EDN 582 Organizational Theory and Leadership

EDN 582 Organizational Theory and Leadership Watson School of Education University of North Carolina at Wilmington Martin Kozloff Fall, 2007

Orientations

Writing in the 1920's, Georg Simmel began "The metropolis and mental life" with the following lines….

The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life.

How does that apply to teachers and administrators who are trying to do a good job?

Karl Marx was right once in his life, when he wrote….

Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce... Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living. And just when they seem engaged in revolutionising themselves and things, in creating something entirely new, precisely in such epochs of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle slogans and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honored disguise and borrowed language. [Karl Marx. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. 1851-52]

Boil that down to three or four propositions.

What are contemporary equivalents of names, battle slogans, and costumes for “revolutions” in education?

But perhaps The Preacher---King Solomon---said it best…

Ecclesiastes, chapter 1 1: The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3: What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever. 5: The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6: The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7: All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8: All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. 10: Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already, in the ages before us. 11: There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after. 12: I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13: And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. 14: I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. 15: What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. 16: I said to myself, "I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge." 17: And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. 18: For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Sounds like Solomon believed that every striving is futile! But he ends with these lines….

9: Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging proverbs with great care. 10: The Preacher sought to find pleasing words, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. 11: The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings which are given by one Shepherd. 12: My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13: The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 14: For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

What do you think he means in lines 11-14?

University libraries house fifty journals in education, sociology, psychology, and related fields. (How many are there on reading alone?)

College catalogues and brochures describe growing programs filled with courses in child development, assessment, curriculum, instruction, organizational change, and program evaluation.

Judging by…  Public school students' overall test scores,  The disparity in achievement between minority and nonminority students, and between disadvantaged and advantaged students,  The high rate at which teachers leave teaching and administrators move to other schools…

…it's doubtful that colleges are fostering more courageous, knowledgeable, skillful, and wiser teachers and administrators; or that the education powers that be are making the job any easier; or that it is even possible to improve the organization and outcomes of public education.

In addition, the gap between the production of articles, books, materials, ideas, techniques, values, and agendas, and the capacity of administrators and classroom teachers to know, master, and use them (or to throw them out), is widening so quickly that many persons abandon even the idea of personal or organizational excellence, and instead make do or get through until the summer break. Rational thinking and effective action are too often replaced with ideological creeds and empty shibboleths—child centered, holistic, authentic, developmentally appropriate—whose incessant chanting stifles thinking. In other words, revolutionary (or at least reform) rhetoric is merely a mind-numbing mantra.

These problems may NOT be solvable; public education may NOT be fixable. But surely things won’t improve until teachers and administrators are skilled at analyzing social systems; wise enough to know that buzz words, group enthusiasm, and personal opinions are poor substitutes for understanding, and inevitably yield more problems; tough-minded enough to know the difference between solid evidence and snake oil; and courageous enough to be strong leaders. That said, my overarching goal in this course is to help you become skilled, self-confident, tough-minded and courageous leaders. I hope it’s your goal, too.

Course Objectives

Specific competencies include the following. 1. Reading with sufficient care to: (a) critically examine the logic and precision of a writer's argument, and (b) extract important concepts, propositions, theories, and models---which may serve you as guidelines and warnings.

2. Stating differences between establishment and anti-establishment writers and organizations in value positions, pedagogic principles, and prescriptions for school reform and social policy.

3. Using research on effective instruction to evaluate the quality of instruction; i.e., to identify strengths and weakness and suggest improvements.

4. Using inductive and deductive reasoning to synthesize concepts and propositions from various theories into a comprehensive picture of schools in their environments.

5. Using concepts, propositions, theories, and models to develop methods for describing and evaluating school social organization to increase teachers' skills and support, student achievement, and the cohesiveness of school culture.

The main, ongoing assignment is to respond to readings and class discussions, and to transform main points into guidelines, instruments, and staff presentations that will promote effective administration. I’ll give specific instructions for each thing we read.

Week 1. August 28. Face to face. How We’re Doing Using Module 1.

Read/present/class discussion of: 1. Syllabus 2. From Module 1. How we’re doing 1. a. Haycock. Closing the achievement gap . ppt . Closing the achievement gap html b. Haycock. Don’t turn back the clock . ppt. Don’t turn back the clock html

Preparation for next week---Week 2. Read and answer questions in: 1. Assessment of Knowledge of Powerpoints “Don’t turn back the clock” and “Closing the achievement gap” [This is in Module 1. Naturally, you should re-view the powerpoints in Module 1.]

Read and do writing assignments in Module 2. 2. Scout 3. Prometheus was a woman 4. Educate all children well Writing assignments for Module 2 readings

Week 2. September 4. Face to face. How We’re Doing Continued Using Module 2.

Class Discussion: From Module 2. How we’re doing 2. 1. Assessment of Knowledge of Powerpoints, “Don’t turn back the clock” and “Closing the achievement gap”

2. Scout

3. Prometheus was a woman

4. Educate all children well

5. Writing assignments for Module 2 readings

Week 3. September 11. Face to face. How We’re Doing Continued Using Module 2

Class Discussion: 1. Assessment of Knowledge of Powerpoints, “Don’t turn back the clock” and “Closing the achievement gap”

2. Scout

3. Prometheus was a woman 4. Educate all children well

5. Writing assignments for Module 2 readings

Preparation for next week—Week 4, using Module 3. 1. Edugods and Useful Idiots. Writing assignments for Edugods and useful idiots

Martin Haberman. Who benefits from failing urban school districts? Writing assignments for Haberman, “Who benefits….?”

2. John Stone. Developmentalism Writing assignments for Stone, “Developmentalism.”

Week 4. September 18. Online What We’re Up Against Using Module 3.

Imagine physicians working hard and fast, trying to maintain technical proficiency, while at the same time they are expected to celebrate diversity, work towards social justice, motivate patients to follow prescriptions, create and sustain working relationships with families and communities, and resist stupid ideas and methods being pushed on them by medical administrators and researchers whose livelihood requires that they continually “revolutionalize” medical ideas and methods.

 How long before proficiency suffers?  How long before physicians quit?

School teachers and school administrators are up against the same thing.

 Poorly formaulated ideas. “Teachers should be facilitators, not transmitters.” “Practices,” “philosophies, and materials that have never been tested and that don’t work. [How do YOU spell experimenting on children?]  Coercion from district administrators and “specialists” to adopt the latest fol de rols. [The more they “innovate,” the better they look, the more they control you, the more you have to do.]  The burden of functions (leading to) tasks that rightly belong to families, churches, police, courts, physicians, and facilities that treat dangerous or demented persons.

Participate in on-line discussion board that will focus on:

1. Edugods and Useful Idiots. Writing assignments for Edugods and useful idiots Martin Haberman. Who benefits from failing urban school districts? Writing assignments for Haberman, “Who benefits….?”

2. John Stone. Developmentalism Writing assignments for Stone, “Developmentalism.”

Preparation for next week—Week 5, using Module 4: 1. Thomas Sowell. Dogma. 2. Thomas Sowell. Rednecks. 3, Thomas Sowell. Cosmic justice. 4. Thomas Sowell. Teaching to the test. 5. Thomas Sowell. The education of minority children. Writing assignments on Thomas Sowell’s articles. 6. Modern Sodom. Writing assignments on “Modern Sodom.” 7. Cultural Suicide and Education for Servitude Writing Assignment on “Cultural Suicide and Education for Suicide”

Week 5. September 25. Face to face What We’re Up Against Continued Using Module 4.

Class Discussion, using Module 4: 1. Thomas Sowell. Dogma. 2. Thomas Sowell. Rednecks. 3, Thomas Sowell. Cosmic justice. 4. Thomas Sowell. Teaching to the test. 5. Thomas Sowell. The education of minority children. Writing assignments on Thomas Sowell’s articles. 6. Modern Sodom. Writing assignments on “Modern Sodom.” 7. Cultural Suicide and Education for Servitude Writing Assignment on “Cultural Suicide and Education for Suicide”

Preparation for next week—Week 6, using Module 5 1. Kozloff. Education war Then show yourself the Powerpoint and skim the paper: 2. Kozloff. Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims. PPT 3. Kozloff. Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims. Document Then read: 4. Kozloff. Checklist of Guidelines for Evaluating Research and Research Claims. 1. Reading Recovery. Writing Assignment on “ Reading Recovery.” 2. Whole language lives. Writing Assignment on “ Whole language lives.”

3. How MI Informs Teaching at New City School. Writing Assignment on “ How MI Informs Teaching at New City School.”

4. The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment. Writing Assignment on “The effects of synthetic phonics teaching…”

Week 6. October 2. Online Reason vs. Flapdoodle Using Module 5.

Here we develop principles and guideline that will help you to select materials and methods that work, and help teachers to plan instruction and teach effectively.

Participate in on-line discussion board that will focus on:

1. Kozloff. Education war Then show yourself the Powerpoint and skim the paper: 2. Kozloff. Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims. PPT 3. Kozloff. Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims. Document Then read: 4. Kozloff. Checklist of Guidelines for Evaluating Research and Research Claims. 5. Reading Recovery. Writing Assignment on “ Reading Recovery.” 6. Whole language lives. Writing Assignment on “ Whole language lives.”

7. How MI Informs Teaching at New City School. Writing Assignment on “ How MI Informs Teaching at New City School.”

8. The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment. Writing Assignment on “The effects of synthetic phonics teaching…” Preparation for next week—Week 8 Read and do writing assignments in Module 6.

Leaders Writing assignment on Leaders.

Week 7. October 9. Fall Break

Week 8. October 16. Face to face

Reasoning---using objective, valid data---is one set of tools.

Leadership is a second set of tools.

Class Discussion: From Module 6, readings and writing assignments. Leaders Writing assignment on Leaders.

Preparation for next week—Week 9 Read and do writing assignments in Module 7. Social organization and the person. Writing assignment on Social organization and the person.

Week 9. October 23. Online

A third set of tools is knowledge of the connections between social organization and personality (skills, feelings, attachments, motivations, identity). This knowledge will help you to evaluate and improve school social organization.

Participate in on-line discussion board that will focus on readings and writing assignments in Module 7.

Social organization and the person. Writing assignment on Social organization and the person.

Preparation for next week—Week 10. Read and do assignments in module 8: Jpg of the learning process Delivering instruction Assignment on Delivering Instruction Summary of Phases of Mastery Assignment on Phases of Mastery

Week 10. October 30. Face to face The Instructional System 1 Using Module 8.

Class Discussion: From Module 8, readings and writing assignments. Jpg of the learning process Delivering instruction Assignment on Delivering Instruction Summary of Phases of Mastery Assignment on Phases of Mastery

Preparation for next week—Week 11

Week 11. November 6. Online

Participate in on-line discussion board that will focus on reading and writing assignments in .

Week 12. November 13. Face to face Using Module 7

Week 13. November 20. Face to face

Week 14. November 27. Online Using Module 9

Assignment for Week 14. Read and do assignments in module 9. Four-level procedure for remediation Participate in on-line discussion board, that will focus on writing assignment.

Week 15. December 4. Face to face Using Module 9

Class discussion of readings and assignments from Module 9 Four-level procedure for remediation

Writing assignment for Four-level procedure for remediation

Week 15. December 11 Final