Module 2 Dsc - Social Change and the Work of Tyack and Cuban - 2 views

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  #1 Lisa Durff on 27 Dec 10

   

  Social change is demonstrated through the change in public schooling from the pre-Civil war era to the late twentieth century. It is remarkable that such change in the way schools are organized took hold so quickly across a large country and has persisted as the expected organizational pattern. According to Tyack and Cuban (p.86) this social change made the life of the teacher easier, although it did not make the life of the student better or easier.
  Periods of social change in education happen during eras of unrest or "crisis" as Tyack and Cuban (p.43) refer to them. During these periods, national politics reacted by elevating educational discussions above the local and state level to national platforms. Public concern over schooling preceded these national conversations. The societal change in the pre-Civil war era was the upheaval caused by the industrial era. The Civil war brought public education, especially in the southern states, to a stand-still and shut down many schools. During the era of Reconstruction following the Civil war more national concerns produced changes in public education. These changes became so entrenched in the American mindset that the schools we now have are known as "real schools", fit into the society's grammar of schooling, and are resistant to change, even though the paradigms have changed.
  One of the key problems of involving conversations surrounding the education of the nation's children on the national level is that politicians ultimately reduce these conversations down to winners and losers. This competitive spirit creates polemic platforms based on test scores, economic viability, and comparisons with the international community.
  Another key problem with associating educational reforms with political platforms is that educational reforms move on a different timetable. While it cannot be disputed that the schools of the twentieth century were different than the on-room schools of prior periods, one must remember that one political party at one particular time was not responsible. The social change that took place was a reaction to many different social problems, including providing compulsory education for all, educating Blacks, women, and the handicapped, the need for factory workers to man the industrial age, economic disparities between the different regions of the American nation.
  Americans have seen the obtainment of future success of the nation coming through education. At this point in time, new challenges to perceived American supremacy have appeared. Outsourcing of American factory jobs, increased movement of goods and services across national boundaries, and the expectation of increasingly differentiated education for each child. Will these factors together be enough to produce a change in the school-grammar of this nation? If the economy recovers, I don't think so.
  Tyack and Cuban discuss school reform as useless, not because reform changes schools, but because schools change reforms. In other words, any reforms are molded into the existing grammar of schools, assimilated into the status quo, and become no reforms at all. They name the examples of the Dalton plan and the Eight-Year Study. Our present grammar of school has been shaped by politicians able to legislate support, economic forces that shaped curriculum, and teacher unions that appreciated labor-saving same-age groupings.
  I also consider reforms to be useless. To redo the grammar of schooling, the entrenched model must be destroyed and only then can a new grammar be built. A social change of this magnitude will follow a period of cultural crises involving economic, artistic, educational, political, and religious factors.
  
  References
  Christensen, C., Johnson, C. W., & Horn, M. B. (2008). Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns . McGraw-Hill, 1 ed.
  Tyack, D., & Cuban, L. (1995). Tinkering toward utopia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Social change is demonstrated through the change in public schooling from the pre-Civil war era to the late twentieth century. It is remarkable that such change in the way schools are organized took hold so quickly across a large country and has persisted as the expected organizational pattern. According to Tyack and Cuban (p.86) this social change made the life of the teacher easier, although it did not make the life of the student better or easier. <br /> Periods of social change in education happen during eras of unrest or "crisis" as Tyack and Cuban (p.43) refer to them. During these periods, national politics reacted by elevating educational discussions above the local and state level to national platforms. Public concern over schooling preceded these national conversations. The societal change in the pre-Civil war era was the upheaval caused by the industrial era. The Civil war brought public education, especially in the southern states, to a stand-still and shut down many schools. During the era of Reconstruction following the Civil war more national concerns produced changes in public education. These changes became so entrenched in the American mindset that the schools we now have are known as "real schools", fit into the society's grammar of schooling, and are resistant to change, even though the paradigms have changed. <br /> One of the key problems of involving conversations surrounding the education of the nation's children on the national level is that politicians ultimately reduce these conversations down to winners and losers. This competitive spirit creates polemic platforms based on test scores, economic viability, and comparisons with the international community. <br /> Another key problem with associating educational reforms with political platforms is that educational reforms move on a different timetable. While it cannot be disputed that the schools of the twentieth century were different than the on-room schools of prior periods, one must remember that one political party at one particular time was not responsible. The social change that took place was a reaction to many different social problems, including providing compulsory education for all, educating Blacks, women, and the handicapped, the need for factory workers to man the industrial age, economic disparities between the different regions of the American nation. <br /> Americans have seen the obtainment of future success of the nation coming through education. At this point in time, new challenges to perceived American supremacy have appeared. Outsourcing of American factory jobs, increased movement of goods and services across national boundaries, and the expectation of increasingly differentiated education for each child. Will these factors together be enough to produce a change in the school-grammar of this nation? If the economy recovers, I don't think so. <br /> Tyack and Cuban discuss school reform as useless, not because reform changes schools, but because schools change reforms. In other words, any reforms are molded into the existing grammar of schools, assimilated into the status quo, and become no reforms at all. They name the examples of the Dalton plan and the Eight-Year Study. Our present grammar of school has been shaped by politicians able to legislate support, economic forces that shaped curriculum, and teacher unions that appreciated labor-saving same-age groupings. <br /> I also consider reforms to be useless. To redo the grammar of schooling, the entrenched model must be destroyed and only then can a new grammar be built. A social change of this magnitude will follow a period of cultural crises involving economic, artistic, educational, political, and religious factors. <br /> <br /> References <br /> Christensen, C., Johnson, C. W., & Horn, M. B. (2008). Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns . McGraw-Hill, 1 ed. <br /> Tyack, D., & Cuban, L. (1995). Tinkering toward utopia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</div>

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