Decision-Making Process

Involvement

Decision-Making

Relevance

Competence

Implementation

Responsibilities

Accountability

Preface

During the summer of 1970 Mr. William Phinney and I worked on the following statement relative to the concept of involvement in the decision-making process within the Quincy Public Schools. More than two years has passed since the paper was shared with the leadership of the school system.

What has happened in the intervening two years? Does involvement characterize decision making in the Quincy Public Schools? If so, where? If not, why? Should it? And, if so, how we move to make involvement a reality?

In the American experience it has often been suggested that the public school ought to be a microcosm of a democratic society. It should be the social institution where young people learn through first-hand and real experiences about participation in the decision-making process of a democratic society.

If that is to happen, then a prerequisite to it is the involvement of the educational community in the decision-making process of the school system.

In the term: “involvement in the decision-making process” the key word is “process”. How is it to be accomplished so that each person who does become involved feels that he made a contribution?

How do we guard against people feeling that they are being “used” and consequently calls for involvement become suspect? How do we overcome the lingering feeling on the part of some that involvement is just “window dressing” and that “they” have already made the decision?

How do we differentiate between the democratic ideal of involvement and the reality of accountability for those who have been elected or appointed to positions of leadership?

I am well aware that those of us who serve as public educators today are confronted with many critically important questions and that each begs for our attention. However, to my mind, none is more important than governance. How do we best organize so that we can do what we do best – assist young people to come to know in an environment where he who is to be affected by a decision has shared in the process of making that decision?

Lawrence P. Creedon

November, 1972

Involvement in the Decision-Making Process

As educators  within the Quincy Public Schools each of us shares in the responsibility for implementing an educational program with, not for, the young people of Quincy that is relevant to what each needs to know, and is presented to each in a manner and taught  in an environment that is responsive to the learning style of each individual. If each of us shares in the responsibility for implementing such a program, then it follows that each should share in the development of the program and each should be held accountable for not only its relevance but its effectiveness. Obviously each of us cannot be expected to develop a K-12 and beyond program in the cognitive, affective or psycho-motor domains, nor can each of us be held singularly responsible or accountable for the implementation and effectiveness of a relevant instructional program. However, each of us must be involved and participate in the process that leads to decision making in the Quincy Public Schools.

Indeed, involvement must not be limited to those of us who have been appointed to administrative posts; but rather involvement must provide for meaningful input from all our colleagues and associates professional, custodial, clerical, maintenance and other service personnel.

It must provide for input from students and parents as well as from concerned citizens of this community.

I have spoken on this issue before and have no doubt but that I’ll speak on it again and again. To me involvement in the decision-making process is a prerequisite skill, an on-going concern, and an ultimate goal necessary for the development, implementation and effectiveness of a relevant-individualized educational program. My personal list of priorities for achieving quality education in the Quincy Public Schools is extensive; however, there is none higher than involvement. Involvement is the process vehicle through which our humanistic and academic goals can be realized.

In order to develop, implement and assess a relevant instructional program K-12 we must involve one another. In order to be certain that we know as much as we possibly can about how each one of our 17,000 students learns we must involve one another. In order to make the best utilization of space, learning materials and technology we must involve one another. In order to rest assured that our in-service training needs are being met, and that our staff and human resources are being properly allocated and developed we must involve one another.

In short I am asking that involvement in the decision-making process become “a”, (not the) hallmark of an educational system for the seventies in Quincy.

While we have been talking about involvement in the decision-making for the past several years, in my opinion we are on an absolute scale or measure, far short of what I feel ought to be our end-in-view.

Involvement or participation in the decision-making process does not lend itself to easy definition. It is more in the becoming than the being; it is more in the doing than the done. It is existential in character. Democracy and involvement are not always synonymous terms. In our context participation in the decision-making process does not mean one man one vote. It is not an abdication or violation of trust by those who have been charged with administrative and leadership responsibilities. It is not a revolt against authority and responsibility in favor of an egalitarian community, institution or society.

Participation in the decision-making process means that he who is to be affected or influenced by a decision, an action, ought to be involved in the process that leads up to making that decision.

Involvement must be based on competence, and it is competence that must be defined. To share in the process of decision making on a particular task or issue an individual needs to be cognitively and affectively competent.  He must reflect:

1. An awareness of the task need or issue.
2. A  knowledge of the task, need or issue as the result of study and research.
3. A realization that ultimately when a decision is made it will affect his actions.
4. A desire to be involved in the decision-making process.
5. An ability to interact with other human beings.
6. A willingness to act in good faith in support of a decision that has been made in good faith.
7. An appreciation that all decision are subject to review based on new or more clearly defined input.

What is the state of the art today within the Quincy Public Schools?

In my opinion it is as follows:

1. As Superintendent I have a deep commitment to the concept of participation in the decision-making process.
2. A four-team model has been developed and in some instances is operational.
3. The Instructional Planning Team and Learning Management Team groups are struggling with what task are most appropriately theirs for decision making and for recommending to another body.
4. Principals are asking where do they fit individually and collectively in the decision-making process.
5. E.C.T functions spasmodically and where they are in existence they are frequently not clear of their role, tasks, authority and responsibilities.
6. Assistant principals, Department Heads, classroom teachers, staff and support personnel along with custodial, clerical and service personnel have no clear place in the decision-making process.
7. Students are seldom meaningfully involved in decision making.
8. Community groups are not involved except for the Compensatory Education Board, Headstart. E.D.C. and P.C.C.
9. A conscious effort for involvement based on competence has not categorized participation in the decision-making process.
10. The existing model for decision making is inadequate.

It is neither intended nor necessary that any of us should feel guilty about our admitted inadequacies in developing and implementing an effective model for participation in the decision-making process. It is very doubtful, that we will over be satisfied with a vehicle for decision making that reaches out for involvement.

Therefore, in appreciation of what we have been attempting to do, yet in realization that we need to refine our thinking, modify our vehicle and move to the next plateau I would like so share with you some of my current thinking on “Next Steps”.

Recommendation One: Leadership Assembly

I am proposing that we establish an Educational Leadership assembly. Membership in the Educational Leadership Assembly will be extended to all persons within the school system who are in positions of leadership. Among the professionals this would include all those from the position of department head or assistant principal on up.

In addition persons in key leadership positions from the non-professional, para-professional, custodial, clerical, maintenance, and service groups would be included. Leadership from the several associations would be included.  Representatives from students, parent and community groups would be included.  Representatives from private and parochial schools within Quincy would be included. The assembly might number up to 150 people.

The purpose of the Assembly will be information giving. I t will not function as a forum, dialogue or decision-making group. The sole purpose of the Assembly will be to disseminate pertinent information to key people within the educational community of Quincy.

The assembly will meet three or four times each year. Agenda items will be limited to reports on on-going efforts within the school system, or programs approved for future development.

Recommendation Two: Forum on Curriculum Relevance

I am proposing that we establish a Forum on Curriculum-Relevance. The purpose of the Forum will be to hear proposals for curriculum development and make recommendations to the I.P.T. In establishing such a Forum consideration needs to be given to:

1. Membership
   1. Size
   2. Representation
      1. Students
      2. Teachers
      3. Department Heads
      4. Assistant Principals
      5. Principals
      6. I.P.T.
      7. Community
      8. Operating Procedures
         1. Chairmanship
         2. Voting
         3. Agenda Building
         4. Parliamentary Procedures
         5. Meetings
         6. System of Priorities
      9. Degree of Authority and Extent of Accountability

Recommendation Three: Principals Self Analysis of Personal Role and

                                                     Building Goals   

I am proposing that each principal devote up to one week in personal refection away from the day-to-day operational demands of administering a school in order to give in-depth consideration to an analysis of his role consistent with his stated five years goals.

In analyzing your role measured against your five-year goals I would ask that each principal give consideration to:

1. Tasks that you need to perform
2. Tasks that others need to perform for you or in support of you if you are to realize your goals.

Your five year goals need to be stated in terms of the dimensions cited in our Systems Approach Chart. Your role needs to be defined in terms of what tasks identify you as the educational leader of your building, what tasks are managerial and need to be performed by other members of your staff and what tasks go beyond your sphere of influence to control and need to be performed by someone external to your building and staff.

I am recommending that this task be performed outside the physical confines of the school and during this period that the operational responsibility for the school be turned over to the assistant principal.

I am encouraging each principal to avail himself of his opportunity prior to the February recess.

Conclusion:

By way of conclusion I would like to review a few of the major points I have attempted to make and then make a request of the principals and the Instructional Planning Team:

1. Involvement in the decision-making process ought to characterize decision making in the Quincy Public Schools.
2. The concept of participation in the decision-making process is an evolving one. There is no set formula for accomplishing involvement. The process must be under constant assessment and re-assessment.
3. Within the Quincy Public Schools we have made some significant gains at developing and implementing a vehicle for participation in the decision-making process.
4. Participation in the decision-making process is not synonymous with one man one vote and must be based on competence.

I would now ask that he principals in respective groups at the elementary and secondary levels as well as the I.P.T. consider the observations I have made and in particular the three recommendations.  I have not attempted to “order” in these recommendations what it is that we must do next. I appreciate that the recommendations are just that. They are not conclusive; they are suggestive. I have not attempted to answer all the questions attendant to these recommendations. I simply don’t have all of these answers.

Through Mr. Nolan, Mr. Woodward and Mr. Phinney I am requesting an opportunity to meet with the elementary principals, the secondary principals and the I.P.T. in order to explore the appropriateness and feasibility of the observations and recommendations I have made.

Lawrence P. Creedon,  Superintendent

1972

and

Participatory Decision Making – An Experience.

Lawrence P. Creedon

This piece considers the rise, development and demise of a 20 year effort in collaborative leadership and participatory decision making.

The Concept

Those who are to be affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of  making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made

Introduction

Collaborative Leadership and Participatory Decision Making [CL/PDM], is much talked about and little practiced. To begin with, neither is easy. Traditional line-staff, autocratic, bureaucratic, command, control and comply [AB C] procedures are and have been the norm. However, an ABC approach is in fundamental conflict with the ubiquitous proclaimed school mission statements that among the purposes of the school is to prepare young learners to live and participate in a democratic society. Traditionally in organizational structure, including decision making, learning environment, and instructional process schools have not made good on that assertion and have not been exemplars of CL/PDM.

In the United States the recent federal initiative known as “No Child Left Behind” with its emphasis on standardized testing is one example. NCLF is closer to a command control and comply process than it is to less autocratic approaches. In contrast and again in the USA the three decade old initiative in Charter Schools has been a step toward CL/PDM.

In international schools where private ownership of schools is more prevalent and where financial profit is frequently a factor, centralized leadership and decision making is the norm.

A committee structure for involving faculty in decision making while increasingly common is seldom an adequate example of CL/PDM. Certainly it is closer in design and implementation than ABC, but it falls short when measured against CL/PDM.

Focus

This paper will focus on:

1. A brief synopsis of the theory and history of CL/PDM
2. Four fundamental characteristics of CL/PDM
3. An example of a 20 effort in conceptualizing, developing, implementing, assessing and all but abandoning the effort.

Theory and History

The democratic ideal of citizen involvement in their  own governance is at the root of CL/PDM. That ideal extends to the school – the primary institution within a democratic society for fostering democratic ideals and processes in the young. As indicated at the outset of this monograph and simply stated: Those who are to be affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made.

In many, if not most, quarters collaborative leadership and participatory decision making are looked upon as innovations. And to some, the concepts are fanciful, far-fetched initiatives promoted by those on the fringe of the progressive movement. However, the concepts do seem to be in conflict with an era that has focused its attention on authoritarian practices evidenced by the quality through testing movement. While viewing CL/PDM as a contemporary fashionable approach to leadership and organizational development that characterization is not accurate.

The concepts of CL/PDM are not of recent origin. They are embedded in democratic ideals. In the context of leadership and management in the world of work contemporary thinking in these areas dates back to at least the 1930s. The Human Relations Movement began then with George Mayo [1880 – 1949] as its first guru. The “Hawthorne Studies” became well known so that to this day reference is still made to the “Hawthorne Effect.” In short, the Hawthorne Effect referred to a situation where no actual change took place in the work place, but workers were led to believe that their surroundings had improvement and thus production went up. The hallmark of Mayo’s work was his belief arrived at through experience and observation that the primacy given to human organizations as human cooperative systems rather than mechanical contraptions made the difference in organizational harmony and accomplishment.

In 1960 Douglas McGregor published his now classic study of organizational behavior known as Theory X and Theory Y in his book The Human Side of the Enterprise. Theory X organizations were identified as being authoritarian where workers were viewed as lazy, lacking in motivation, self-centered and resistant to change. In contrast Theory Y organizations were more democratic where workers were self-motivated, sought responsibility and were committed to fulfilling the objectives of the work place.

In the era before and after World War II, Kurt Lewin [1925-1947] was prominent. Lewin is frequently credited as the father of social psychology including group dynamics and organizational development.  Also he is associated with the development of the notions of “Force Field Analysis” and “Action Research.” Lewin identified three types of organizations: authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire. In the area of the change Lewin categorized the process into three phases:

1. Unfreezing: Overcome inertia and current mind-set
2. Change: Characterized by confusion and transition
3. Freezing: Not refreezing, but the reestablishment of a comfort zone

Warren Bennis [1925 - ] has been frequently identified among the top leadership theorists and practitioners of modern times. He is credited with being a strong promoter of democratic approaches to leadership and organizational development. For example in 2007 Business Week quoted him in his belief that “ humanistic democratic-style leaders are better suited to deal with complexity and change that characterizes today’s leadership environment.”

There are many others leading spokes people in support of CL/PDM. However, the four cited above are generally recognized as the fathers of the democratically based human relations movement.

Four Fundamental Characteristics

Four fundamental characteristics of CL/PDM are:

1.Commitment to the concept and ideal

2. A climate for change

3. Mutual trust and respect

4. Involvement in decision making, implementing and assessment

Foremost of the four is commitment at the top of the organization or institution. Policy makers and the most senior leadership authorities must be committed to the concept and the ideal. Loss of that will lead to the demise of the effort as will be noted farther on in this paper. Commitment is a key factor in developing the climate – the environment – for mutual trust to develop and thus involvement in the quest for CL/PDM.

Quite possibility faculty and staff will be skeptical about overtures from the top calling for a climate and process conducive to CL/PDM. They may feel that there is an ulterior motive involved. Trust may be lacking as the result of past actual or perceived behavior of those on top. They may look for and expect concrete and specific examples of the concept in the here and now.

It is not uncommon that those in policy making positions such as school owners [both those active in the management of the organization and those more passive and absentee], boards of directors, or publically elected or appointed school boards will doubt the wisdom CL/PDM. The feeling may be plain and simple that those appointed to lead ought to lead. CL/PDM may be viewed as a weakness and the shirking of responsibility.

Unions and employee associations might also have misgivings and doubts about the intent of CL/PDM. They may exhibit distrust in the motives of those on top who are calling for CL/PDM. They may come to the table with an “us-against-them” mind-set.

Finally, among the general population of the school or organization faculty and staff there will be those who doubt the wisdom and need for change. They may have reputations as “Nay-sayers” toward most efforts at reconsidering the status quo of things as they are and have been.

Speeches alone promoting CL/PDM from those on top will not create the climate for CL/PDM to take root and develop. As the sayings go: Actions speak louder than words and By their fruits you will know them.

Commitment, climate, trust, and involvement are circular. Addressed in linear fashion each alone will not suffice. The four are interrelated and inter-dependent. However, the seed of the whole concept is commitment. Without continuous, lasting and action-based commitment at the top, trust will not take root and without trust a desirable, positive climate will not prevail.

Experts external to the local area regardless of how well credentialed they might be cannot provide for commitment, climate, trust and involvement. These four basic and vital compounds are planted, grown and harvested in the context of concrete, specific situations. They will not flourish and bear fruit as abstract, theoretical concepts. Outside authorities can offer counsel on how to proceed and can assist in providing relevant theoretical, historical and experience-based data, but the seeds of commitment, climate and trust resulting in involvement are local and come from within. Indeed there are skills involved in the whole process and outside authorities can assist in facilitating their identification, development and application.

Establishing and implementing a program characterized by commitment, trust and climate is a never ending process. It is not something that has an alpha and an omega. The banner of Mission Accomplished ought never to be flown. The four components together are the source of fuel that propels the organization and like other fuels it is consumed in use. It is refreshed through continuous, active commitment at the top.

An Era of Collaborative Leadership and Participant Involvement and Innovation.

A renewed era of innovation in leadership and participant involvement in decision making, implementation and assessment within the Quincy, Massachusetts, USA public schools began in 1963 with the arrival of Robert E. Pruitt as superintendent of the nearly 20,000 student school system. Mr. Pruitt came from the University of Chicago School of Education where he had served as assistant director of the University Laboratory School. The School of Education grew out of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago where  American philosopher John Dewey and Colonel Francis W. Parker were among the founders.  Colonel Parker had previously served as the first superintendent of schools in Quincy from 1865-1870. At the time the entire faculty of the Quincy school system numbered 30. During the more recent renewed era of innovation from 1963 – 1984 the faculty numbered approximately 2000. Professor Merle Curti, Harvard University in his book The Social ideas of American Educators is among those authorities who have observed that progressive education in the United States began in Quincy, MA under Colonel Parker.

Superintendent Pruitt served from 1963 – 1969 and did so in the progressive tradition of Colonel Parker. I served as superintendent and the 13^th successor of Parker from 1969 – 1984. I continued in the progressive tradition of Parker and Pruitt.

What follows is a synopsis of what I consider and recall as the significant events in the more recent rise, development, implementation and demise of CL/PDM in Quincy. These views, accurate or not, fanciful or not, biased or not, embellished or not capture the 20 year renewed period of innovation as I experienced it, contributed to it and lived it.

Policy Makers: Democratically Elected School Board

The seven member city-wide democratically elected school board of Quincy played a vital role in the progressive orientation of the Quincy Public Schools. The board did not consist of professional educators and was not appointed, but rather was made up of a cross section of locally elected citizens of Quincy. Traditionally board members were openly and aggressively committed to the quest for quality education for the approximately 20,000 young people of the community. As a whole the Board personified a progressive approach to education. The Quincy Public Schools [QPS] had a long tradition of progressive education. For example, Quincy was among the first school systems to establish junior high schools in departure from the then prevailing eight year grammar school and four year high school model. Quincy was early in establishing a special education department, guidance services, kindergartens, a 13^th-14^th year vocational-technical education program and a two-year associate degree community college. The Board welcomed and encouraged innovation. It functioned as architects of policy and did not attempt to micro-manage. However, much of that changed including the orientation of newly elected members of the Board. Beginning with the decade of the 1980s successive Boards played a role in the demise of the renewed period of innovation.

Challenging the status Quo

Superintendent Pruitt arrived in Quincy from the University of Chicago in 1963 and ushered in a period committed to challenging the status quo and establishing a climate for change. For the duration of his five year tenure, Mr. Pruitt promoted the concept of CL/PDM as it was then understood. With the passage of time, research, a host of initiatives in many school systems the concept has developed from what it was in the decade of the 1960s.

Superintendent Pruitt stressed the importance of climate – a climate of mutual trust and respect. He promoted the notion of a systemic approach to the mission of the school system, to learning and to management. He embraced the newly enacted Massachusetts law granting educators collective bargaining rights and privileges. In fact Quincy was among the first in the USA to establish a collective bargaining agreement [a contract] between a school board and a teachers association.

As an assistant to Mr Pruitt as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Teachers Association I actually drafted the brief, two page contract. It focused on both professional rights and responsibilities.

Mr. Pruitt reached out to national government and private industry initiatives in progressive innovative approaches to education. Among the more prominent initiatives were the federally funded Project Able in Vocational Education, Project PLAN [Program for Learning in Accordance With Needs] privately funded, and COPED [Cooperative Program in Education Development] a federally funded program in human relations development including CL/PDM. Superintendent Pruitt was committed to establishing a climate for change.

In 1969 Mr. Pruitt left Quincy and at age 36 I was elected superintendent of schools. I served in that capacity until 1984. Mr. Pruitt went on to a position with the United States Department of Education in Washington, DC

Having served under Mr. Pruitt and having been mentored by him I continued his commitment to progressive education and participatory decision making. It was and continues to be my practice to author position papers defining and sharing with those interested and effected views on education. This paper is one such example. Scores of others are found on my web site: www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com.  Two among those I authored then and that are still applicable today are: Establishing a Climate for Change, and Participatory Decision Making in the Schools of Quincy, MA.

Establishing a Climate for Change

An early initiative in the quest for establishing a climate for change was embarking on an extensive series of educational retreats. Over a three to four year period of time small groups of school leaders and faculty members numbering about 40 individuals spent two to three day residential retreats at a conference center. Participants were selected at the school level by the teachers association.  Some retreats focused on faculty members from one school while others involved faculty members from several schools. In one instance the entire faculty of the community college was involved each time for a series of two retreats.

The teachers association [union] took part in selecting participants. The sessions were facilitated by human relations department faculty members from Boston University, Lesley College and the Sloan School of Business Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]. The agenda was built by participants and focused on climate including the issue of trust. The goal was not to focus on problem solving and seeking consensus on a specific concern, but rather to consider factors that facilitated or hindered progressive change.

The program was associated with the United States Department of Education program Cooperative Program in Educational Development. Locally it was known as Q-PED – Quincy Program in Educational Development. Funding came from the US Department of Education, the Simon Gutman Foundation [a private foundation dedicated to human relations], and the Quincy Public Schools. Ultimately budget cuts contributed to the end of the effort. However during its active period approximately 400 faculty members took part in retreats and follow-up activities.

Participatory Management

At the outset of the renewed period of innovation the school system reflected a common and traditional line-staff organizational structure. During my superintendency that changed to a layered team structure. The layers were:

Building Level:

At the building level faculty became more involved through such structures as faculty senates and principal councils. Faculty participated in developing building level budgets reflecting specific needs of an individual school.  Faculty participated in developing aspects of the ten component design for learning. The Design for Learning is addressed in other Creedon monographs. Faculty participated in developing job descriptions for new or replacement openings. They also participated in interviewing, screening and recommending candidates for appointment.

System-Wide Level

Instructional Planning Team [IPT]: The IPT was made up of all system-wide academic and special areas coordinators. It included system-wide coordinators of math, science, social studies, foreign languages, music, art, physical education, athletics, media and library science, guidance and special education. Among the tasks of the IPT was the system-wide, systemic development and implementation of the ten component Design for Learning. Most of the Design for Learning developmental work was done during summer workshops. Over a five year period 250 faculty members participated in summer Design for learning development  workshops.  Implementation of summer efforts was carried out during the school year. The IPT reported to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

Learning Management Team [LMT]: The LMT was made up of system-wide directors of elementary education, secondary education, pupil personnel, plant, and business affairs. It functioned primarily in the area of system-wide management as opposed to the curriculum and instruction concerns of the IPT. The LMT reported collectively to the Superintendency Team.

Superintendency Team [ST]: The superintendency team was made up of the assistant superintendents of schools for curriculum and instruction, vocational-technical education, pupil personnel services and human resources. The directors of plant and business affairs served as resource persons to the ST. The superintendent chaired the superintendency team. The superintendency team considered all system related concerns that channeled up to it through the other team structures. It made recommendations to the superintendent who in turn either directed action to be taken or if the matter related to policy referred it the school board. Only the school board determined policy.

Expanded Task Teams [ETT]: Expanded Task Teams were issue related and where made up of colleagues across the spectrum of the school system who were impacted by a particular issue. Four examples follow:

Elementary School Renovations: At the elementary school level all principals sat on the School Renovations Task Team. Each budget year principals included in their proposed budgets requests for building improvements and maintenance. The 22 elementary principals met as a group, reviewed all requests and made recommendations to the Learning Management Team [LMT].

New School Construction: When a new high school was being built the entire faculty was involved in recommending space needs. For example, school was closed one day and the entire faculty was involved in recommending space needs for their departments. A steering committee of faculty from every department met monthly with the superintendent and architect throughout the entire construction period.

Curriculum Development:

Project Plan: When a decision had to be made concerning a curriculum development project [Project PLAN: Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs – Westinghouse Learning Corp and American institutes for Research] that had impact system-wide all teachers from the affected schools met in a two day Friday-Saturday session. They reviewed the situation and made a recommendation as to whether or not to proceed with the effort. Their recommendation was adopted.

Project ABLE: Project ABLE was a one million dollar federally funded curriculum development project in conjunction with the American Institutes for Research.  The purpose was to develop a curriculum and program of studies bringing together the curriculums of both the vocational-technical school and the high school so that courses and programs could be shared back and forth. The development period was for three years. During that time more than 70 faculties members were relieved of classes one-half time on as rotating basis in order to develop curriculum. Additional staff was hired as necessary.

Leadership Assembly:  The Leadership Assembly included every person in the school system who had a professional leadership position including assistant principals, department heads, principals, system-wide specialists, coordinators and directors. It numbered approximately 125 individuals and was chaired by the superintendent of schools. It met twice a year for the purpose of sharing system-wide information. It was an information sharing forum as opposed to an action oriented body.

Support Staff Assemblies: Once a year day long sessions were held separately for custodial and maintenance staff personnel as well as secretarial and clerical support staff. The purpose was information sharing as to developments and initiatives within the system.

Student Leadership Assembly: Twice a year student leaders from all levels of the school system and from all school related activities participated in the Student Leadership Assembly. Participants included elected class officers, officers from clubs and special interest area groups, and leaders from athletic teams, music, and theater groups, etc. The purpose was to solicit from the student leaders their views on curriculum and instructional issues pending before the school system. For example at one such session the Student Leadership Assembly produced a position paper on their view as to basic skills.

Curriculum Relevance Forum: In every academic area a curriculum relevance forum was established. It was made up of an equal number of educators and community people and parents. The purpose was to review the curriculum and instructional program and make recommendations to the IPT. Each forum was chaired by an IPT member. Relevance Forums met quarterly.

System-Wide Excellence Forum: Once a year parents, PTA leaders and community members were invited to a forum on “The Pursuit of Excellence Within the Quincy public Schools.” The all day session was held on a Saturday. The AM session was held in each of the system’s 33 schools. The afternoon session was a common session held at one school. The agenda was framed around the ten component Design for Learning. Recommendations went directly to the superintendent and the Learning Management Team.

Superintendent’s Seminars in Current Trends in School Administration: Twice each school year the superintendent facilitated a seminar for 10 principals and/or assistant principals focusing on current trends in education. Eight once a week 90 minute sessions were held. Each session began with breakfast being served at 7:45 AM. Participation was on a volunteer basis and was limited to ten.

Teachers Association Leadership and Supintendent: On a monthly basis the leadership of the teachers association and the superintendent met. The agenda was jointly prepared.

Involvement in Promotional Screening Process: The procedure for recommending individuals to the school board for promotion included a screening committee process that included representatives from the faculty, the student body and the community. The teachers association identified faculty participants, students were identified by the principals and community folks were identified by the PTA or other parent organization.

Superintendent at Home Series: Every month one day after school the superintendent and members of the IPT and LMT met with an invited number of teachers for a two hour social meeting. There was no agenda. The atmosphere was of a reception social gathering type. Light refreshments were served. The teachers association controlled the invitation list. A similar series of social gatherings were held for high school students. High School principals extended invitations to about 30 students per session.

Other Initiatives: The above does not exhaust the initiatives taken to reach out to various constituencies within the school system, however, it does cite most of the major efforts. Also not considered in this monograph are the several other initiatives taken such as newsletters, superintendent monographs followed up by Superintendent – Faculty Q and A sessions held at individual schools and departments within the secondary schools.

Demise of Collaborative leadership and Participatory Decision Making

Unfortunately much of what has been chronicled above no longer exists. The reasons are many and to do them justice would require at least a separate monograph. However, so as not to end with the notion that nirvana has been reached [for it has not] a brief listing as the reasons for the demise will be cited here.

1. The attitude of the majority of the School Board toward progressive initiatives changed. More conservative candidates were elected to the School Board.
2. Severe State mandated cuts in taxes sharply curtailed programs within the schools, thereby requiring the school system to make deep and extremely harmful cuts in its budget and personnel.
3. The superintendency changed thereby leaving a “commitment” void at the top.
4. For all the effort over a 20 year period a “Climate for Change” did not take root. Rather quickly the pendulum swung back to more traditional ways.

Summary Observation

What has been chronicled here has been an effort to point out that the involvement process is much more than the leadership meeting periodically with a representative group of faculty. Rather, the involvement process requires an on-going effort to meet with as many different sub-sections of the whole as possible. Indeed, what has been cited here does not exhaust the total effort at involvement and communication. For example, nothing is mentioned here about written communications and there were several avenues. All of this took place before the advent of tele-communications so nothing is mentioned here about the advances attributable to the computer, technology and social networking. The process is never ending. If trust and a climate receptive to change is to be maintained the effort must be continuous as must the commitment at the top.

Lawrence P. Creedon

For Honduras Leadership Cohort

September 2010

www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com

Teacher in Kuwait

 May 2009

I think that I started to change my mind about the efficiency of tests. Although I used to strongly believe that high-stake tests is the best way to check  a students’ understanding to make sure that he is doing his work. But through this course, we knew since the beginning that we will not have a test and still all of us are doing our work efficiently. Moreover,  we are really attentive to the presentations of each other. We also discuss our topics extensively in class. We also research each others topics because we are interested.  The most important thing is that we do our work efficiently but we are still relaxed because we know that we will not have a test. I assure you that the amount of knowledge and learning that happened in this class is so much more than what happened in other class in which tests.

C. Louis Cedrone International Education Center

Framingham MA USA

Collaborative Leadership and Organizational Change

Overview

Traditionally schools have adhered to line-staff organizational structure with top down decision making. While education leadership organizations, leaders in the field, and those publishing and writing in the professional literature  have for decades advocated a more collaborative approach to leadership and organizational structure for the most part schools remain as line-staff organizations with central top down leadership. This course will consider an alternative approach to leadership and organizational structure. The focus of the course will be on collaborative leadership and participatory decision making. A maxim for the course is:

Those affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made.

The intention is that the course itself will be presented as a practicum in collaborative leadership and participatory decision making. You will not be lectured on these two components as much as you will be involved in doing what is intended in the terms “Collaborative Leadefrship” and “Participatory Decision Making”.

Learning Objectives

Consistent with the maxim stated immediately above learning objectives for the course will be developed as a communal effort involving all course participants. That exercise will begin as a pre-course assignment and be developed as a whole class exercise in the first few hours that the course is in session. The procedure to be followed in undertaking this exercise is found on the Yahoo Web site provided for the course.

Pre Course Exercise Excise #1: As a pre course exercise each participant is to:

1. Develop a set of personal learning objectives for the course.
2. Your learning objectives must relate to the content of the course: Collaborative Leadership and Organizational Change.
3. State your learning objectives in list format.
4. There is no set, required or recommended number of objectives that you must list. Your learning objectives indicate what you hope to gain from the course.
5. Forward your list of learning objectives to me [Larry Creedon at lpcreedon] two weeks for the first meeting of the course on September 13, 2010.
6. Upload your list of learning objectives in the designated place of the Yahoo Web Site developed for the course   XXXXXXXXX.
7. Bring two print copies of your objectives to class on Day One.
8. At that time we will engage in an exercise where all individual learning objectives will be consolidated into one composite list. Those learning objectives will guide us during our learning experience.

Instructor Objectives

Instructor Objectives and participant learning objectives are not the same thing. This point will be clarified in class. My instructor objectives for this course are as follows:

1. Foster a learning environment where and leadership is promoted and practiced consistent with a collaborative leadership approach.
2. Foster a learning environment where “those affected by decisions are involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made”.
3. Introduce participants to the theory and practice of collaborative leadership and to the organizational structural requirements of such an approach.
4. Introduce and practice a constructivist approach to leadership and organizational structure.
5. Introduce and practice with participants strategies and tactics applicable to a constructivist approach to learning.

Yahoo Web Site:   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A Yahoo web site has been established for the exclusive use of course participants. Each participant is required to sign on to the web site. It is a vital organ for the course. Many learning materials are posted on the site. In addition you will be required to post assignments you do on the web site. The sweb site will remain active and available for you and your course colleagues to use after the course has ended.

Course Learning Materials

There is no required textbook for the course. The primary sources for course learning materials are:

1. Internet [Search Engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo]
2. Monographs authored by me [Larry Creedon]. They are found on my web site: LarryCreedon.wordpress.com as well as on the Yahoo web site for the course.

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Pre Course Exercises

C. Louis Cedrone International Education Center

Framingham MA USA

Collaborative Leadership and Organizational Change

Overview

Traditionally schools have adhered to line-staff organizational structure with top down decision making. While education leadership organizations, leaders in the field, and those publishing and writing in the professional literature have for decades advocated a more collaborative approach to leadership and organizational structure for the most part schools remain as line-staff organizations with central top down leadership. This course will consider an alternative approach to leadership and organizational structure. The course will not focus on the more traditional elements of administration, management, supervision and top down leadership. The focus of the course will be on collaborative leadership and participatory decision making. A maxim for the course is:

Those affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made.

The intention is that the course itself will be presented as a practicum in collaborative leadership and participatory decision making. You will not be lectured on these two components as much as you will be involved in doing what is intended in the terms “Collaborative Leadership” and “Participatory Decision Making”. An anticipated result of such an approach is Organizational Change.

Learning Objectives

Consistent with the maxim stated immediately above learning objectives for the course will be developed as a communal effort involving all course participants. That exercise will begin as a pre-course assignment and be developed as a whole class exercise in the first few hours that the course is in session. The procedure to be followed in undertaking this exercise is found on the Yahoo Web site provided for the course.

Pre Course Exercises

Excercise #1: As a pre course exercise each participant is to:

1. Develop a set of personal learning objectives for the course.
2. Your learning objectives must relate to the content of the course: Collaborative Leadership and Organizational Change.
3. State your learning objectives in list format.
4. There is no required or recommended number of objectives that you must list. Your learning objectives indicate what you hope to gain from the course.
5. 5.   Forward your list of learning objectives to me [Larry Creedon at lpcreedon(at)aol (dot) com] two weeks before the first meeting of the course scheduled for Sunday, January 9, 2011.
6. Upload your list of learning objectives in the designated place of the Yahoo Web Site developed for the course   XXXXXXXXX.
7. Bring two print copies of your objectives to class on Day One.
8. At that time we will engage in an exercise where all individual learning objectives will be consolidated into one composite list. Those learning objectives will guide us during our learning experience.

Due Date: Submit to lpcreedon@aol.com two weeks prior to the first meeting of the course scheduled for Sunday, January 9, 2011.

Post on Yahoo Site: Post your list of Learning Objectives on the Yahoo Web site for the course under the category: “Pre-Course Exercises, #1”.

Exercise #2: This exercise can be found in the earlier syllabus dated November 2010 and already forwarded to you by Professor William M. Gordon. This exercise is modified from that sent to you by Professor Gordon. Choose Alternative A or Alternative B from the two cited below. You are not being asked to do both, just one. Choose either Alternative B or B.

Alternative A: Prepare a two page [approximately 500 word] paper describing[To describe is a low order cognitive term associated with Bloom’s Cognitive taxonomy] what you consider to be the characteristics of an effective classroom teacher and the elements necessary for good classroom instruction.

Oral Discussion in Class: In oral discussion in class be able to describe what you mean by “effective” and be able to identify what you consider to be “elements of good classroom instruction”. Consult the ASCD text Qualities of Effective Principals by Stronge, Richard and Catanoas well as sharing your own experience.

Alternative B: Prepare a two page [approximately 500 word] paper identifying [To identify is a low order cognitive term associated with Bloom’s Cognitive taxonomy] the leadership characteristics of an individual for whom you have worked – what did that person do to make you determine he/she was a good or poor leader.

Oral Discussion in Class: In oral discussion in class be able to describe what you mean by leadership. Be able to distinguish leadership from administration and/or management.  See the Creedon monograph in this regard found at www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com.

DO NOT post this exercise on the Yahoo Web site for the course. However bring two copies to class on Day One

Exercise Three: Refer Out to International Colleagues

Most recently I facilitated this course with professional colleagues in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Your assignment in this exercise is to e mail one or more of the participants in the Honduras course and ask each to share with you from their recent experience a few comments with you relative to what you might expect in the course.

A list of the Honduras participants is attached. Select one or more from this list. Selecting more than one might increase your chance of receiving a response.

You might consider these examples of questions. You need not ask these exact questions, these are possible examples:

1. How was the course conducted? What approach to learning was featured?

2. How was the course content determined, and the course conducted?

3. Did the course feature lectures, group/team activities, role playing, or what?

4. Was the course relevant to your professional development needs?

5. What role did the instructor play?

6. Where participants involved in leadership roles?

5. To what extent was the course an example of “Collaborative Leadership”?

6. To what extent has the course influenced your practice?

Date Due: Write a report or an outline of your responses from Honduran colleagues and bring two copies of your report to class.  Choose whether or not to upload responses you received and your report onto the Yahoo site for the course. Uploading is voluntary.

Due Date: Submit in two weeks before the first meeting of the course scheduled for Sunday, January 9, 2011.

Instructor Objectives

Instructor Objectives and participant Learning Objectives are not synonymous. They are not the same thing. This point will be clarified in class. Instructor Objectives are written consistent with the approach advocated by the late Robert Mager [Google him] and are consistent with Bloom’s taxonomy [See Creedon monograph on Bloom’s Cognitve Taxonomy www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com

].  My Instructor Objectives for this course are as follows:

1. Foster a learning environment where leadership is promoted and practiced consistent with a collaborative leadership approach.
2. Foster a learning environment where “those affected by decisions are involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made”.
3. Introduce participants to the theory and practice of collaborative leadership and to the organizational structural requirements of such an approach.
4. Introduce and practice a constructivist approach to leadership and organizational structure.
5. Introduce and practice with participants strategies and tactics applicable to a constructivist approach to learning.

Yahoo Web Site:   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A Yahoo web site has been established for the exclusive use of course participants. Each participant is required to sign on to the web site. It is a vital organ for the course. Many learning materials are posted on the site. In addition you will be required to post pre-course as well as in-class assignments you do on the web site. The web site will remain active and available for you and your course colleagues to use after the course has ended.

Course Learning Materials

1. Text: There is no required textbook for the course. However you have been encouraged to acquire Qualities of Effective Principals, by Stronge, Richard and Catano, 2008, ISPN 978-1-41660744-1
2. Internet:  Search Engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo
3. Monographs: Position papers and articles authored by me [Larry Creedon]. They are found on my web site: larrycreedon.wordpress.com
4. Videos
5. Articles posted on the Yahoo web site for the course.

Procedure/Pedagogy: A Constructivist Approach

The course will not focus on the traditional, basic aspects of school administration, management and supervision found in more introductory courses. However, it will distinguish between administration and management on one hand and leadership including collaborative leadership on the other. Decades of doing the same thing over and over again while seeking organizational change has not resulted in the organizational change desired especially in a democratic society

Collaborative Leadership is associated with Constructivism. Constructivism promotes the notion that those affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made. Consistent with that mantra course participants will be involved in determining course content, pedagogy and assessment and evaluation. In this course collaborative leadership will not only be talked about, but it will be extensively practiced. Several Creedon monographs will address specific   aspects of a Constructivist approach to collaborative leadership. Successful application of collaborative leadership can set the stage for research based, defensible, lasting organizational change. A case study involving the public schools of Quincy, MA USA will be reviewed from an “insider”  first person perspective.

Course Requirement

1. Course participants will be involved in recommending to the course facilitator course requirements.

2. Rubrics related to learning objectives will be developed and applied. See Creedon monographs related to Rubrics.  www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com

3. Active participation in all course activities will be expected. A rubric describing  “active participation” will be developed applied. Those who shy away from verbal or oral participation need to immediately at the outset of course see the facilitator about this.  Failure to do will result in individuals be held to the participation requirement.

4. Action Research Project: All participants will engage in an Action Research project of their own choosing. The ten component approach to Action Research laid out in the Creedon monograph will be followed in engaging in AR. Participants will work in small groups of not more than three individuals. AR projects ought to be related to individual learner objectives. Much of this will be conducted in class.

 Origin, Purpose, Characteristics and Bloom Based Applications

By

Lawrence P. Creedon

Rubrics have to do with assessment and evaluation. They are an alternative to the more traditional, subjective procedure of awarding a grade in response to teacher judgment, quotas or other competitive procedures. Rubrics are neither subjective nor competitive. In using rubrics teacher subjective judgment is kept to a minimum and quotas are not used in controlling the number or percent of grades that can be awarded in a given category. Individual competence and mastery are the determinants.

With rubrics teacher subjectivity is reduced. Grading systems that adhere to a predetermined formula are eliminated. With rubrics the quantity of the work performed and the mechanics of language usage and construction in reporting on what has been learned are not interwoven with the quality of the work performed. Each is evaluated separately.

Rubrics are criterion referenced. Competence is defined as the capacity to do what needs to be done. The definition of standards and benchmarks as applied to rubrics is not the same as that associated with standardized tests and the No Child Left Behind, United States federal education law. However, rubrics  are standard and benchmark based.  The standard is stated in terms of mastery and benchmarks indicate the level of mastery.

Origin of Rubrics

The use of rubrics in education is of recent origin; however, as with many so-called initiatives in education the concept is not new. Historically the term is derived from the Latin term rubrica meaning “red earth.”  During the middle ages it was common for important passages within official documents to be highlighted in red ink Red markings within liturgical documents indicated the rule or religious precept that was being promulgated.  In legal documents, text in red often indicated a heading in a code of law that led to rubric coming to mean any brief, authoritative rule.

www.music.miami.edu/assessment/rubricsDef.html

Characteristics of Rubrics

1. The purpose of a rubric is to clearly and distinctly identify the terminal behavior expected from a learner as the result of a learning experience.
2. Rubrics are criterion referenced. The criteria for performance are stated in the rubric.
3. Rubrics focus on competence. Competence is defined as the capacity to do what needs to be done.
4. Rubrics can be holistic, multiple or task specific. As holistic, a rubric focuses on a complete concept, topic or issue. As multiple, several subordinate rubrics to a holistic rubric are developed with each multi rubric related to the same issue, topic or concept. As task specific, a rubric is limited in scope and breadth to one specific task related to a holistic rubric or one component of a multiple rubric.
5. Rubrics ought to be developed in conformity with a taxonomical framework such as found in Bloom’s six category cognitive domain.
6. Rubrics ought to be developed so as to address a variety of intelligences in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.
7. Rubrics ought to be developed at the outset of the learning experience, and shared before instruction begins with those for whom they are intended.
8. Learners themselves ought to participate in the development of the rubrics consistent with their personal level of competence and maturity.
9. Instruments used for evaluation [tests] ought to be an outgrowth of the rubrics developed for the learning experience.
10. The terms used in a rubric ought to be clearly defined, specifically related to a level of cognition and be constant in application from rubric to rubric.
11. Rubrics are applicable at all levels and in all curriculum areas.

While not recommended, but if necessary in order to come into compliance with traditional grading procedures, rubrics can be converted to a letter or percentage grade.

Limitations of Rubrics

Rubrics are not the “Silver bullet” of assessment. And, they are not universally embraced. For example AlfieKohn [www.alfiekohn.org], among others, has offered a thoughtful critique of rubrics.[ English Journal, Alfie Kohn March, 2006, Vol 95, no.]   However, Kohn does not address the process of applying Bloom’s taxonomy to rubrics. It is this application that will be addressed in the remainder of this paper.

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy Applied to Rubrics

Benjamin Bloom et. al. Six Category Cognitive Domain Taxonomy [1956] provides an excellent vehicle for the development and application of rubrics. Bloom’s taxonomy was and continues to be an effort to minimize arbitrariness and subjectivity in grading. As stated by Bloom and that of his colleagues the purpose of their taxonomy was to:

…develop a theoretical framework which could be used to facilitate communication among examiners….After considerable discussion, there was agreement that such a theoretical framework might best be obtained through a system of classifying the goals of the educational process, since educational objectives provide the basis for building curricula and tests and represent the starting point for much of our educational research.

The “framework” referred to by Bloom is now understood to mean rubrics.

Bloom and his associates had two intentions in offering the taxonomy. First, they intended to:

…provide taxonomy of educational objectives so as to provide for classification of the goals of our educational system. It is expected to be of general help to all teachers, administrators, professional specialists, and research workers who deal with curricular and evaluation problems… For example, some teachers believe their students should “really understand,” others desire their students to ‘internalize knowledge,” still others want their students to “grasp the core or essence” or “comprehend.” Do they all mean the same thing? Specifically, what does a student who “really understands” do which he does not do when he does not understand? Bloom, p. 1.

Second, they intended that the taxonomy should be of direct help to classroom teachers responsible for curriculum building. The original 1956 Bloom taxonomy handbook states:

Teachers building a curriculum should find here a range of possible educational goals or outcomes in the cognitive area (“cognitive” is used to include activities such as remembering and recalling knowledge, thinking, problem solving, creating).  Comparing the goals of their present curriculum with the range of possible outcomes may suggest additional goals they may wish to include…. Bloom, pp. 1 and 2. 

The relationship between the taxonomy of Bloom and his colleagues and the contemporary focus on rubrics is clear. Later on in this piece it will be shown that today Bloom’s taxonomy has application that extends far beyond that intended by its original framers.

While Bloom’s taxonomy is not the only structure suitable for creating rubrics, adherence to Bloom minimizes the subjective nature of rubrics. A commercial reality is that many listings of rubrics are nothing more than a regurgitation of more traditional approaches to test building. In such situations all that has been changed is the name and it is an example of the same old wine in new bottles.

Subjectivity such as teacher judgment can be a major limitation of rubrics that do not follow a cognitive structure such as that found in Bloom. At the outset it should be cautioned that teacher subjectivity is not always a limitation and to be avoided. Often when teacher judgment is offered in holistic fashion concerning a student it can be more valid and reliable than other forms of evaluation.

However, when subjectivity characterizes a rubric the whole process has been reduced to another form of a traditional approach to grading such as awarding letter or percent grades, quotas, or manipulating grades to fit the bell curve. Such procedures are in sharp contrast to rubric based evaluation with their clearly and distinctly defined criterion for competence and mastery.

In this context, the purpose of schooling is learner mastery of that which is being taught and not competition among learners. It is self-fulfillment for all and not survival-of-the-fittest for a few. Rubrics do not foster an oligarchy.  In the words of Alfie Kohn the purpose of schooling is to maximize success and not to ensure that there will be failures. Rubrics properly understood and applied can contribute to the quest.

Bloom’s Six Category Cognitive Domain

The six categories of Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy are:

1. Knowledge/ Information
2. Comprehension
3. Analysis: Compare and Contrast
4. Synthesis
5. Evaluation
6. Application.

.

The six divide into low order and high order cognitive categories. Low order has to do with Knowledge/Information and Comprehension. High order relates of the other four. It is commonly recognized that for the most part schools deal in low order activities, while their promotional literature as found in mission statements, etc proclaim that they focus on high order pursuits. For the most part standardized tests are low order cognitive. The best examples of this are the tests mandated by NCLB.

In their taxonomy Bloom and his colleagues use the term knowledge as opposed to information when considering the data input to the learning experience. Bloom defined knowledge as: those behaviors and test situations which emphasize the remembering, either by recognition or recall, of ideas material, or phenomena. Bloom, p. 62.  However, in reality when Bloom and his associates discuss knowledge they go far beyond information. They actually use the term knowledge in synoptic fashion to summarize the total impact of all six cognitive categories on the learner. To them knowledge referred to the seamless whole. Bloom and associates postulated four categories of knowledge as knowledge specifics, terminology, facts, and universals and abstractions Bloom pp. 62-75.

In contrast, information is limited to data only which relates most closely to what Bloom terms as knowledge of specifics and terminology.  At the outset it does appear as if he and his colleagues are equating information with knowledge. They are not.

I prefer to use the term information when referring to the first step in the cognitive process and reserve the word knowledge to indicate the sum total of the whole six category taxonomically based learning experience.

Bloom’s understanding of comprehension and analysis – compare/contrast is straight forward. No further clarification will be offered here.

When considering synthesis, Bloom goes beyond the common understanding of the term as referring to bringing varying and possibly contrasting views together into a new whole. To Bloom, synthesis is the only original aspect of the whole cognitive process. It is the creative component. Synthesizing is advancing what is to a new level. It relates to the ancient Greek concept of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. It is at the level of synthesis that new knowledge is created.

To Bloom and his associates evaluation was not an activity or an event that took place solely at the end of a learning experience. Rather, evaluation was to be on-going throughout the entire learning experience. W. Edwards Deming in his concept of Total Quality Management in industry promoted the notion of evaluation being an on-going process rather than a single terminal exercise. While not colleagues, Deming and Bloom agreed on the place and purpose of evaluation. In the last years of his life Deming attempted, with little success, to bring the concepts of TQM to bare on the education establishment.

Evaluation as proposed by Bloom, Deming and a host of others is in sharp contrast to the high stakes standardized test approach of NCLB. Through NCLB the learner sinks [gets held back] or swims [gets promoted or graduates] based on the results of standardized tests.

Application as understood by Bloom implies that no real learning has taken place unless what has been learned can be put into practice.  Bloom takes issue with the notion of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. It honors the notion that learning without application is not learning in any meaningful sense.

The six categories of Bloom’s taxonomy are not rigid. Beyond the first two of information and comprehension they do not necessarily unfold in any predetermined order. Teacher judgment can be decisive in determining the order of the six categories beyond the first two. The order will depend on the topic being considered, the purpose of the learning experience, the learning resources at hand and the learning style of the learner.

Clear and Distinct Rubrics

Bloom and his colleagues identified a list of action words associated with each of their six cognitive categories. In doing so what they did was to anticipate the whole rubric based evaluation process.

It is in using the most appropriate action word associated with a specific cognitive category where a rubric becomes clear and distinct. Action words or verbs that are clear and distinct are factors in defining mastery and competence. Qualitative words such as little, most and some are too subjective to be effective in rubrics and should not be used. To say that an assignment has been completed is not precise enough. It is important to specify at what level of mastery and under what conditions an exercise was completed. Lists of action terms associated with each of Bloom’s six categories are readily available commercially. Or, an enterprising faculty as a professional development activity can develop its own. Among those that are on the market is Quick Flip Questions for Critical Thinking developed by Linda G. Barton and available through Edupress, Inc, POB 883, Dana Point, CA 92629.  Also, Curriculum and Project Planner for Integrating Learning Styles, Thinking Skills, and Authentic Instruction, Imogene Fonte  and Sandra Schurr, Incentive Publications, Nashville, TN, 1996..

A clear and distinct rubric ought to be limited to one specific topic. It should not include several factors such as the process for addressing the task, the format for reporting on what has been accomplished, the correctness of the grammar [including spelling], and finally, the content being considered. Each of these ought to be considered in separate rubrics. Also, when awarding a value to each level of content mastery within a rubric, components such as process, format and language mechanics ought not to be of equal value with content. For example, if a rubric is to have a mastery/competence range of from zero to four points, then conforming to expectations in process, format and language mechanics is not equal to mastery and competence in the content of the rubric. If the learning exercise includes submitting a series of reports the mere submission of the reports is not equal to the actual content of the report. Submitting reports on time and as directed ought to receive no more than the minimum number of points possible. In this example that would be one point.

Submitting a report or a series of reports has little to do with the quality of the work accomplished. All it signifies is that a requirement for submitting an assignment has been met. However, if the purpose of the rubric is to address process, format or grammar mechanics, then awarding quality points beyond the minimum for each of these factors would be appropriate. The subject matter of the learning exercise stands alone and through the rubric mastery and competence is identified. As stated earlier, competence is defined as the capacity to do what needs to be done.

Scoring Rubrics

A common approach to scoring rubrics is a number-based quality point system usually ranging from zero to four points. The four point system is not an absolute. Alternative approaches are appropriate as long as whatever is used is consistent among all applications and by all users.

Zero points indicate non-compliance or lack of understanding of the assignment. At the other end, four quality points indicates exemplary performance as indicated by the four Bloom categories identifying critical thinking, metacognition and application. The four are: analysis- compare and contrast, evaluation, synthesis and application.

One point is indicative of low order cognition as in information accumulation and comprehension. Such activities as recalling, describing, identifying and regurgitating are indicative of low order cognition and thus in a rubric would receive one point. It is these two low order categories that are most frequently associated with tests whether they are teacher-made or standardized. Examples are true-false, multiple choice and short answer questions. Some form of recall or regurgitation is being called for.

The awarding of two, three and four points in a four point scale indicates that the learner has gone beyond recall and regurgitation to higher order components of critical thinking such as analyzing, comparing and contrasting, evaluating, applying and synthesizing. Two points can indicate an ability to analyze and compare and contrast. Three points can indicate competence in evaluation and application. Four points can be reserved for synthesis or meta cognition. It signals an ability to go beyond what is to a new thought, use, or application.

Synthesis, according to Bloom, is the ability to consolidate all that has gone on before in the other categories and create something new. Not necessarily a new discovery for humankind, but rather an epiphany for the learner.

Using Bloom’s taxonomy in this manner is consistent with a constructivist approach to learning. Among the characteristics of a constructivist approach is that learners construct their own knowledge from within the context of their own experience. This is in contrast to the attempted infusion of knowledge pre-determined by a source or authority external to self and the learner’s experience. Obviously the concept pf experience needs to be defined, however, to do so is beyond the purpose and scope of this paper. Consulting the work of John Dewey is a good source in this regard.

Rubrics and Old Wine

Publishers of educational materials in the “How-To” category have made available a plethora of paperbacks to assist teachers in responding to the learning needs of learners. Many of these publications have a great deal of merit; however, others are of the same old wine in new bottles variety.

Many, if not most in this category, do not fit the description of rubrics as presented here. Many are nothing more than traditional approaches to grading re-packaged in a new format with new terms to describe old approaches. Many do nothing more than recast grading in response to teacher judgment and regardless of the descriptors used come out as A, B, C, etc. Educators are often accused of marketing old wine in new bottles and if that is true frequently the shoes fits for rubrics. It is these that Alfie Kohn and other critics of rubrics seem to address.

Applications Beyond Testing

Rubrics have many applications beyond being used in testing. Several are cited here.

1. Standards and Benchmarks: Earlier in this piece reference was made to rubrics providing a vehicle for expressing standards and benchmarks.
2. Individual Accountability: Learners, under teacher direction and guidance, can create rubrics for themselves indicating the road that must be traveled in order for each learner to accomplish his/her personal best.
3. Peer Assessment: Two or three classmates or colleagues can establish a “critical friends” support team where they critique each other consistent with individually or peer developed rubrics.
4. Formative Assessment or Supervision: Provide a technique that can be applied in a formative program of professional development or supervision.
5. Critiquing a Professional Development Activity or a Faculty Meeting:  Provide an alternative to the traditional procedure for soliciting “feedback” at the conclusion of a professional development activity or faculty meeting.
6. Parent Input: Provide a vehicle for soliciting parent input and feedback at either a private meeting with a student’s parents or in conjunction with a meeting with the parent community.

Questions to Consider

In an article related to the topic of grades and grade inflation published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Alfie Kohn raised several questions that can be applied to rubrics and their application. Kohn posits that the current debate over grade inflation and standardized test scores is misdirected. He asserts that the focus ought to be on grading itself. In so doing Kohn has by inference focused the spotlight on rubrics and their application. Kohn has proposed that the debate on grading and grade inflation should focus on such questions as:  [Kohn, ibid.]

1. What unexamined assumptions keep traditional grading in place?
2. What forms of assessment might be less destructive?
3. How can professors and teachers minimize the salience of grades in their classrooms so long as grades must still be given?
4. If the artificial inducement of grades disappeared, what sort of teaching strategies might elicit authentic interest in learning?

Included in a response to questions 2-4 can be a consideration of rubrics.

Note: Examples of rubrics developed by former Framingham graduate students can be found on separate Creedon monograph.

Ipse dixi.t

Lawrence P. Creedon

Federated States of Micronesia, 2006.

www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com

Monday ,  October 12, 2009,  Saipan

Hafa Adai … Today in our learning experience related to Leadership, Professional Development and Supervision we will focus on Leadership. In your pre course exercise on Expectations  many of you made reference to leadership as a concern.  You asked about the characteristics of a leader. Some of you questioned the leadership climate and application where you practice. You spoke of fear.

On Saturday October 10 a considerable amount of time was devoted to compiling a single comprehensive list of course expectations including those related to leadership. As we move forward in our consideration of leadership we need to do so consistent with the issues and concerns we have identified and agreed to.

As a pre course reading you were to familiarize yourself with the Creedon monograph “Come Follow Me.”  Assuming you did that you ought to be ready to engage in and benefit from today’s learning experience.  If you did not honor that pre course assignment today will be of limited value to you personally and your contribution to the learning community you have associated yourself with will be also limited.

On page 18 of “Come Follow Me” the last sentence in paragraph 3 reads:

Those affected must be involved not only in decision making but in the development of the decision making process

Reflect on that with yourself in mind and in the context of today’s learning experience. An approach to behavior and assuming personal responsibility for your actions is referred to as “Consequences.”  If you are not prepared to engage ion today’s activity what ought the consequences, if any, be for you?  Add your thoughts below:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Assuming you are prepared then read the quotation above again and how ought we to proceed to day to address the concept of leadership as addressed in “Come Follow Me?”

Your First  Task

1. Meeting with your Focus group address the above question and come up with one or more alternatives as to how to proceed. We do not all have to do proceed the same way or address identical aspects of the monograph.  There is enough suggested there to keep us meaningfully involved for an extensive period of time, if not a whole career..
2. If you do not “Qualify” as a prepared member of your group what should you do now?

Larry Creedon,  lpcreedon@aol.com, www.larrycreedon.wordpress.com,  10-12-09

Pathways Toward An Approach to Learning

 A Synopsis

Lawrence P. Creedon

This paper is a synopsis of a longer paper. The intent here is to provide a synopsis of the longer paper.

Akin to relying on Cliff Notes this synopsis will not fulfill your personal need for professional development. This is a synopsis and not a full treatment. However, it will provide you with the gist of things contained in the longer Pathways paper and with issues that ought to be of concern in your own professional development.  In the process of coming to know using a constructivist approach it is important for you to understand where any particular strategy, method or tactic found along the pathway fits into the whole.

There is an Irish saying that refers to making several points in a single conversation and raising many related topics along the way as: Stopping at every hole in the hedge.  Drink in the imagery of that as it relates not only to Ireland but to any culture where people get together for extended conversation on a wide range of topics. In doing so they engage in “defensible partiality” [Theodore Brameld] and each has a platform of views.  Sections One and Two of Pathways focus on defensible partiality and a platform, but does so in a broad organizational and societal context.  The longer Pathways stops at many holes in the hedge. Pathways is divided into three sections:

1. A personal position identified as Defensible Partiality,

2. A Platform for Education,

3. An action program for classroom teacher based action research using a collaborative approach to shared decision making. This is where we will focus our attention.

Section One: Defensible Partiality: It is important for educators to have a point of view as to who they are as educators and why they do what they do behind the classroom door. Having an opinion, even one rooted in experience, is not enough. Educators need to know why they are doing what they are doing. What are the defensible theoretical constructs behind every day practice?

Those who came before us as well as theoreticians who contribute today not only have left behind, but also, are producing today a plethora of meritorious and defensible theory. Not only do we need to be conversant with past and present contributions, but also, we need to value and internalize those components appropriate for our practice. We need to be partial, but defensively so. This first section gets into that.

Section Two: A Platform for Education.  A platform stipulates what you can expect. The term platform is used frequently in political circles. A platform identifies what a organization stands for. It stipulates what its program will be and how proponents can be held accountable for what is or is not done. Framingham instructor Dr. Gene Thayer considers a platform for education in the course: Leadership, Supervision and Staff Development. 

A platform for education has many planks. Each plank focuses on a particular aspect of the total platform. It expresses intent. It is not constructed to satisfy the requirements imposed by outside sources. It is best generated internally by those who must implement whatever the platform and its planks come to be.

The process of education needs to be rooted in a platform for learning. Those identified and addressed at some length in Pathways include:

1.  Building a moral community based on social virtues

2.  Four foundation questions upon which the entire platform rests

3.  A set of personal axioms (belief statements, or truth signs) about learning

4.  A comprehensive student centered design for learning

5.  An identifiable, defensible, consistent approach to school governance

6.  A procedure for involving those are affected by a decision in the decision making process

7.  A procedure for effective communication

8.  Recognizing and dealing with myth versus logic in the process of education

9.  A commitment to total quality management

A major portion of Pathways deals with these nine planks. Each plank is further sub divided into more specific areas. The planks are:

Plank One

1. The importance of trust, competence, collaboration and collegiality.

2. The importance of culture

3. The importance of defensible learning theory

Plank Two

When it is all said and done it is possible to state the purpose of education as four questions:

1. What do you know about how learners come to know and do you practice consistent with what you know?

2. Of all the things learners can come to know what do they need to know now and why?

3. Having insights into questions one and two how are you and your school organized to facilitate what ought to be done?

4. What methods and tactics do you and are utilized in your school utilize in order to implement what you have organized?

In this plank consideration will be given to contributions made by past and present learning theorists such as Herbart, Piaget, Maslow, Tyler, Bloom and Krathwhol, Bigge, Skinner, Gardner, Goleman, Vygotsky and others.

Plank Three

Every teacher has basic assumptions about learning. And every educator ought to have a set of personal beliefs, axioms or truth signs that guide his or her practice. These indicate who you are as an educator, what you believe and thus why you behave professionally as you do. Those shared in Pathways are my personal set of beliefs. Also I have included a few sets developed by former students. You will be encouraged to reflect on your beliefs about learning and develop your set of guiding principles.  In some places assumptions about learning and personal axioms are considered as synonymous with a platform for education. I differentiate between the three.  My assumptions and axioms about learning are:

Basic Assumptions about Learning

1.   All persons are able to learn and are aware that they do know

2.   Learning is more than a random process

3.   Human beings have held a variety of views and opinions relative to mind and matter

4.   All learning begins in doubt, however, equilibrium is sought

5.   The dualistic notion of mind and body can not be supported

6.    Learning begins when doubt occurs and takes place as the result of the simultaneous and interaction of the learner and the environment

March 1975; Modified 2002

Axioms to Guide a Career in Education

1. Among the purposes of the public school is the transmission to the young the ideals upon which the United States was founded;

therefore,

the school ought to be a microcosm of a democratic society.

2.  Participatory decision making characterizes a democratic society;

therefore,

those who are to be affected by a decision ought to be involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made.

3.  Learning is more than a random process;

therefore,

how human beings come to know ought to be the most basic question of inquiry challenging educators.

4.  Schools are for learners;

therefore,

the curriculum and instructional program ought to be student centered and responsive

5.   Educators have an obligation to assist all students in becoming self fulfilling individuals, good citizens and competent workers in a world that is maximally effective for all;

therefore,

within the limits of individual potential and capacity, opportunities must be provided for each person to realize these goals

6.  Knowledge is conceptually based,

has structure and is constructed by and by each learner;

therefore,

in the curriculum the concepts ought to be identified and the instructional program so ordered in constructivist design so as to provide for an interactive process through which each learner in orderly, developmental, and constructivist  fashion can learn that which is desired, needs to be known and can be learned. (Modified 2002)

7. Educators serve the public interest and are not in private practice at public expense;

therefore,

a total quality management system needs to be designed and implemented that provides for such areas as professional development and competence, curriculum and pedagogical relevance, fiscal responsibility, business acumen, and facility maintenance. (Modified 2002)

August 1979, Modified 2002

Plank Four

Every school system ought to function in response to a locally developed comprehensive Design for Learning. A ten component design will be shared.

1.   Purpose, goals and mission of the institution

2.   Behavioral projections citing long term cognitive, affective and psychomotor                    expectations

3.   Rationale for each discipline and program included in the curriculum

4.   The structure of knowledge concepts underlying each discipline or program

5.   Instructional objectives

6.   Diagnostic and evaluative tools and procedures

7.   Constructivist compatible student learning activities: methods and tactics

8.   Appropriate utilization of multi media and electronic aids to learning

9.   A system for Total Quality Management

10. A self learning, self actualizing learning environment.

1974; Modified 2002

Plank Five

Governance is critically important. Among its characteristics are words (intent) and action (extension) as well as myth and reality. Several approaches to governance are considered in Pathways. Governors range from the all but totally autocratic to those who have a vision rooted indefensible partiality and have developed and implemented in collaboration with colleagues strategies for shared decision making. Definitions of leadership abound, however, in Pathways Governors are classified into four categories:

1.  ABC: Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Command, Control and Comply

2.  Compliance Administrators

3.  Transactional Managers

4.  Transformational Leaders

Plank Six

A procedure, including teacher determined and originated classroom based action research.  A hallmark of the procedure is that those who are to be affected by a decision are involved in the process of making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made. This approach honors collaboration. It seeks consensus. Consensus is not synonymous with majority rule.

A reality in taking action on decisions made is that those decisions that are most likely to be implemented by practitioners stem from those where practitioners have been collaboratively involved in the decision making process.

To be held accountable does not imply a punitive response if something does not proceed or succeed as intended. Rather, it means that those who have been involved in the decision making process remain voluntarily involved until the issue is resolved. The procedure developed ought to be applicable for all grades, levels, and disciplines including specialized programs.

The procedure being recommended in Pathways is addressed in detail in Section Three. Here a simple listing of the steps of the process will be cited.

1.    Establish a Task Team (A Team is more than a Group)

2.    Issue Identification.[1]

3,     Divergent Thinking

4.     A positive focus

5.     Clarify-Consolidate-Restate

6.     Prioritize

7.     Refer out

8.     A Systems Approach to Planning Strategies, Methods, and Tactics.

9.     A Plan of Action including Assessment

10    Open-System Closure

Plank Seven

Communication has been defined Aas the process of transmitting information and common understanding from one person to another.@ (Lunenburg, The Principalship: Concepts and Applications, 1995). However, information is not synonymous with knowledge and common understanding does not imply concurrence or agreement. Information as understood in Pathways is low order cognitive. It does not connote comprehension, application, valuing or internalization as understood by Bloom and Krathwohl. Effective communication is more than the process of transmitting information. The elements in the communication process determine the quality of communication.

Several questions proposed by Lunenburg will be considered in this plank. They are

1.    What is communication?

2.    How does the communication process operate?

3.    How does communication flow in a school organization?

4.   What are communication networks and how do they operate?

5.   What are the barriers to effective communication in schools?

6.   How can principals (and others) overcome communication barriers?

7.   What role does feedback play?

8.   What role is played by nonverbal communication?

Plank Eight

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a systemic approach to conceptualizing, understanding, developing, managing, and assessing a school or a school system. TQM recognizes that if one component of the enterprise is affected, the impact will be felt within the whole. TQM is a management system. In reality few schools or school districts operate consistent with TQM.

School Based Management (SBM) and (SDM) are not the same; however, each can be used as a subset of TQM. The approach to TQM shared here is that developed by W. Edwards Deming. The fourteen points of Deming=s program are@

1.   Constancy of Purpose

2.    A New Philosophy

3.    The End to the Dependence on Inspection in Determining Quality

4.    End  the Procedure of  Choosing the Lowest Bidder or Doing Things AOn the Cheap.@

5.    Continuous Improvement as a Constant

6.    In Service Development Through on the Job Training

7.    Transformational Leadership

8.    Drive out Fear From the Workplace for all Involved in the Enterprise

9.    Breakdown Internal Barriers that Inhibit Continuous Progress

10.  Put an End to the Use of Slogans, Exhortations and Targets

11.  Put an End to Numerical Quotas and Management by Objectives (MBO)

12.  Remove Barriers to Pride in Work

13.  Put an End to Annual Evaluations and Such things as the Merit System

14.  Institute Education Programs to Assure Continuous Improvement

Plank Nine

Myth and logic are most frequently at odds with one another. Myth is a common phenomenon.  Myths about the past are held and believed by and about individuals, groups, institutions, societies and cultures. Frequently myth is culturally driven. Many times logic and scientific inquiry defy myth. However, myth will continue to drive and sustain the enterprise. A reliance on myth can deter growth and continuous improvement. Myths can hinder collaborative efforts for continuous improvement.  Educators, other stakeholders and the general public harbor myths about what education ought to be. Students deal in the reality of what education is.

Section Three: 

Section Three lays out in detail a program for involving those affected by a decision in the decision making process including making, implementing and being held accountable for decisions made. Section Three lays out the guidelines for conducting educator initiated action research. The steps to be followed in embarking on the process are referenced in Plank Six. The Process is stipulated in the Creedon monograph: A Constructivist Approach to Brainstorming and Action Research – A Group Dynamics Approach to Shared Decision Making.

A Final Caution

Taken together the three sections of Pathways form a whole. Section One directs attention to the contributions made earlier by recognized scholars and authorities. A mark of the professional is that he/she is conversant with the contribution of those who came before and understands how their scholarship contributes to the present Section Two lays out a platform for guiding action in the present. Section Three provides a process for educator initiated action research. those contributions effect the present. scholarship is to be conversant with the

Personal professional growth requires that practitioners engage in career long study, reflection and development in all areas implied in Sections One and Two.  To do less is to be At Play in Little Games. Students are too young and too much in need to be used as pawns in the game. John Dewey said it this way: What the best and wisest parents for their children that must the community want for all its children. Any other idea is unloving. It destroys our democracy.

A closing thought:

The pathway to wisdom is plain and simple to express

To err and err and err again

But less, and less and less

Piet Hein

Ipse dixit

Lawrence P. Creedon

Framingham International Education Program

at Framingham State University, MA, USA.

San Roberto Institute, Monterrey, Mexico, April 24, 2002

Lesson Plans  

What They are and What They Ought To Be

Purpose – Characterization – Approaches

Lawrence P. Creedon

Helen L. Ross

There are four types of planning in which individuals and organizations engage, and they are:

1.  Quality

2.  Strategic

3.  Tactical

4.  Compliance

Lesson Planning ought to include all four types.  Quality planning considers why a specific effort is being undertaken.  It indicates purpose, mission and goals.  Strategic planning considers approaches and methods.  Tactical planning includes techniques.  Compliance planning is self-explanatory and it addresses mandates imposed by external authority. In each of these four categories the primary focus can be either on the content of the lesson or what is known about how the learner comes to know and needs to know. For the most part the emphasis is and has been on the content of the lesson rather than the learning profile or needs of the learner. However, while the lesson plan focuses on the content in a “one-size-fits all” approach the promotional literature and messages promulgated by the school profess to be committed and responsive to the needs of individual learners. The reality of most lesson plans expose that as a fiction.

In support of this assertion visit Hotchalk: Lesson Plans Page at  http://www.lessonplanspage.com/. There you will find a “10 Steep Lesson Plan Guide” which clearly places content and not learner needs and style at the center of the process.

Lesson Plans are usually tactical and focus on day-to-day, subject-by-subject, and hour-by-hour planning.  Unit plans or a syllabus are distinct from lesson plans and are more strategic.  Unit plans are of a more comprehensive range and focus on a concept or a theme. Lesson plans are tactical more precise applications of a unit plan. Lesson plans ought to flow from unit plans.

Among the characteristics of lesson plans as they are today is that:

1.  Lesson Plans are specific and focus on a whole class approach to a specific objective.                                                  They are neither w holistic or systemic

2.  Lesson Plans usually adhere to a five [Herbart] or seven [Hunter] step process focused on the content of the lesson and a “logical” progression through the five or seven steps. They are seldom focused on the learning needs or style of individual learners.

3. Lesson Plans are teacher, content or activity centered rather learner need and style centered.

4. Lesson plans are structured in such a way to promote of a structured, sequential delivery

of skill or pre determined content rather than individual skill mastery or content

understanding, application or evaluation.

Among the characteristics of what lesson plans ought to be are:

1. Lesson planning needs to begin in response to IEP’s – Individual Education Plans – for very learner.
2. Lesson planning begins with a Reflective Component focusing on where each learner is in the process of coming to know what has been determined as needing to be known. Reflection comes before unexamined attempted forward action.
3.  Lesson planning cannot be considered as a “one-size-fits-all” activity. The purpose of instruction is not to plow ahead and “madly teach” content that the learner is not conditioned or prepared to learn.

4.  Lesson Planning has three distinct components: purpose, process and outcomes. Each of these has sub categories.

5.  Lesson Planning begins with a reflection based needs assessment.  Of all the things this (these) learner(s) can come to know what is it that he/she (they) need to know now and why? [Creedon Question Two of Four Questions].

6.  Lesson Planning lays out the organization, process and implementation of a facilitator led learning experience

Facilitator Lead Learning Experience [FLLE]. [Creedon Questions Three and Four of Four Questions].

7.  Lesson Planning stipulates anticipated learning outcomes.  These are stated at the outset of

the learning experience.

8. Lesson Planning provides for projecting future needs or next steps. This section of the

lesson plan is done at the conclusion of the learning experience. It is based on a reflection based consideration of where each learner is and needs next.      .

9. Lesson Planning is open-ended.  It is cyclical.  It is recursive.

5.  Determine Performance Effectiveness

This is the evaluation component of the TLE.  It is directly related to the instructional objectives stipulated at the outset.  Performance Effectiveness is related to learning outcomes. Learning outcomes are anticipatory as they are stated at the outset and anticipate what the outcomes will be if the objective is realized.  Performance effectiveness is as the term suggests. Effectiveness of the TLE is determined by the performance of the learner(s).  Techniques associated with authentic assessment apply.

6.   Revise Where & When Necessary

At any step in the entire process where and when circumstances warrant it is appropriate to make changes.  However, changes should not be a whimsical, eclectic, or random.  If  a change is made, it must be understood that a change in one component or procedure effects the whole, thus a review of the entire TLE must be undertaken.  Change is not the exclusive domain of the practitioner.  Learners may propose changes but before implementation they must be reviewed and approved by the instructor.

7.  Open System Closure

In a systemic approach to the TLE closure is existential B it anticipates what comes next.  Here learning is viewed as spiraling and recursive [Bruner].  Laddering and scaffolding apply.  There is no absolute end, but rather ends-in-view [Dewey].

Rubric  NOTE: I DO LONGER SUPPORT THE APPROACH TO RUBICS CITED BELOW . SEE CREEDON MONOGRPH ON RUBRICS.  LPC 9-15-10

No points                                                Did not do assignment. Submitted more than one day late. Did not follow instructions

1  Point                                                            Submitted on Time. Limited ability to describe, recall and/or apply characteristics of a lesson plan as well as either the direct instructional approach or the systemic approach

2  Points                                                  Demonstrated orally or in written form being able to recall and describe the characteristics of a lesson plan as well as those of both the direct and systemic approaches. Limited ability to apply to own practice or to compare and contrast the two approaches with own procedure

3. Points                                                Demonstrated orally and through application an understanding of the characteristics of lesson planning as well as those of both the direct and systemic approaches. Demonstrated ability to apply to own practice as well as compare and contrast the two approaches with own procedure.

Bibliography

Bloom, Benjamin.  (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives).

Freiberg, H. Jerome.  (2002) Essentials Skills for New Teachers.  ASCD Educational Leadership.

Gardner, Howard.  (1991)   The Unschooled Mind. Basic Books, New York.

Goleman, Daniel   (1995)  Emotional Intelligence.  BantanBooks,New York.

Levine, Mel (2002 )  A Mind at a Time.  Simon and Shuster. New York

Vygotsky, Lev (1986)  Thought and Language MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Lawrence P. Creedon:  lpcreedon@aol.com; Helen Louise Ross: hross730@aol.com

May 2002

 Four Religion Based Approaches to Curriculum

Lawrence P. Creedon

What curriculum is is common knowledge,

So common in fact it may not even be true

Introduction

The conventional wisdom in much of the world today is that religion ought not to be a topic for consideration in public school education. The commmon belief is that religious instruction is not within the mission of the public school and that it ought to take place elsewhere at a time and place of parental choice. However, while that might seem to be self evident especially in a democratic society, in reality it is not. Religion in education is an issue in the forefront of what is the purpose and function of education. While the role of religion is of concern, seldom is much consideration given to the question: What is religion anyway?

Frequently it is assumed that what religion is, is common knowledge. However, world-wide that is not true either. As will be pointed out in this monograph what religion is  and how it influences and controls human behavior is not the same in western countries such as the United States, as it in middle eastern Muslim countries or in Asian countries with a Buddhist tradition. In the United States historically tenets of religious and moral education have been found in the Bible. In Muslim countries it has been and continues to be the Qu’ran and the Sharia law. In Buddhist countries the Eight Principles of Buddhism prevail.

What religion is has occupied the thought, study and teaching of thinkers for millenia upon millenia. And, if that be the case then it ought to be easily defined. But, still again,  that is not the case.  For example American philosopher and the commonly saluted  “father” of American psychology William James in his book Varieties of Religious Experience [1902] observed that religion defied definition. Then he went on to devote an entire book still in print to the varieties of religious experience. The point is that the defintion of religion rests in the varieties of its forms and expressions. An operational defintion of religion is that it is: EN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a supernatural agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual obserevances, and often containing a moral code govern ing the conduct of human affairs”.

Contrary to conventional wisdom the world over in many societies and cultures that definition is openly operational in the public schools and if not openly operational is just beneath the surface in official practice and private beliefs of school practitioners. Today practices in many Muslim countries attest to that. In the former Soviet Union  the recent past the stern reality of the anti-religious structure and practice of education in the USSR  its satellite countries as well as in China were examples. In the United States the struggle between secularism and sectarianism has always been an issue of concen and a battle ground for never-ending litigation. For example, in the early montrhs of  2010 issues in two of the 50 states have surfaced. In Texas the elected State Board of Education issued new mandates for the conduct of public education in the state that call into the question  aspects of the traditional practice of separation of church and state. In Wisconsin a county Attorney General has advised that if teachers implement aspects of the new Student Health law they could be arrested and charged with commiting a felony. The issue is over aspects of sex education required by the law that the attorney general asserts will conflict with the religious beliefs and values of the majority of the pouplation in the county he represents.

About This Piece

The premise of this piece is that the caution about common knowledge applies to education and in particular to what is understood to be curriculum. Reality is that: 

Practitioners deal every day with what is promoted as curriculum

In international schools in particular practitioners are charged with “writing curriculum.”

Usually practitioners charged with writing curriculum have had little or no preparation for their curriculum writing assignment and seldom do they fall into the category of “scientific experts” as alluded to above by Bobbitt.

In the United States there is currently a renewed and strong initiative to estsablish for the first time a national set of curriculum standards

The idea or concept of curriculum is confused with its implementation which is through the instructional program.

There are a wide range of approaches to curriculum depending upon what is determined by curricular decisions makers to be important,  valuable and valued.

What follows is a brief synopsis of four religion based approaches to education and curriculum. The four are Judiaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. As stated above, curriculum relates to the epistemological question of what is knowledge? Knowledge can be defined as that which is deemed to be true. Each of the four religious based approaches offer a specific notion of what is true. That truth expresses itself in the curriculum.

William James in Varieties of Religious Expperience considered the issue  of the origin of the truth upon which education and thus the curriculum is based. He oberved:

It is clear that the origin of the truth would be an admirable criterion of this sort, if only the various origins could be discriminated from one another from this point of view…[however]… history of dogmatic opinion shows that origin has always been a favorite test. Origin in immediate intuition; origin in pontifical authority; origin in supernatural revelation, as by vision, hearing, or unaccountable impression; origin in direct possession by a higher spirit, expressing itself in prophecy and warning; origin in automatic utterance generally,- these origins have been stock warrants for the truth of one opinion after another which we find represented in religious history.

James went onto assert that it is not the origin of “truth” that determines what is true but rather it is the way in which that “truth” works on the whole that is the final test of a belief [value].

Curriculum: What Is It?

In his rogue, deconstructivist FN:”Deconstruction attempts to demonstrate that any text is not a discrete whole but contains several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings and that any text therefore has more than one interpretation”.   Wikipedia] retelling of the feminist tale written by the Grimms Brothers [18^th century Germans] of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs novelist Donald Barthelme [1931-1989] has a fictional character comment in reacting to the tale: “That is common knowledge, so common, it may not even be true.” In  the Grimms Brothers tale the seven dwarfs are portrayed  as marching off  mindlessly to work in single  file singing: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho its off to work we go…. I wonder, does the shoe fit for education today?

Historically, and in strong measure today, that picture of workers marching off  “mindlessly” to mine the ore of  knowledge can ring true for education and within education the curriculum. What is considered to be curriculum and portrayed as such may not be curriculum at all. In many instances it seems to be whatever its developers, the philosopher kings of the time, and the users of what has been ordained say it is.  As a result curriculum can be many things. But one thing it is not and that is it is not synonymous with instruction.

Practitioners at all levels talk, write and implement curriculum as if it is something of universal common knowledge and understanding. It is not. All too often practitioners with little or no expertise in curriculum development and engaging in little critical reflection on what curriculum is bury themselves in writing it and implementing it all without critically asking: What is it?  In international schools it is common for a school to purchase carte blanche a commercial program or to charge practitioners not qualified to so by training or experience to write curriculum.

The United States with a long tradition of local control of education is moving toward a single set of national curriculum standards. The effort has the support of almost all of the nation’s governors, state school superintendents, teacher organizations and a host of others. The Obama Administration has signed on. The states of Texas and Alaska are the only two of the 50 states to decline participation in the initiative. Internationally many other nations have national curriculum standards. New York Times, March 11, 2010.

Be that as it may that does not lessen the need for educators to demur from considering the question of: What is curriculum? In fact the opposite is true. If uniformity is to be the way of the future, then what constitutes the “uniform” needs to be understood? To do otherwise is to join in the chorus of those mindlessly in lock-step fashion, in choral voice in single file marching off to work in the classroom singing: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho its off to work we go.

Curriculum has to with knowledge and not with instruction. Philosophically knowledge relates to epistemology. The epistemological question is: What is knowledge?  Curriculum considers what is to be taught. Instruction deals with pedagogy. It considers how to teach what needs to be taught in a manner in which it can be learned.

Curriculum is not simply a synonym for instruction. Curriculum is not a term for identifying the package or box which holds a set of smaller packages or boxes each containing the content of a course. Rather, the curriculum is the articulated understanding of what constitutes knowledge.  It is an outgrowth of the epistemological question.

Knowledge is not synonymous with information. A classic example is the Internet. The Internet is a source of an extraordinary amount of information; however, the computer which provides the vehicle for accessing the information knows nothing. Internet generated information needs to be retrieved and analyzed by human beings before it can be collectively classified as knowledge. Information is not synonymous with knowledge. At a minimum to be knowledgeable requires understanding, comprehension. Benjamin Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy is one vehicle for understanding the structure of knowledge.

Understanding goes beyond comprehension and implies an ability to utilize or apply the knowledge possessed. Of all the things that learners can come to know what they will be exposed to through the learning community is the curriculum. What they do with it comes through the application of the instructional program. Philosophically curriculum relates to epistemology. Instruction relates to pedagogy and psychology.

Franklin Bobbitt: A Pioneer in Curriculum        

The Curriculum authored by Franklin Bobbitt in 1918was the first full length book on the topic. Bobbitt  presented curriculum as an idea or concept.Bobbitt  defined curriculum as the course of deeds and experiences through which children become the adults they should be for success in adult society.

Curriculum to Bobbitt encompassed the entire scope of formative deeds and experiences occurring in and out of school. Experience included those activities that were unplanned and undirected as well as those intentionally directed for the purposeful formation of adult members of society.

To Bobbitt, the curriculum was an example of social engineering. His curricular formulation had two notable features:

1. That  “scientific” experts would best be qualified to and justified in designing curricula based upon their expert knowledge of what qualities are desirable in adult members of society, and which experiences would generate said qualities
2. Curriculum ought to be defined as the deeds-experiences the students ought to have in the procedss of becoming the adult each ought to become.

Bobbitt defined the curriculum as an ideas [concepts] rather than as the concrete realities of the deeds and experiences that form people to who and what they are and are becoming.. His view was more existential than deterministic.

More than a century has passed since Bobbitt wrote The Curriculum and seldom is his pioneering work acknowledged in the contemporary professional literature dealing with curriculum. However, just a cursory familiarity of his two fundamental features cited above illustrate that his thinking of a century ago is applicable today.

Contemporary views of curriculum while not totally compatible with Bobbitt’s ground breaking treatise do “retain the basis of curriculum as the course of experience(s) that form human beings into persons.”  For example, the encyclopedic work of John Dewey is in some respects compatible with Bobbitt’s as it relates to the purpose and significance of  curriculum.

It is commonplace for pracitioners to converse about curriculum as if what it is is something of common understanding among them.It is frequently viewed as common knowledge with common knowledge ranging from the extremes of “no one knows what it is” to the prescription of explicit content mandates from those in authority to render such mandates.

Common knowledge can be so common that it may not even be true. The term Common knowledge calls to mind the maxim associated with former United States President Ronald Reagan: “Trust but verify.” President Reagan was challenging the common belief that what is offered as truth or as knowledge need not  be questioned.. However, while honoring trust he advocated verification. And so it is with the questions: What is knowledge? What ought the curriculum to be?

Common knowledge is defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as:

a phenomenon which underwrites much of social life. In order to communicate or otherwise coordinaiste their behavior successfully, individuals typically require mutual or common understandings or background knowledge. Indeed, if a particular interaction results in “failure”, the usual explanation for this is that the agents involved did not have the common knowledge that would have resulted in success.

If  a school is to speak of its curriculum then it stands to reason that all those practitioners associated with the learning community ought to have a common understanding of what is knowledge. It defies logic and common sense to license each practitioner to define, develop and implement a knowledge program [the curriculum] as he or she sees fit. However, how each professional implements what is determined to be knowledge is another matter. Implementation comes through the instructional program. While practitionsers might  not be “scientific experts”[Bobbitt] in the knowledge area of their speciality, they ought to be pedagogical experts on best practice related to how their learners come to know. The curriculum [knowledge base] deals with ideas, concepts, content. The instructional program focuses on strategies and tactics for implementation. While one relates to the other, they are not synonymous.

INSERT DEFINITIONS OF CURRICULUM

Religion as the Origin of and Influence in Curriculum.

Religion has always been a major force in education and thus the curriculum. Religion deals with what human beings have valued as eternal truths and those truths have been expressed in and through the curriculum. Here consideartion will be given to four approaches: Judiasm, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism..

Judaism

Jewish education traditionally focused on the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. The emphasis was and remains on the study of Torah. Most often Torah refers to the  first five books of the Old Testament attributed to Moses. Also, and mostly among Orthodox Jews, it can refer to the entire corpus of Jewish law including both the written and oral law.Torah is understood by Jews to be of divine origin and is immutable. Torah is the foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society.

The mission statement of the Hebrew school Ohr Ha Torah, affiliated with an orthodox synogue in Manitoba, Canada states that:

Ohr HaTorah offers a co-educational primary school program, emphasizing a love of Jewish life in all of its aspects, including adherence to the Torah, observance of Mitzvot, spirituality, traditional ethics including a high regard for all of mankind, participation in mainstream Jewish communal life, living Hebrew language,, and support for the State of Israel.

Related to the curriculum the mssioin statement of Ohr Ha Torah asserts:

Uncompromising commitment to excellence in both the Jewish and secular curricula is pursued in the traditional Torah u-middot (Torah and values) approach espoused by Gedolei Torah (great rabbis). Thus, the Jewish studies program aims to familiarize students with the weekly parasha cycle, original scriptural texts and commentaries, in an age-appropriate fashion. Our vision of the Judaic studies curriculum follows the well-established Torah Umesorah curriculum which is adjusted to our needs. The Hebrew language curriculum follows the curriculum of the Israeli Ministry of Education. The secular program meets or exceeds all educational standards established by Manitoba Department of Education. The inclusion of art, music music and physical education underlines the importance of these activities to the development of the whole person. [Wikipedia].

.One prominent Hebrew School in the United States promotes itself as being learner centered citing the Biblical Proverb 22.6: “Educate the child according to his own way and even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” The Proverb is interpreted to mean that:

1. When a child’s education is tailor-made to suit his or her own needs, personality, interests and preferred learning style
2. When a child’s physical, emotional, spiritual, creative and cognitive

development and growth is of utmost concern to his or her educators

3. When desired behaviors are modeled by the staff at all times and not just demanded from the students
4. When the child is consciously aware of the love, concern and acceptance of the school community then the child will be free to embark on life’s journey with confidence, optimism and joy.

Early in 2009 in New York City promoters of a Hebrew School petitioned the State Board of Regents for permission to open as a public supported Charter School. As a Charter school the school would receive government financial support but be excused from meeting all the government mandates for a regular public school. The application stated that:

students would receive hour long Hebrew language lessons and that Hebrew would be woven into some art, music and gym classes. In addition the social studies curriculum would include lessons on Hebrew culture and history in the context of both American and world history.  [New York Times, January 12, 2009].

Formal Jewish education for boys has been a priority among Jews since the first century, CE. Prior to that education was viewed as a parental responsibility. Formal Torah based instruction began when a boy was six or seven years old. The phenomenon of Jewish schools can be traced to the 19^th -20^th century in Germany. It came about as the need for secular subjects beyond the scope of Torah grew. The first school for Jewish girls was opened in Krakow in 1917. Today in the United States there are over 750 Hebrew schools with an enrollment ion access of 200,000.

Christianity

Until the period of the 16^th Century Protestant Reformation in Europe sectarian education was provided selectively by the Roman Catholic Church. Selectively provided in that it was in no way universal, its purpose was to advance the religious beliefs of the Church regarding life, how it was to be lived, and its reward of eternal salvation for having lived a good Catholic life. These purposes are consistent with other religious traditions. The curriculum focused on religion as salvation was the purpose of life.

The primary statement of Christian belief is found in the Nicene Creed promulgated by the Bishops of the Church universal during their conclave in Nicaea in the year 325. The Nicene Creed is used by Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Calvinist, and many other Christian groups. Many groups that do not have a tradition of using it in their services nevertheless are committed to the doctrines it teaches. Another statement of basic Christian belief is the Apostles Creed. Both creeds are similar but  the t theological differences need not be explored here. Both creeds can be found at: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/creeds/nicene.htm.

If the purpose of a Christian school sponsored by adherents of the Nicene Creed is to promote Christianity then it is logical that the underlying tone of the curriculum would be to support and reflect the belief statements found in the Nicene and Apostle’s Creeds.

Pope Saint Gregory the Great [540-604] is credited it codifying the work of Saint John Cassian [360-435] into what is now known as the Seven Deadly Sins and the accompanying Seven Virtues. These have served as the cornerstones of Christian ethics ever since and are at the root of not only Catholic education but also reach far beyond in other religious and secular persuasions.  The following chart cites the Seven Deadly [Cardinal] Sins, the Seven contrasting Virtues and a brief description.    .

http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven_deadly_sins/.

A second source for curriculum in a sectarian Christian school is the catechism. The catechism is frequently seen as being associated with the Roman Catholic Church, however, that is not the whole story. The word itself comes from the Greek . katecheo and means to instruct or teach. From that comes to catechize or the catechism. Lutherans, Greeks, Anglicans, Baptists and other have their forms of the catechism. In essence it is an instructional handbook or manual in question and answer format articulating the basic beliefs of a religious denomination. It can be the basis of the curriculum. www.desiringgod.org/AboutUs/OurDistinctives/ABaptistCatechism

A third source for curriculum in a proclaimed sectarian school is the Bible. While basic to the beliefs of all Christians several denominations feature the Bible as the sole source of religious belief and strive to have their view influence the design, development and implementation in the public school. Examples of this are plentiful. In the United States in 2010 the Texas Board of Education voted to reinforce the belief held by many Americans that the founding fathers of the United States intended that the USA was to be  a nation founded on Christian principles. In 2010 the Texas Board decreed that the social studies curriculum in Texas public schools will emphasize that position.

In Muslim states it is not the Bible that is promoted but rather the Qu’ran and Sharia law. Unabashedly the curriculum has been used to promote political and/or Muslim religious viewpoints and to strengthen its position of civil and religious affairs.

Currently in Afghanistan a new curriculum for primary schools has been developed. It is known as the Life Skills curriculum and promotes ideals of peace and social justice inherent in Islam. Also it is influenced by Western concepts of pluralism and civil society.

 In the Netherlands with a small Muslim population of approximately 900,000 which is less than six percent of the whole there are approximately 40 Islamic primary schools and two secondary schools. The emerging influence of Muslims and their views on education and curriculum has captured national attention. Sectarian schools in the Netherlands are financed by the state. The attention is frequently fueled by discord. Eurotopis.net – Religion in the Netherlands: Trends .Author Sipco J. Vellenga.    

Christian Schools Origin and Current Status

Today a school or education program professing to follow a Christian approach to education and curriculum would reflect alternative distinguishing characteristics. However, each follows its interpretation of the Christian message. Each would agree with the position of Roman Catholic theologian, former Lutheran, and spokesman for religious “Faith-Based”  Evangelicals Rev. Richard john Neuhaus [1936-2008] that while humankind is born to die, the purpose of life is not death. Rather, life and death is prerequisite to eternal life. Among others, Rev. Fr. Neuhaus served as a spiritual counselor to United States President George W. Bush.

In the United States Christian academies experienced a growth spurt that has remained since the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s during the presidency of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The argument for the formation of Christian academies under the leadership of Protestant Evangelical pastor Rev. Jerry Falwell  [1933-2007] is that Rev. Falwell sprang into action to resist school integration after the United States Supreme Court ruled  racial segregation unconstitutional in 1954 [Brown versus Board of Education]. At the time Rev Falwell was a strong racial segregationist. Also he taught that only “Born Again” Christians who accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior would spend eternity with God in heaven. For example, Jews, Muslims  and a host of others would not be saved until each accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior..

In 1966 acting on his belief in opposition to racial integration in the public schools, Rev. Falwell founded the Lynchburg Christian Academy. The Academy was described by the Lynchburg News in 1966 as “a private school for white students.” It was one among many so-called “seg-academies” created in the South to avoid racially integrated public schools.

Maintaining racial segregation is no longer the flash point for the formation of Christian academies. It is other “family values” issues such as opposition to abortion, abstinence from pre marital sex, and the alleged and bemoaned secular orientation of the public schools.

As Christian academies have grown in prominence, Roman Catholic parochial schools have retrenched due to the drop in religious vocations after the Second Vatican Council of [1962-1965]. Traditionally nuns and priests staffed Catholic schools, however that is no longer the case. Today the drop n enrollment in Catholic schools is more related to shifting demographics, cost and the absence of religious hostility towards Catholics in the public schools.

The emergence of parochial schools is attributable to deep seated racial and religious bias against Roman Catholic immigrants in the 19^th century and earlier. The public schools were unabashedly Protestant in religious orientation and certainly white in race. Unable to rid or even soften the anti-Catholic bias of the public schools, the Roman Catholic American Bishops in their First Plenary Council of Catholic Bishops in 1852 adopted a resolution that every Catholic child would be enrolled in a Catholic parish school by the year 1900. While the goal was never realized the parochial school system was born. Today approximately 8000 Catholic parochial schools exist in the United States.

Enrollment in Catholic schools in the United States reached its zenith in the 1960s with 4.5 million children in Catholic elementary schools and over 1 million in high schools. That number was less than half at the turn of the 21^st century.

Islam

Islamic education like that of Judaism and Christianity has traditionally dealt with what adherents consider as the eternal tenets, principles and laws of their faith. In the case of Muslims it is not the Bible, but the Qu’ran and Sharia law. The word Islam is of Arabic origin and translates into the concept of submitting one’s self in all matters to the will of God.  Allah’s [God] eternal truths are believed to be laid out in the Qu’ran [Koran] and codified in Sharia law. The Qu’ran is the word of Allah spoken directly to the Prophet Mohammed [570 – 632 CE].  A “Muslim” is one who surrenders his or her will to God and is an adherent of Islam. “Ulamas”  are revered Islamic scholars and are the final determiners of  the truths of Islam as laid out in the Qu’ran. In sectarian Islamic countries civil authority commonly submits to the final judgment of the ulama.

Islam professes that Allah has anointed it to be the restorer of the original monotheistic faith [Islam] of the earlier prophets, namely, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The central truths taught by Mohammed were that Allah is one and that total surrender to his will is necessary to be rewarded with a place in paradise. Islam is grounded in five pillars: faith, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and alms giving.

Islam is the second largest religion in the world following Christianity. In recent years Islam has dominated much of the concern of the non-Islamic world as a result of acts of terrorism perpetrated by extreme Islamics. Included in the concern is the relationship of Islamic education to radical Islam. Islamic religious schools known as madrasas are dedicated to transmitting Islamic learning and are frequently portrayed as medieval institutions opposed to all that is Western and as a breeding grounds for terrorists. Another view of madrasas indicates that while some madrasas are extreme not all are. The concern today is that without reforms within Islam the world is doomed to a clash of monumental proportions between East and West civilizations.[Hefner and Qasimzaman editors, Schooling Islam. 2007, back page book cover.

“At the heart of the issue today is the purpose of Islamic education. Is it to teach fidelity to a fixed and finished canon pronounced in the Qu’ran? Or should religious education offer a high-minded but general religious ethics that looks outward on creation and encourages a plurality of methods for fathoming and engaging its wonders?” [Hefner and Qasim Zaman, p. 35] That question is more than academic, it constitutes a reality.

In this brief piece on Islamic education three questions will be addressed. These will be followed by a brief consideration of aspects of Islamic education and its impact on the curriculum. The three questions are:

1. In Islam what is knowledge?
2. What is the purpose of education in Islam?
3. What are madrasas and kuttabs?

The view expressed in section of this monograph are based primarily on the Hefner and Qasim Zamin edited 2007 book Schooling Islam  - Cultural and Politics of Modern Muslim Education.

What is knowledge in Islam

The heart of Islamic education has been “the study and transmission of religious knowledge”.  Most Muslims regard religious study as a form of worship. In principle every Muslim is expected to acquire a basic knowledge of Allah’s [God] words and injunctions. These are revealed in the Qu’ran, the canonical words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammod and in the Sharia, the codified law or path of Islam. The ultimate source of authority in interpreting the Qu’ran and the Sharia law rests with the ulama. The ulama are the most learned and venerated Islamic scholars. Ultimately all knowledge is religious knowledge as pronounced in the Qu’ran and the Sharia law. Hefner – Qasim Zaman,  pp.4-5.

The Purpose of Muslim Education

Traditionally the transmission of religious learning lies at the heart of Muslim civilization and education. It encompasses the worldview of Islam. Worldview in Islam is understood in a religious context of surrendering one’s self and all worldly endeavors without exception to the will of Allah.  In more modern times Muslim education has broadened beyond religious education. However the purpose of “scientific” education is to serve, clarify and support religious ends.

What are Madrasas and Kuttabs?

Madrasa means school. A madrasa is the central vehicle for the transmission of religious knowledge. Madrasas first developed in the middle ages.  Traditionally the term referred to an institution offering intermediate and advanced instruction in the Islamic sciences. Elementary religious instruction was provided in an institution known as the kuttab. In the kuttab students were taught to memorize and recite the Quran. Memorization skills were considered as first steps in a scholar’s formation. Kuttab institutions preceded madrasas. Today the term madrasa can refer to a general as well as a religious school. However the lasting and prevailing purpose of Islamic education is to support religious beliefs articulated in the Qu’ran and Sharia law. Science is not for the sake of science and discovery, but rather to support religious ends.

Originally enrollment in madrasas was limited to males. Each madrasa was totally independent, with no predetermined structure or curriculum. Each was organized around an individual known and revered Islamic scholar. Early madrasas did not have tuition. Consistent with the fifth pillar of Islam [Alms] each madrasa was supported by endowments from local wealthy notables.

Early madrasas have been likened to medieval western style universities. However, as reported by Hefner and Qasim  Zaman early madrasas had:Hefner and Qasim Zaman, p. 9

…little of the western university’s corporate identity or centrally coordinated administration. Madrasas of this period also operated without the benefit of examinations, formal curricula, degrees, or college governance. In fact until well into the modern period, the pursuit of religious knowledge in Muslim societies was an individual or, more precisely, networked undertaking in which student sought out master scholars for personalized instruction…. Over the course of his academic career, a student might study with several teachers and at several different madrasas…. Students were enjoined to seek out a teacher who had ‘God’s blessing  in the religious sciences and feared God the most, those were the older  and more powerful and who always had their kissed in the street. …’ The religious scholar was important because he linked the student to a chain of transmission reaching back through time to the moment of revelation itself.

In early madrasas all knowledge was viewed as religious knowledge and knowledge consistent with an Islamic worldview was to be found in the Qu’ran and the Sharia law.

Other Aspects of Islamic Education

Islam has moved beyond its medieval focus. For example, contrary to what may be viewed as an anti-science orientation of Islam a more in depth understanding of the Islamic position relative to natural science and scientism is informative. Islam sees the natural sciences in the context of its world view.  In coming to an informed understanding of Islam in the world its concept of a world view is necessary.  According to one source:

“the world view of Islam is not based upon philosophical speculation formulated mainly from observation of the data of sensible experience of what is visible to the eye.” The world view of Islam includes a concern for this life [dunya] as well as the life hereafter [Akhirah]. It is concern for life hereafter that  predominates. World view of Islam, http// relijournal.com

The Islamic vision of reality and truth is a metaphysical survey of the visible as well as invisible worlds. … It is not what is projected by the Western culture and civilization ….

We should make it clear that science in Islam is ultimately a kind of ta’wil or allegorical interpretation of the empirical things that constitute the world of nature. Ta’wil basically means getting to the ultimate, primordial meaning of something. The setting of limits to the channels and sources by which we obtain knowledge is therefore a blessing and a mercy from god [sic] in order that we may be able to understand the meaning of the objects of knowledge as well as recognize the Creator.

“Islam has never accepted, nor has ever been affected by ethical and epistemological  relativism [a theory of knowledge] that made man the measure of all things….

“The crisis of identity is not among Muslim but also among people of different cultures and religious traditions due to the spread of secularization as philosophical programs which hold sway over hearts and minds enmeshed in the crisis of truth. One must see that the kind of problem confronting us is of such nature as to embrace all the fundamental elements of our world view and cannot simply be resolved by legalistic and political means….

“Philosophic virtues, … are in themselves not sufficient for the realization of enduring happiness in their self. Their acceptance is justified when they do not come into conflict with religion and their usefulness for the attainment of happiness is acknowledged when some reformulation of their meaning has been affected by agreement with religion…”.

Sufism

Among the alternatives to an Islamic approach to religion and education is Sufism. Sufis was a 10^th or 11^th century Islamic mystic and spiritualist. His though was a reaction to the then growing tendency within Islam to become deeply identified and committed to the application of Sharia law. Sufis advocated a more spiritual approach to and understanding of the Qu’ran. Sufism is promoted as “Sufism consists of noble behavior…that is manifest at a noble time on the part of a noble person in the presence of noble people”. www.arches.uga.edu//-godlas/sufism/undef.htm      

. It is said that Sufism has incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism and Indian mysticism.The origin of the term itself might to related to the coarse wool worn by adherents. thefreedictionary.com.

In an earlier age Sufi masters prevailed upon disciples to do away with books. An early tenet of Sufism was that knowledge could be intuitive and attained not from books but from dreams, or visions of the prophets, or from the “heart”.Hefner and Qasim Zaman, p.11.  

William Dalrymple writing in the New York Times of August 17 2010 in explanation and defense of Sufism termed Sufism as “an entirely indigenous deeply rooted resistance movement against violent Islamic radicalism”. Dalrymple asserted that “Sufism, the mystical form of Islam, which in terms of goals and outlook couldn’t be farther from the violent Wahhabism of the jihadists.” Dalrymple was responding to the controversy surrounding the then recently proposed building of a mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the total violent destruction of the twin World Trade Center towers by Muslim extremists in 2001.

Modern Times

In modern times state sponsored systems of education have developed in Muslim countries. In the ensuing struggle to do so some Muslim counties such as Turkey from 1923 to 1948 actually banned madrasas. While modernization of Islamic education began before the period of European colonization it was strengthened during colonization. Often Elementary education through the kuttah was promoted while higher education in the madrasas was constrained. In such Muslim countries as Morrocco under domination by the French, European education was viewed as more prestigious and relevant than traditional Islamic based education. In fact the Moroccan royal family embraced European-style education over Islamic education. Hefner and Qasim Zaman pp 15-18.

Deobandi schools first founded in the the late 19^th century in India have come to be viewed as the icon of Islamic educational reform in that country and beyond.  The movement derives its name from the village of Deoband, India were it was founded. Deobandis are considered to be Muslim Sunnis  It has been reported that since the 1980s some of Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership studied in Deobandi schools in Pakistan. Hefner and Qasim Zaman, p.19.

Early Deobandis were not backward medieval thinkers. They were cultural brokers promoting a blending of Western education with Muslim tradition.

Purpose of Islamic Education Today

In Muslim states unabashedly the curriculum has been used to promote political and/or Muslim religious viewpoints and to strengthen its position of civil and religious affairs. Muslims embrace differences as long they are judged to be consistent with the Qu’ran and Sharia law. However, that in itself has been and continues to be the source of discord, hostility and violence as those deemed to be in Qu’ranic error by powerful  forces within  Islam are subject to jihad.

Modern Islamic education is neither timelessly traditional nor medieval. It is an evolving institution marked by the world-transforming forces of today including the role of religion in education and thus the curriculum. While as one in belief that the source of all true knowledge is found in the Qu’ran and the Sharia law  Muslim approaches to education are not singular in design and structure. They reflect the cultural aspects of the nation state wherein Muslims reside. In a manner they reflect aspects of the national motto of the United States: Out of many one – E pluribus Unum. Incidentally the national motto if Jamaica is almost identical: Out of many one people Three examples of diversity follow..

As this monograph is being written an extreme example of how cultural aspects of a nation can influence daily life has presented itself. In Somalia insurgent group of extreme Muslims [Hizbul Islam and Shabab] has threatened to take retaliatory action against radio stations that broadcast music. Their contention is that music is “un-Islamic”. As a result over a dozen radio stations have eliminated the broadcast of all music in their programming.  In areas of Somalia where it is strong Shabab has banned the broadcast of  programs of the British Broadcast Corporation [BBC]  and Voice of America. New York Times, April 14, 2010, p. A13

Currently in Afghanistan a new curriculum for primary schools has been developed. It is known as the Life Skills curriculum and promotes ideals of peace and social justice inherent in Islam. Also it is influenced by Western concepts of pluralism and civil society.

 In the Netherlands with a small Muslim population of approximately 900,000 which is less than six percent of the whole there are approximately 40 Islamic primary schools and two secondary schools. The emerging influence of Muslims and their views on education and curriculum has captured national attention. Sectarian schools in the Netherlands are financed by the state. The attention is frequently fueled by discord. Eurotopis.net – Religion in the Netherlands: Trends .Author Sipco J. Vellenga.   

The question and concern for today as stated by Hefner and Qasim Zaman:

Is the purpose of education to teach fidelity to a fixed and finished canon? Or should  religious education offer a high-minded but general religious that looks outward on creation and encourages a plurality of methods for fathoming and engaging its wonder?…

Notwithstanding two centuries of secularist forecasts to the contrary, religion and public ethics continue to matter, and matter deeply, in our modern world.

Hefner and Qasim Zaman conclude:

In Muslim countries, the search for a workable public ethics has often come to focus on the meaning and functions of Islam, and the methods for their educational inculcation. In as much as this is so, arguments over religious education will almost certainly remain subjects of contention in Muslim countries for years to come.    

Buddhism

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It presents itself in several forms influenced by place of origin, tradition and cultural influences. It can be an amalgam of Confucianism, Taoism as well as mystical and monastic aspects of Christianity. In this brief piece the focus will be on Zen Buddhism. The basic Zen position is that the basic purpose of education is to:  ENDNOTE

“…find the true insight that does not discriminate between failure and success, wealth and poverty, right and wrong. Hence in Zen Buddhism the word education should mean finding one’s undiscriminating mind.

Buddhism was founded in North India in the 7^th century BCE by Siddarta Gautama a noble man who forsake all his earthly possessions to follow what he taught as the path to nirvana and enlightenment. Literally the term Buddha translates One who has awakened.  The term is not limited to reference to Gautama, but rather refers to anyone who has found enlightenment by following the path to the undiscriminating mind.

Three basic beliefs of Buddhism are identified as Karma, Dharma and Reincarnation. www.religioustolerance.org.  Karma refers to the sum total of an individual’s action of body, speech and mind including the good, bad and neutral from current and previous lives. Dharma refers to the teachings of the Buddha Gautama including the fundamental principles that order the universe. Reincarnation relates to a belief in rebirth of a dead person into a living being in a new body that is can be human, animal or supernatural.  Buddhists do not believe in the concept of soul.

Other core beliefs of Buddhism are identified as Sila, Samadhi and Prajna. Sila addresses  virtue, good conduct and morality. Samadhi  relates to concentration, meditation and mental development. The development of the mind is seen as the path to wisdom which leads to personal freedom. Mental development helps maintain good conduct. Prajna relates to discernment, insight, wisdom and enlightenment. Wisdom will emerge if the mind is pure and calm. Prajna is the heart of Buddhism.

Buddhism is based on Four Noble Truths, Five Precepts and an Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths are:www.religioustolerance.org

1. Dukka – The belief that suffering exists. Suffering is real and almost universal.
2. Samadaya –  Suffering has a cause. The cause can be the desire to control things, cravings for sensual pleasure, fame, and the avoidance of unpleasant sensations. Unpleasant sensations include fear, anger and jealousy.
3. Nirodha – The belief that there can be an end to suffering. Suffering ceases with the liberation of nirvana at which time the mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and non-attachment. Nirvana refers to the state of absolute blessedness characterized by a release from the cycle of reincarnation and attained through the extinction of the self.
4. Magga – In order to end suffering one must follow the Eightfold Path.

The five precepts identify rules to live. The Ten Commandments of Judaism and Christianity echo the Five Precepts.  However the Five Precepts of Buddhism are not cited as “Commandments” but rather as guidelines. The five are:

1. Do not kill –Do no harm or violence
2. Do not steal – Including fraud or economic exploitation
3. Do not lie – Including gossiping, name calling
4. Do not misuse sex – Monks and nuns are to live celibate. For the laity adultery, same sex relations, and sexual harassment scorned. The Buddha Gautama was silent on premarital sex by two committed adults.
5. Do not consume alcohol or drugs –These cloud the mind. Ultra conservatives included movies, TV, and the Internet.

The Eightfold Path

End of Current Work  1-17-09

Ipse dixit

Lawrence P. Creedon  lpcreedon@aol.com

Research Notes …

Indeed, it was race-not abortion or the attendant suite of so-called “values” issues-that propelled Falwell and his evangelical allies into political activism….

Falwell launched on the warpath against civil rights four years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision to desegregate public schools with a sermon titled “Segregation or Integration: Which?”

“If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God’s word and had desired to do the Lord’s will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made,” Falwell boomed from above his congregation in Lynchburg. “The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.”

Falwell’s jeremiad continued: “The true Negro does not want integration…. He realizes his potential is far better among his own race.” Falwell went on to announce that integration “will destroy our race eventually. In one northern city,” he warned, “a pastor friend of mine tells me that a couple of opposite race live next door to his church as man and wife.”

As “massive resistance” against civil rights failed, Falwell, along with many Southern whites, withdrew to ‘Christian’ academies: all-white academies that would spare their children the ‘horror’ of integration:

Then, for a time, Falwell appeared to follow his own advice. He retreated from massive resistance and founded the Lynchburg Christian Academy, an institution described by the Lynchburg News in 1966 as “a private school for white students.” It was one among many so-called “seg academies” created in the South to avoid integrated public schools.

For Falwell and his brethren, private Christian schools were the last redoubt. Rather than continue a hopeless struggle against the inevitable, through their schools they could circumvent the integration entirely. Five years later, Falwell christened Liberty University, a college that today funnels a steady stream of dedicated young cadres into Republican Congressional offices and conservative think tanks. (Tony Perkins is among Falwell’s Christian soldiers.)

From its inception, the ‘Christian Right’ was inseparably joined at the hip with perhaps the greatest scourge of U.S. history: racism towards African-Americans. In fact, try as they might actual social conservatives (typically Catholic) could not gain any traction with abortion:

While abortion clinics sprung up across the United States during the early 1970s, evangelicals did little. No pastors invoked the Dred Scott decision to undermine the legal justification for abortion. There were no clinic blockades, no passionate cries to liberate the “pre-born.”

…”The Religious New Right did not start because of a concern about abortion,” former Falwell ally Ed Dobson told author Randall Balmer in 1990. “I sat in the non-smoke-filled back room with the Moral Majority, and I frankly do not remember abortion ever being mentioned as a reason why we ought to do something.”

The only way the religious conservatives could interest Protestant segregationists was by defending the ‘seg academies’:

For Falwell and his allies, the true impetus for political action came when the Supreme Court ruled in Green v. Connally to revoke the tax-exempt status of racially discriminatory private schools in 1971. Their resentment was compounded in 1971 when the Internal Revenue Service attempted to revoke the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University, which forbade interracial dating. (Blacks were denied entry until that year.) Falwell was furious, complaining, “In some states it’s easier to open a massage parlor than to open a Christian school.”

By Christian, Falwell actually means segregationist. Every issue, except segregation, failed to interest Falwell