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Technology and the Problem of Change

The more powerful technology becomes, the more indispensable good teachers are.

In brief, research shows that schools that only restructure (change the curriculum, add new roles, reorganize) make no difference in teaching and learning. However, schools that reculture (as well as restructure) do make a difference if they (a) focus on student learning; (b) link knowledge of student learning to changes in instructional practices; and (c) work together to assess teachers and school leadership to make improvement.

If, for example, I were to limit my workday to 9 hours, of which 7.5 were in school, how could I conceivably read and correct papers from the vast majority of my 192 students in order for those corrections to be part of a meaningful learning experience? Do I limit the amount of work I assign in order to keep up with it? Do I shortchange the feedback to which my students are entitled? Do I allow the responsibilities of effective teaching to consume time that should be available for things outside of my school responsibilities? None of the three choices is truly acceptable, yet in reality for many teachers such are the options from which they can choose. Choices like this are just one example of the pressures that many good teachers experience, and that can help drive them from the profession.

he final four pages of text, 153-156, are under the title of “Afterward: Final Thoughts” and these pages bring together final conclusions from the wealth of material Farber has provided. There are three sections, titled respectively, Why Teachers Teach,: To Educational Leaders, Policy Makers and Politicians; and To Teachers

We can no longer continue the ongoing loss of skilled teachers. It costs too much financially. It costs even more in lost learning and benefits to our society.

One of my former colleagues had students do just that with the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.