DOCUMENT RESUME ED 331 151 EA 022 894 AUTHOR Brown, Rexford G. TITLE Schools of Thought: How the Politics of Literacy Shape Thinking in the Classroom. The Jossey-Bass Educat:ion Series. REPORT NO ISBN-1-55542-314-0 PUB DATE 91 NOTE 311p. AVAILABLE FROMJossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA, 94104 ($24.95 plus state sales tax where applicable). PU3 TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) -- Books (010) EDRS PRICE MFL- Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Classroom Environment; *Educational Policy; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; *Literacy; *Politics of Education; *Program Development; Rural American Indians; Rural Education; School Restructuring; State Action; *Thinking Skills; Urban Education IDENTIFIERS *Ontario (Toronto); Pittsburgh School District PA ABSTRACT The new literacy goes beyond the requirements for a high school diploma, including capacities once demanded only of a privileged, college-bound elite. This book concerns this new, higher literacy and whether current educational restructuring efforts are likely to foster such literacy in all students. The study used informal interviewing techniques and examined classrooms for evidence of nine general climate indicators conducive to a literac of thoughtfulness. The first chapters focus on rure America, especially the Deep South, where teachers are educating children to leave their communities. The third chapter describes education on an Indian reservation, where the colonial model is waning. Chapter 4 describes the conflicts and contradictions in a troubled, but typical urban school district unintentionally engaged in undermining literacy efforts. Chapter 5 broadens the notion of "policy environment" and describes the contributions of a governor, a legislature, a state school board, and a district judge. Chapter 6 describes a Pittsbargh, Pennsylvania, school district that is addressing serious problems in positive ways. The next chapter describes the Toronto (Ontario, Canada) School District, where the most advanced form of literacy thoughtfulness is occurring. Chapter 7 tells how local and provincial policies sustain this literacy, and chapter 8 sums up findings from all the schools, districts, states, and Canadian provinces visited. The book contains an index and a bibliography of 214 references. (MLH) ****** *****f** ****** ******************* ***** ********** ***** **** ***** *** Reproductions supplied 1,y EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***************** ********** **************************** ***** ** ********* U.S. DEPAINVENT OR EDUCATION Moe a Educehonar Research and Imorovamini EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CFNTER IERIC) Xdocument has been firpfoducw as mewed from the person or hIStAnaRtion prep-Wing rt r Min Ot chlIOGIWS Iva ham mac* to ettproy. *414.4,ri"-'1,4 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL IN MICROPCHE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)," A publication in THE JOSSEY-BASS EDUCATION SERIES Some teachers and someschools have always found ways to instill the higheststandards of literacy in all their students, especiallythe children of the poor and minorities.But can entire districts or statesdo it? What kinds of policy are likely to bring aboutthe necessary changes? These are the kindsof questions Rexford Brown and his fellowinvestigatorE ask in this first major studyof the effects of the 1980s' school refonnpolicies. Arguing that it is not enough todemand competence in the simple basicskills. Brown recommends creating thoughtfullearning environments for adults andchildren that develop the ability to thinkcritically and cre- atively, to solve problems. exercisejudgment. and to learn new skills. In examples taken fromvisits to classrooms across NorthAmericafrom the backroads of the rural South tounadnmed native American schools, to urbanbuildings in tl-e industrial northeast andfinally to an Ontario school districtBrown showsthe ways in which national, state, andlocal politics either encourage or discourageefforts to develop these thoughtful learningenvironments. He recommends creating policyframeworks that encourage conversation,stimulate inquiry. and foster trust andcollaboration, and he suggests raising ourexpectations for all students. especially the poor a-idminorities. and building curriculumsthat begin with students' interests and concerns. (continued on back nap) 3 schools or 6ihoughit REXFORD G. BROWN chooly ehogot How the politics of literacy shape thinking in the classroom jossey-Bass Publishers San Frmu.sto oxfmd 1991 SCHOOLS OF THOUGHI How the Politics of Literacy Shape Thinking in the Classroom by Rexford G. Brown Copyright ft, 1991 by: Jossey-Bass Inc.. Publishers 350 Sansome Street San Francisco, California 94104 Jossey-Bass Limited Headington Hill Hall Oxford OX3 OBW Copyright under International, Pan American, and Universal Copyright Conventions. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any formexcept for brief quotation (not to exceed 1,000 words) in a review or professional workwithout permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brown, Rexford. Schools of thought : how the politica of literacy shape thinking in the classroomRexford G. Brown. p. cm.(The Jossey-Bass education series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-5542-3)4-0 I. LiteracyUnited StatesCase studies.2. Educational change United StatesCase srudies. I.Title.IL Series. LCI51.877 1991 302.'244'0973dc20 90-19892 Manufactured in the United States of America The paper in this book meets the guidelines for pffmanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on library Resources. _MAE I OF.SIGN SY C HARL0111 KAN FIRs1 F DI foN Code 9119 The jossey-Bass Education Series Li' Contents Preface xi The Author xxi 1 1. Back to Basics in the Rural South 31 2. Hand-Me-Down Literacy 59 3. Language and Culture on the Reservation 4. An Urban District: One Exn OP theGas, the Other on the Brakes 92 137 5. The Politics of Literacy 6. When Teachers Talk 164 7. A Higher Literacy in Toronto 202 232 8. Cultivating a Literacy of Thoughtfulness ix Contents Resource: Guidelines for Program Review from the Ontario Ministry of Education 253 Bibliography 269 Index 284 Preface Years ago in this country, people wereconsidered literate if they could sign tiieir names. As timeschanged, ideas about what consti- tuted a satisfactory level of literacyalso changed, and always up- ward. Mere ability to sign one's name gave wayto the ability to write at a certain level of sophistication,higher for rach succeeding generation. Mere ability to read gave way toincreasingly demand- ing reading in a wide range offields, and for a wide range of pur- poses. As our school systemgrew, being literatebecame equated with having completed a certainnumber of years of school. As our economic system grew and changed,school credentials played an increasingly important role in screeningand selecting people for jobs. The number of years ofschooling a person completed began to be wrrelatedwith potential earnings. The s"Ikes involved in attaining the right kind or degreeof literacy and the right level of education rose steadily. The system charged withdetermining what the stakes would be for any individual, whatlife opportunities any of us mightenjoy, grew haphazardlythroughout this century and ac hievedits mature form only twenty-five years ago.Only then was it ready to be the instrument of mass educationtrue masseducationthat its pro- ponents had longpromised it would become, and it wasimme- diately clear that public expectationsand economic and social changes were rendering it obsolete. xi xli Preface During the 1970s, critics charged thattoo many Americans were "functionally" illiteratethat is, not totally illiterate, butnot literate enough to function productively and happily.Doubts were also expressed about whether a high school diploma stillsaid any- thing about the literacy of graduates. Stories of high schoolgrad- uates who could neither read nor write abounded; reading, writing, and mathematics test-score declineswere chronicled year after year, with more and more public hand-wringing. Almostevery state leg- islature passed laws requiring evidence of minimalcompetency for grade promotion and graduation. Almostevery district developed school-improvement plans based on a burgeoning research industry that was devoted to the study of "effective" schools. The 1980s brought new alarms about literacy in the United States, most dramatically expressed in the National Commissionon Excellence in Education's A Nation at Risk (1983). Thisreport was the Reagan administration's call for major improvementsin edu- cation as a matter of national survi-al inan increasingly compet- itive global economy. Throughout the decade,a broader and deeper notion of literacy emerged from dozens of books and blue-ribbon reports and the words of nationally prominent speakers. The stakes involved in this more robust kind of literacygrew higher than ever, both for the individual and for the countryas a whole. The decade ended with an unprecedented summit meeting ofthe nation's gov- ernors and the president of the United States, who issued a call for radical reform and total restructuring of the educationalsystem. The new literacy that requires such massive changegoes beyond mere reading and writing ability, beyondthe so-called bas- ics, and beyond the current requirements fora high