School Reform: The Flatworm in a Flat World--From Entropy to Renewal through Indigenous Invention

Autor/inn/en	Heckman, Paul E.; Montera, Viki L.
Titel	School Reform: The Flatworm in a Flat World--From Entropy to Renewal through Indigenous Invention
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 111 (2009) 5, S.1328-1351 (24 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-9620
Schlagwörter	Urban Schools; Action Research; Educational Change; Educational Practices; Case Studies; Educational Environment; Educational Principles; Educational Innovation; Models; Problems; Learning Processes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Projektforschung; Bildungsreform; Bildungspraxis; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt; Bildungsprinzip; Instructional innovation; Bildungsinnovation; Analogiemodell; Problemsituation; Learning process; Lernprozess
Abstract	Purpose: In this article, we compare current schooling practices and reform efforts to the mechanistic industrial model and illustrate why this paradigm is no longer sufficient in this "flat world." Schooling and school reform in the 21st century continue to be approached as if these are a flatworm capable replicating itself. We argue that a new paradigm is needed--one that builds on current knowledge and human resources, one that is created by those who work and live in a school or community--which we have called Indigenous Invention. Research Design: Indigenous Invention grows from new conceptions of learning, cognition, and development, and our work in schools and communities during the past 16 years. Examples of Indigenous Invention presented here come from a much larger case study and long-term action research project in five urban schools and communities. Conclusion/Recommendations: Three areas are presented. First, we examine ideas that currently guide schooling practices and explore why these ideas have resulted in a decline of educational organizational vitality and are no longer sufficient for our in-school, after-school, and preschool programs. We suggest using new knowledge about human learning, cognition, and development to bring organizational energy and renewal to educational institutions. Second, the power of this new knowledge will not be realized with conventional school change models that urge fidelity in implementing packages and procedures developed far away from the school and its neighborhood. Replication may work for the flatworm. It does not work in complex systems like educational institutions. Third, we present the process of Indigenous Invention as one that holds promise in moving our schools from entropy to renewal. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10