Issues on Shaping Policy

Balance in Education

The words balance means equilibrium, or to arrange, adjust, or proportion the parts to bring stability.  As I was reading this chapter, the main concept I noticed was that good administrators, schools, and districts find some sort of balance.   Every new concept change or standards upgrade or system will claim to be the 'one-size-fits-all' method that we all should adopt.  Every aspect of education is constantly being pulled one direction or another (or many).  Our job, as administrators, looks to be to understand our school, community, and issues and find the balance that works for our particular body of work.  If we can find the balance, we can implement changes, good or bad, but still learn from and not completely leave our roots - what got us there, and we won't be thrown off our forward course too much.

On page 32, when talking about how each school must wage and win its own battle for excellence, John Goodlad states, "Too often school improvement efforts are conceived at the district level and implemented uniformly by all schools in a district at the same time."  He encourages individual schools to develop plans for improvement by analyzing their own problems.  I haven't been teaching all that long, but I hear (each week it seems) that, "We've done this already;" "That didn't last long when we tried it 20 years ago;" "This again?" "This will just fade out in a couple years, so I'm not going to buy-in to it."  Our school is mandated by the district to implement this program, and a couple years later, along comes another bandwagon, and we, inevitably, hop on.  The principal, teachers and staff, PTA, SCC, and involved parents and even students know the issues surrounding the school better than the district.  I would like to see more autonomy at the school level and allow for site-based management. 

Looking towards my future as an administrator, I almost see my administration as a Pinocchio figure, being pulled by strings, yet striving to become a "real boy," where I'd be able move on my own, but with guidance and direction from those around me.  I'll need to be able to find the balance, wherever that may be, so that my school and community can continue moving forward towards excellence.  Knowledge of these issues and topics surrounding administration is power, and provides me with necessary schema to help me tackle these as I confront them.  I look forward to the challenge.