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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 1

Chapter 2

Toward a Theory of Practice

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Toward a Theory of Practice

Successful educational leaders are confident and self-assured.

Upon appointment to an administrative position, leaders acquire power and cachet.

Students of educational leadership must internalize organizational knowledge and develop their own theory of practice.


Two Principal Sources of Conflict One source lies in the different ways in which

different people can and do understand what educational organizations are and how they are best led and managed.

The second source lies in the pervasive disagreement among people in our society about the nature of education itself and what the goals of schooling should be.


The Great Debate: Traditional v. Progressive Education Today traditional conservative concepts have seized

the momentum of the school reform movement.

Traditional education concepts focus on the primacy of the subject matter, with drill, memorization, teacher authority and formal instructional methods.

Progressive education concepts focus on the individual, with individualized instruction, team learning, group discussions, and informality in the classroom.


Beginning of the Great Educational DebateProgressing education flourished from

1870s to 1940s. In an era of massive industrialization, corporate

abuse of workers abounded and little social support for the poor existed.

Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889, advocated for better working conditions.

Upton Sinclair in 1906 published about poor working conditions in Chicago stockyards, in The Jungle.


Beginning of the Great Educational Debate (continued) In 1873, Francis Wayland Parker,

superintendent of Quincy MA began the first schools using progressive methods.

John Dewey led the scholarly movement for the study of progressive methods at University of Chicago from 1986 to 1904.

Other notables: Edward Thorndike, G. Stanley Hall, and William H. Kilpatrick.


Backlash of the 1950s NEA and US Office of Education supported vocational

education curriculum for majority of students who were not going to college that led to many nonacademic courses.

Backlash against progressive education: Arthur E. Bestor (1953). Educational Wastelands: the Retreat

from Learning in Our Public Schools. Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, Education and Freedom. Albert Lynd, Quackery in the Public Schools. Mortimer Smith, The Diminished Mind: A Study of Planned

Mediocrity in Our Public Schools. Robert Maynard Hutchins, Education for Freedom.


Backlash of the 1950s (continued)Sputnik II, launched by Soviet Union on

October 4, 1957.National Defense Education Act (NDEA)

passes in 1958.Progressive Education swept aside.Yet against the backdrop of Vietnam

War, progressive views return. John Holt, Jonathan Kozol, Herbert Kohl.


The Contemporary Debate on SchoolingA. Bartlett Giamatti, former President of

Yale, described truth as a dynamic compound of opposites. Similar to the current literature on US education—

an amalgam of opposites for understanding the state of schooling.

Began with the 1983 Reagan White House report A Nation at Risk.

Reported the numerous failures of US education, based on no evidence cited in the report.


The Contemporary Debate on Schooling (continued) “We report to the American people that while we can

take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people” (A Nation at Risk, 1983).

Thomas Sowell, (1993). Inside American Education: The Decline, the Deception, the Dogmas.


The Contemporary Debate on Schooling (continued) David Berliner and Bruce Biddle (1995). The

Manufactured Crisis: Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public Schools. Identified myths such as:

Student achievement in U.S. primary schools has recently declined. The performance of U.S. college students has also fallen recently. The United States spends a lot more money on its schools than other

nations do. Investing in the schools has not brought success. Indeed, money is

unrelated to school performance.

Gerald Bracey, columnist for Phi Delta Kappan. Richard Rothstein (1998). The Way We Were.

In his study of educational history, he never found the golden age. “Schools ain’t what they used to be and probably never were”.


The Paradigm Shift in Education What comprises intelligence? Traditional definitions of intelligence.

Reason, problem solve, comprehend ideas. Can be measured accurately. Is a unitary whole. Is fixed and unchangeable.

Alfred Binet—developed with Theodore Simon the first intelligence test, Binet-Simon scale. In 1905.

Intelligence is normally distributed and can be quantified as an IQ.


The Paradigm Shift in Education (continued)

Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1994). The Bell Curve. Controversial, yet scholarly, treatise on

intelligence. Brought attention to topic of intelligence.

The achievement gap has racial overtones.

Lake Wobegon Syndrome


Multiple Intelligences TheoryThe following individuals paved the way

for Gardner’s work on Multiple Intelligence Jean Piaget—logical processes build and mature

over time. Jerome Bruner—professed a “constructivist”

philosophy of learning. Daniel Goleman—used the term “emotional

intelligence”.


Multiple Intelligences Theory (continued)

Howard Garner’s MIT—had a profound impact on teachers and school leaders. Perkin’s Learnable Intelligence Theory.

Perkin’s Smart Schools Informed Energetic Thoughtful


Emotional IntelligencePeter Salovey and John C. Mayer coined

the term emotional intelligence in 1990. They defined Emotional Intelligence as the ability

to perceive, access, generate, understand emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.

Daniel Goleman’s 1995 book Emotional Intelligence brought the term to the forefront. He talks about “two minds”: rational and

emotional.


The Debate Continues E.D. Hirsch Jr.---Cultural Literacy National “Summit Meetings” on Educational

Standards. 1989—President George Bush and National Governors’

Association at U of VA. Clinton Chaired. 1996—President Clinton, governors and business resulted

in Year 2000 Initiative. 1999—President Clinton, governors, superintendents,

business, education leaders resulted in focus on strict application of standards on test performance.


The Debate ContinuesThe debate focus includes: improving

teacher quality, promoting choice in schools, strengthening accountability for achieving standards.

Educational leaders must know the issues and take a stand on them in a quest to develop their own theory of practice.


Theory of Action Theory is systematically organized knowledge

thought to explain observed phenomena. Theory generates research which helps inform and perhaps change the theory as new knowledge is created.

Theory of Action—a theory describes a truth which gives rise to one’s judgment as to how the theory can help deal with practical problems, i.e., a theory of practice.

Example: Modern Western medicine v. Holistic medicine. Physicians must decide which competing theories will guide their practice.


Theory of Action (continued) Kurt Lewin indicated that nothing is more

practical than a good theory. Theory does four things:

Describes what is going on; Explains it; Predicts future events under given circumstances, and; Controls events.

When we internalize and act on a theory of action, that theory becomes an important element in our theory of practice.


Theory of Practice Theory of practice is a composite of theories of action

and gives direction to one’s professional practice. A theory of practice for educational leadership rests

on three pillars: A systematic understanding of the behavior of adults at

work in the school. An understanding of the organizational context in which

people work. Leader behavior.

You are challenged to reflect of the theories presented in this book and to consider how you will use these ideas in your professional practice.


The Game Plan: A Coaching Metaphor Every athletic coach is a student of the game

who generates a “game plan” that is understood and shared by all team members.

An educational leader must be a student of organizations and leadership, and he/she needs to develop a “game plan”.

The leaders should adapt the “game plan” as new knowledge emerges.

In this book, it is appropriate to think of your theory of practice as your “game plan”.

copyright © allyn & bacon 20071 chapter 2 toward a theory of practice this multimedia product...

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