pre-Service Teachers’ Learning
  • Supporting Pre-Service Teachers in Policy Contexts
  • What Does Policy Mean?
  • Relevant Critical Policy Analysis
  • Study Methods
  • Data Collection
  • Analytic Methods
  • Participants and School Sites
  • Findings
  • Student Teachers See Texts, People, and Practices as Unified and Aligned
  • Strategic Thinking and Action: Student Teachers Navigating Policy Conflict
  • Guerrilla Pedagogy
  • Discussion and Implications
  • Not Just “Failing Schools” or “Ideal” Placements
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Chapter 6: Working in the “Wiggle Room”: A University
  • Findings
  • Phase One: Working Within the System
  • Phase Two: Working in the Wiggle Room
  • “Survive or thrive?”A turning point in my supervisory practices
  • Phase Three: Policy and the Meanings of Success
  • Discussion
  • References
  • Chapter 7: “Beyond Discussion”: Basic Composition as a Social Imperative
  • The University “Thing”: Historical and Contemporary Responses to Basic Writing and the American Educational Paradox
  • What Does Institutional Remediation Look Like? Three Successful Basic Writing Programs
  • Portents for the Future: What We Know About What Works
  • Informed Placement
  • Decreased Educational Track
  • Institutional Continuity
  • Academic Rigor and Intensity
  • Affectively and Contextually Focused
  • Institutionally Supported
  • Conclusion
  • References
  • Chapter 8: Creating Comic Books in the College Composition Classroom
  • The Visual Argument
  • Physical Desks and Digital Screens
  • Designing Comic Books as Composition
  • Two Comic Book Assignments
  • Assignment 1
  • Assignment 2
  • Closing Thoughts
  • References
  • Chapter 9: Design Principles As A Methodology for School Reform
  • Design as a Methodology
  • A Vocabulary for Reform
  • Technique
  • Elements
  • Processes
  • Principles
  • Methods
  • Mindsets
  • Bringing It Together
  • References
  • Contributors
  • Series Index

            

Dedication


This book is dedicated to the teachers, administrators, parents, citizens, and politicians who have been fighting for genuine school reform in the United States for decades. Thank you for caring about our children. This book is also dedicated to the children who were not properly educated by the U.S. education system. These children are the collateral damage that should spur us to create lasting change. ← vii | viii →
← viii | ix →

            

Acknowledgments


First, I would like to thank God for being my strength and my refuge. I would also like to acknowledge the collective unconscious of my ancestors. You paved the way for my ascendancy into the upper echelons of academia and served as a catalyst for my intellectual development.

Of course, I have to acknowledge my parents, Jessie and Patsy Lynch, for giving me their love and support. Also, I want to thank my sisters, Tammy Kemp and Angelina Lynch, for having my back. To their children, Adicuz, Kayla, Kerri, and Kelton: I hope my accomplishments will motivate each of you to live up to your limitless potential. No matter what, remember that your uncle loves you. You are the reason I am so passionate about reforming America’s schools.

I would like to acknowledge my mentor, Dr. Rodney Washington, for his invaluable support, guidance, knowledge, and inspiration. Thanks for being the big brother that I never had! I also have to thank the scholars and academics who agreed to critique the manuscript and gave invaluable feedback. Your assistance has ensured that my book is of the highest quality and will make a solid contribution to the field of education.

I also would like to acknowledge the invaluable support and guidance of my series editor, Dr. Shirley R. Steinberg. Somehow I managed to entice eight scholars to take this journey with me. At this time, I would like to thank my fellow contributors. They are Katie Aubrecht, Anne Marie Garth, Sheila Giesbrecht, Jim Haendiges, Margaret Bertucci Hamper, Ayse Kizildag, Patrick Potyondy, and Harun Simsek. ← ix | x →
← x | xi →

            

Preface


Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation provides practical perspectives for questioning contemporary practices and forging new methods of P-20 education reform and innovation. It is intended to spark intense debate from scholars and also to be understood by non-experts who want to weigh in on the direction of education reform. Attentive to both theory and practice, Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation presents diverse viewpoints and is the definitive source for learning about educational change and improvement. This book ushers the U.S. P-20 education system into the next phase of its evolution and provides it with the tools that it needs to return to its former preeminence.

Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation generates a corpus of new and original scholarship that significantly examines the field of education reform and innovation, broadly conceived. Each chapter examines one or more of the critical topics that are missing from or are underrepresented in current literature. The various chapters of this book integrate into their analyses the conceptual, political, pedagogical, and practical histories, tensions, and resources that have established education reform and innovation as one of the most vital and growing movements within the field of education.

The contributors to Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation situate education reform and innovation in the here and now, while offering practical applications, suggestions, and strategies concerning its use and its future. A central ← xi | xii → tenet of this project is that we need to make visible the multiple perspectives and theoretical frames that currently drive work in the field. This book brings together leading scholars from around the world who represent the central leadership for this expansive field. Each idea builds on the next, creating a blueprint for how educational reform should be constructed. Through their words, they direct scholars and laymen to the major issues, theoretical perspectives, and interdisciplinary scholarship needed for successful education reform and innovation. ← xii | 1 →

            

Introduction


The American P-20 educational system is in a problematic state. Under the umbrella of providing equal educational opportunities, students become ill equipped to face academic challenges and the workforce. The educational system is now unable to assist specific groups of students who continuously fail to reach the levels of proficiency expected by educators and society. We don’t even know whether the system, as currently organized, is able to educate most students for the needs of the 21st century.

Many books are available that talk about the woes plaguing the American educational system. Reimagining School Reform expands the conversation to include voices from around the world. It offers specific, creative solutions to some of the more pressing problems facing U.S. educational institutions today.

Just as learning involves the changing understanding of concepts and ideas over time, a social phenomenon like education must face ongoing scrutiny, evaluation, and modifications. We must consider innovative ways in which our educational system can grow, change, and continuously improve to serve the coming generations best. If we want to continue to progress toward a knowledge-based society, we must reform and streamline our education system to enable the development and assimilation of information as knowledge. Our schools and universities are the primary institutions involved in the transference and conversion of information into the knowledge base of students. It is our duty to keep a watchful ← 1 | 2 → eye on the educational processes, and to change policies and practices to ensure improvement.

These changes take more than just resources, though. They need innovators and a supportive public to flourish and perform as designed. Though the K-12 American school system is one of the best financed in the world, it remains one of the worst performing in the developed world. Recent attempts at reform, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, have only served to highlight the deep discrepancies among schools across the country. Teachers, administrators, and community involvement are necessary to create sustainable reform. Educators must look at past failures and find new ways to effect change.

Reform is not merely about academics, however; the social and psychological health of children must also be a consideration. An effective reform plan must take a holistic approach to learning that looks beyond mere words in a textbook or on a computer screen.

So how is educational reform best approached then? Reimagining education must first include student teachers and actively involve them in the actual teaching process. Fresh, new perspectives are the beginning of new ideas and deserve open arms instead of being stymied. The attitude that “teacher knows best” waters down the potential impact youthful innovation can bring to classrooms. Allowing student teachers “wiggle room” between the strictures of reform-induced policy and the creativity and enthusiasm they bring to the classroom is vital.

Better mastery of core subjects, like writing communication, are also pivotal in educational reform. University professors bemoan the lack of solid writing skills in tertiary education and those failures begin to happen at the grade-school level. New and innovative ways to teach composition must be included in any educational reform because this foundational element feeds success in other academic realms. Various case studies are included in the book that transform traditional composition studies into modern exercises using technological resources and allow students of all abilities to succeed.

Finally, in order for educational reform to be effective, it must be of good design. It should not be limited by searching for one right answer to problems; good design relies on connection to the context and is not limited by a singular “correct” solution. Good design ensures that elements work together, and that there are solid connections between those elements. It focuses on details as well as the big picture. Taking this into account, Reimagining School Reform and Innovation presents many approaches to change all meant to support one central cause: a stronger P-20 education system.

Details

Pages
XII, 177
Year
2014
ISBN (PDF)
9781453912485
ISBN (ePUB)
9781454197003
ISBN (MOBI)
9781454196990
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433124815
ISBN (Softcover)
9781433124808
DOI
10.3726/978-1-4539-1248-5
Language
English
Publication date
2013 (September)
Keywords
theory practice evolution
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2014. 177 pp., num. ill.

Biographical notes

Matthew Lynch (Volume editor)

Matthew Lynch is Associate Professor of Education at Langston University. He pent seven years as a K-12 teacher – an experience that gave him an intimate view of the challenges facing genuine education reform.

Previous

Title: Reimagining Education Reform and Innovation
book preview page numper 1
book preview page numper 2
book preview page numper 3
book preview page numper 4
book preview page numper 5
book preview page numper 6
book preview page numper 7
book preview page numper 8
book preview page numper 9
book preview page numper 10
book preview page numper 11
book preview page numper 12
book preview page numper 13
book preview page numper 14
book preview page numper 15
book preview page numper 16
book preview page numper 17
book preview page numper 18
book preview page numper 19
book preview page numper 20
book preview page numper 21
book preview page numper 22
book preview page numper 23
book preview page numper 24
book preview page numper 25
book preview page numper 26
book preview page numper 27
book preview page numper 28
book preview page numper 29
book preview page numper 30
book preview page numper 31
book preview page numper 32
book preview page numper 33
book preview page numper 34
book preview page numper 35
book preview page numper 36
book preview page numper 37
book preview page numper 38
192 pages