Reasonable Expectations Goodlad Notes

Goodlad, J. I. (1990). Teachers for our nation's schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter Two: Reasonable Expectations

·      Reasonable Expectations

o   "And a teacher's pedagogical knowledge must be tempered with humility; to try again and differently with a pupil is to admit humbly that one's earlier teaching efforts did not suffice (p. 44)."

o   "They (teachers) and they alone are in a position to make sure that programs and structures do not atrophy - that they evolve over time as a result of reflection, dialogue, actions, and continuing evaluation of actions (p. 44)."

o   Teachers must be good role models and possess a great sense of morality and ethics. They must be well educated. They must be stewards.

·      Dimensions of Teaching

o   The four dimensions of teaching include facilitating enculturation, providing access to knowledge, building an effective teacher-student connection, and practicing good stewardship.

o   Facilitating Critical Enculturation

§  "Schools are major players in developing educated persons who acquire an understanding of truth, beauty, and justice against which to judge their own and our society's virtues and imperfections (p. 49)."

o   Providing Access to Knowledge

o   Building an Effective Teacher-Student Connection

§  "It is unlikely that mere exposure to a few courses in education and a brief immersion as a student teacher will suffice (p. 50)."

§  Traditional preparation programs are inadequate and insufficient for properly preparing teachers.

§  "The epistemology of teaching must encompass a pedagogy that goes far beyond the mechanics of teaching. It must combine generalizable principles of teaching, subject-specific instruction, sensitivity to the pervasive human qualities and potentials always involved, and full awareness of what it means to simultaneously 'draw out' and enculturate (pp. 50-51)."

o   Practicing Good Stewardship

§  Schools are assigned to the tasks of "...enculturation of the young into a democracy and inculcation of the disciplined modes of thought required for effective, satisfying participation in human affairs (p. 52)."

§  Therefore teachers must "...possess a deep understanding of both governance structures and processes of this political democracy and the requisites of humane citizenship (p. 52)" and have an in depth knowledge of the subject-matter to be taught.

§  Teachers must also have "...a comprehensive grasp of pedagogy and of the values, knowledge, and skills to be brought to bear in the ongoing renewal of the schools...(p. 52)."

§  Since general education is incapable of meeting these needs, a specialized, professionalized form of education is needed - teacher education.

·      Conditions Necessary for Effective Teacher Education

o   "Postulate One. Programs for the education of the nation's educators must be viewed by institutions offering them as a major responsibility to society and be adequately supported and promoted and vigorously advanced by the institution's top leadership (p. 54)."

o   "Postulate Two. Programs for the education of educators must enjoy parity with other campus programs as a legitimate college or university commitment and field of study and service, worthy of rewards for faculty geared to the nature of the field (p. 55)."

§  "Likewise, it is indefensible for institutions to increase research demands on faculty without creating the necessary supporting conditions (p. 55)."

o   "Postulate Three. Programs for the education of educators must be autonomous and secure in their borders, with clear organizational identity, constancy of budget and personnel, and decision-making authority similar to that enjoyed by the major professional schools (p. 55)."

o   "Postulate Four. There must exist a clearly identifiable group of academic and clinical faculty members for whom teacher education is the top priority; the group must be responsible and accountable for selecting students and monitoring their progress, planning and maintaining the full scope and sequence of the curriculum, continuously evaluating and improving programs, and facilitating the entry of graduates into teaching careers (p. 55)."

§  "Clearly some of the necessary faculty must come from the schools that provide student teaching and internship experiences, as well as from the arts and sciences departments (p. 56)."

o   "Postulate Five. The responsible group of academic and clinical faculty members described above must have a comprehensive understanding of the aims of education and the role of schools in our society and be fully committed to selecting and preparing teachers to assume the full range of educational responsibilities required (p. 56)."

o   "Postulate Six. The responsible group of academic and clinical faculty members must seek out and select for a predetermined number of student places in the program those candidates who reveal an initial commitment to the moral, ethical, and enculturating responsibilities to be assumed (p. 57)."

o   "Postulate Seven. Programs for the education of educators, whether elementary or secondary, must carry the responsibility to ensure that all candidates progressing through them possess or acquire the literacy and critical-thinking abilities associated with the concept of an educated person (p. 57)."

§  "There are bright, intelligent people teaching in classrooms who have never confronted intellectual challenge (p. 58)."

o   "Postulate Eight. Programs for the education of educators must provide extensive opportunities for future teachers to move beyond being students of organized knowledge to become teachers who inquire into both knowledge and its teaching (p. 58)."

o   "Postulate Nine. Programs for the education of educators must be characterized by a socialization process through which candidates transcend their self-oriented student preoccupations to become more other-oriented in identifying with a culture of teaching (p. 58)."

o   "Postulate Ten. Programs for the education of educators must be characterized in all respects by the conditions for learning that future teachers are to establish in their own schools and classrooms (p. 59)."

o   "Postulate Eleven. Programs for the education of educators must be conducted in such a way that future teachers inquire into the nature of teaching and schooling and assume that they will do so as a natural aspect of their careers (p. 59)."

o   "Postulate Twelve. Programs for the education of educators must involve future teachers in the issues and dilemmas that emerge out of the never-ending tension between the rights and interests of individual parents and special-interest groups, on one hand, and the role of schools in transcending parochialism, on the other (p. 60)."

o   "Postulate Thirteen. Programs for the education of educators must be infused with understanding of and commitment to the moral obligation of teachers to ensure equitable access to and engagement in the best possible K-12 education for all children and youths (p. 60)."

o   "Postulate Fourteen. Programs for the education of educators must involve future teachers not only in understanding schools as they are but in alternatives, the assumptions underlying alternatives, and how to effect needed changes in school organization, pupil grouping, curriculum, and more (p. 61)."

o   "Postulate Fifteen. Programs for the education of educators must assure for each candidate the availability of a wide array of laboratory settings for observation, hands-on experiences, and exemplary schools for internships and residencies; they must admit no more students to their programs than can be assured these quality experiences (p. 61)."

§  "Settings for internships and residencies must be examples of the best educational practices that schools and universities are able to develop together, and the internships obviously must be conducted collaboratively (p. 61)."

o   "Postulate Sixteen. Programs for the education of educators must engage future teachers in the problems and dilemmas arising out of the inevitable conflicts and incongruities between what works or is accepted in practice and the research and theory supporting other options (p. 62)."

o   "Postulate Seventeen. Programs for educating educators must establish linkages with graduates for purposes of both evaluating and revising these programs and easing the critical early years of transition into teaching (p. 62)."

o   "Postulate Eighteen. Programs for the education of educators, in order to be vital and renewing, must be free from curricular specifications by licensing agencies and restrained only be enlightened, professionally driven requirements for accreditation (p. 63)."

o   "Postulate Nineteen. Programs for the education of educators must be protected from the vagaries of supply and demand by state policies that allow neither backdoor 'emergency' programs nor temporary teaching licenses (p. 63)."

·      Toward Agendas for the Redesign of Teacher Education

o   "They (the postulates) prescribe necessary conditions for the responsible conduct of teacher education (p. 66)."