This Week In Education: Thompson: "I am a Reflective Practioner"

This Week In Education: Thompson: "I am a Reflective Practioner"

Thompson: "I am a Reflective Practioner"

If there is one part of The Death and Life of the Great American School Systemthat should be indispensable reading for Bill Gates, it is Diane Ravitch’s account of "Bersinitis" in the San Diego public school system during the reign of superintendent Alan Bersin.

The holy grail of "reformers" is curriculum alignment to assess accountability, but it can degenerate into thought control. "I am a reflective practitioner. I am a reflective practitioner" was the mantra.

"You will not believe this," Ravitch was told by Bersin’s director of curriculum describing the need for alignment, "we had fourth graders who didn’t know the difference between point of view and perspective."

For educators in such a system "survival became paramount," as they complied with the "minute by minute schedule" for instruction. "Muzzled" teachers developed code words and "a form of passive noncompliance" to resist the "totalitarian atmosphere."

During the Bersin years, Kaiser Permanente saw an outbreak of "stress-related illnesses," and "anxiety due to a hostile work environment." Bersinitis disappeared when the architect of this failed scheme was replaced.

If Gates were to order Ravitch’s book by Amazon, he could save on shipping by ordering Organizing Schools for Improvement by Anthony Bryk, John Q. Easton, et.al. These accomplished scholars from