Chapters 1, 2 & 7 - Making my way into the book...

This reading was interesting in that it summarizes much of what I already thought I knew (I guess intuitively).

One of the ideas that I find inspiring is the difference between mechanistic and organic structures in a program. Especially the reasons for why one or the other may be in place in certain institutions made a lot of sense to me. Even though the reasons for the mechanistic model attempt to justify its use, I am happy to say that I enjoy the organic model while teaching at Tanana Middle School.

Another description that struck a cord with me was the description of a strategic plan. I have participated in the definition of a mission statement before - a very long and painful process to write one paragraph - and have failed to understand how the mission statement actually changed anything in day-to-day school life. It was therefore great to read about the different steps that should follow the definition of a mission statement: The formulation of goals and particular strategies that ensure that the mission statement is followed.

I have wondered numerous times about what would be the best way to assure the quality of a teacher. The supervisor only has so much time and can - at best - spend a few lessons a semester in a teacher's classroom, where the action is actually taking place. I like the idea of peer observations to improve teaching effectiveness and quality as well as the idea of self-evaluations. However, the latter only work if teachers are very honest and have a healthy level of self-criticism. I could certainly see self-evaluations being very difficult to use on a broad scale.

Two more thoughts:
- A highly skilled profession is characterized (among others) by a high social status (p.209): Do teachers in the U.S. enjoy a high social status??

- Novice teachers "are less able to select which information is salient when planning a lesson." (p.210). I fully agree!

Word Discovery of the Day: Propinquity

Context: p.199 when describing the mechanistic model: ... it eliminates uncertainty in teaching performance resulting from individual differences, professional inexperience, or the absence of propinquity.

Merriam Webster definitions: 1. nearness of blood: kinship, 2. nearness in place or time: proximity

Wikipedia quote on the topic: In social psychology, propinquity (from Latin propinquitas, nearness) is one of the main factors leading to interpersonal attraction.