"(One of the arguments for charter schools was that they would be a spur for public schools to compete and change. It has not happened and will not happen.) There is nothing in Professor Friedman's writing that says anything about the substance, quality, and purposes of the product to be sold."
"Setting forth The whole Art of Teaching all Things to all Men
or
A certain Inducement to Found such Schools in all the Parishes, Towns,
and Villages of every Christian Kingdom, that the entire Youth of both
Sexes, none being excepted, shall
Quickly, Pleasantly, and Thoroughly
Become learned in the Sciences, pure in Morals, trained to Piety, and in
this manner instructed in all things necessary for the present and for the
future life,
in which, with respect to everything that is suggested,
Its Fundamental Principles are set forth from the essential nature of
the matter,
Its Truth is proved by examples from the several mechanical
arts,
Its Order is clearly set forth in years, months, days, and
hours,
and, finally,
An Easy and Sure Method is shown, by which it can be pleasantly brought
into existence."
"Perhaps the time has come for an etrepreneur to start schools based on what we know about learning, rather than on the old wives' tales about it that have been handed down through the ages."
"These specifications call for a school as different from the one that
exists now as the 'modern' school for which Comenius drew up the
specifications three hundred and fifty years ago differed from the school
that existed before the printed book.
Here are the new specifications:
"Analogies spring to mind. One thinks of the entrepreneur who resents government interference, while pressing government to hold down the costs of production. One is reminded of the established craftsman who insists on his right to arrange space and tools and fashion his product as he wishes. Or we can visualize the professional asserting his full independence and expecting others to accept the consequences. But the analogies break down at a crucial point; teachers, unlike freewheeling business-men, established craftsmen, and professionals, cannot escape a painful reality. They own no means of production and have no formal rights to support their preferences; they are employees in a formal organization and hirelings paid out of community tax funds."
"What teachers consider desirable change can be summed up as 'more of the same'; they believe the best program of improvement removes obstacles and provides for more teaching with better support."
"Teachers who work in isolation cannot create an empirically grounded, semantically potent common language; unless they develop terms to indicate specific events, discussion will lack the clarity it needs to enlighten practice."
"Teachers will have to find ways to bring expertise to bear on questions of 'accountability'. The condition of teaching knowledge will affect their chances of weathering centralization without losing valued working conditions. Teachers face a sharp problem: How are they to overcome the record of intellectual dependency and adapt to changing needs? What steps might they take to prepare for independence in a future filled with controversy?"
"Demonstration projects could offset the seeming utopianism of proposing that teachers could engage in direct efforts to improve the technical knowledge of the occupation."
"(I learned in Dade County that a surprisingly high proportion of teachers thought they would enjoy classroom-related research.[7])"
[7] (p. 268) "In Response to question 40 (App. B-2), 67 percent of Dade teachers chose either 'I would definitely be enthusiastic about doing some research' (26.7 percent) or 'I might well be interested in participating' (40.3 percent)."
Appendix B-2, Question 40 (p. 257):
"Let's suppose there were effective arrangements in the Dade County
schools for following up on research ideas you might develop. What
do you think your reaction would be to such arrangements?
1 I might definitely be enthusiastic about doing some research
2 I might well be interested in participating
3 I might or might not be participating
4 I probably would not be interested in participating
5 I would definitely be uninterested in doing research
(sdg comment: Table 3 on p. 105 mentions interviewing over 5800
teachers.)
"Keep in mind that there is a big difference between being an organization with a vision statement and becoming a truly visionary organization. When you have superb alignment, a visitor could drop into your organization from another planet and infer the vision without having to read it on paper. This is the primary work of the clock builder."