I’m still processing our discussion. What I’m thinking right now is with freedom comes responsibility. In some sense, even if we cut the ties to the federal management, we would have to develop a system at the state level to organize our efforts. A system closer to the participants is more likely to be responsive to the people it serves and this would be a great advantage. But it is still a system. Real change , innovation, still starts within our classrooms. Teachers must be empowered to be entrepreneurs, given the opportunity and the resources to adequately meet the needs of their students. If the state is willing to become an advocate for the teacher as professional, then the battle we are talking about would be worth the effort. But, if the state continues to be the ‘expert’ and doesn’t allow the teacher autonomy in his or her practice, have we really changed anything?
September 9, 2008 at 4:05 am
That was a wild ride and I’m intrigued by the idea that we might actually be able to come up with a model for microcosmic change by approaching a classroom.
The challenge is identifying the inputs and outputs of the larger system in order to make sure none of them get left out in the redesign.