Fullan, et al.'s approach is to employ "greater specificity without suffering the downside of prescription," (9) meaning that curriculum design must teach people how to do something within the proper context and that all details must be included without the complicating and ineffective method of saying that all children must be taught the same subjects in the same manner ("prescription"). The attending result, then, would be that curriculum would be designed with an inherent awareness of all learning modalities, with the flexibility to be taught to all students in any number of different manners, with ultimate flexibility - in short, massive textbooks would give way to a more interactive multi-branched approach that the teachers would actively control during the classroom much like a boat captain pilots a tricky inner-harbor channel. To allow this, curriculum design would be a collaborative process not only within the schools and districts but between the teacher and the subject and the students. In essence, curriculum designers would be providing lists of resources, questions, outlines, contextual links, activities, etc., and the teacher would take all of these elements and construct them in their own unique style and manner that they have determined best fits the needs of their students.
How, then, do we accomplish the task of teaching teachers how to do this? We start at the university level. The authors begin with the idea that all teaching begins with a moral core. "We see the need to combine moral purpose with feasible powerful strategies that give schools confidence that they can accomplish educational goals never before achieved. Our basic beliefs are founded on the moral purpose of education, not just for students, but for teachers as well." (12) From here, the authors list four "nonnegotiable beliefs." One, that all students can achieve high standards given significant time and support. Two, that all teachers can teach to high standards, given the right conditions and assistance. Three, that high expectations and early intervention are essential. Four, that teachers need to learn all the time, and they need to be able to articulate both what they do and why they do it (12). From these standards, the author's take the necessity to reform teacher education to a new level.
What was once the world of seminars and one-off courses, of required additional units with no real follow up on implementation - basically a teaching system that rewards attendance over application - is necessarily changed in this idealized future. The changes needed require that university and teacher training structures teach less adherence and more flexibility of purpose. The result will be that teachers succeed within the model because they are taught to work together with other teachers and administrators and less as individuals - while at the same time maintaining their individuality in approach to management of the classroom, integration of the curriculum into the learning environment and massing support for their work within the students.
At the district level, "very small districts must form learning relationships...
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