Are "educational reformers" legitimate?

Think back to the best teacher that you ever had.

How many teachers did you think of? I immediately remembered six.

Miss Harriger - 2nd grade Inez Elementary School - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Miss Hixenbaugh - 4th grade Inez Elementary School - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mrs. Chapman - 5th grade Inez Elementary School - Albuquerque, New Mexico

(Evidently I had a really good experience at Inez Elementary School!)

Miss Getz - 9th grade Language Arts Monroe Junior High - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Miss Ely - 10th grade English Sandia High School Albuquerque, New Mexico
Coach Braig - Latin I and II Sandia High School Albuquerque, New Mexico

Great teachers - everyone of them.

Why did I believe that they were so good?

They respected me. I had a voice. The valued my opinions and ideas. They gave me freedom. I knew what to expect day to day. They treated everyone in the class fairly. They made me work hard. They challenged me to become better.

I thought of those teachers as I read Malcolm Gladwell's book David and Goliath: Underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants. In his chapter on the limits of power Gladwell talks about the principle of legitimacy.

It turns out, according to Gladwell, that leading and moving and motivating and encouraging and managing people turns on this principle of legitimacy.

Students view good teachers as legitimate. Students respect the teachers because we believe in them. As a result, we follow those teachers. We follow them to places that we never thought we could go. We become better than who we thought we were.

Students also are very sensitive to teachers who are not legitimate. These are the teachers who cannot relate to students, do not believe in students, have poor classroom management skills, do not challenge students, and who do not move students forward.

I can think of some of those teachers as well.

As I read Gladwell's chapter I also thought about the educational reform battles we are waging. Why are the battles so fierce?

It is possible that the battles are so fierce because those of us in education do not view the "reformers" as legitimate.

The "reformers" don't give educators a voice.

The "reformers" keep changing the rules.

The "reformers" treat groups differently.

The "reformers" are not actually in schools working with students every day.

The "reformers" talk about the changes that need to take place but they have never actually demonstrated that they have the ability to make these changes.

As a result, those of us in education don't believe the reformers.

Do schools need to improve? Absolutely.

But does that mean teachers are terrible, administrators are incompetent, and public schools are a failure? Of course not.

But the rhetoric of the "reformers" castigates educators. Instead of trying to listen to our voice or inviting us to participate in the dialogue, the reformers push us away.

They know best - that is the message they send.

As a result, those of us who work with students and parents every day, those of us who understand the variety of needs within the students who come to our schools every day, those of us who have committed our lives to being with and beside students, don't believe the reformers.

I am not suggesting that the reformers do not value students and that they do not genuinely want schools to improve.

But the reformers by pointing fingers and claiming to have the answers undermine their legitimacy and go against Gladwell's points on the limits of power.

As Gladwell states, "when people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters - first and foremost - how they behave."

Imposing my will

I began my teaching career as a 6th grade teacher in Hale Center, Texas. Go Owls!

During my first year of teaching I, at times, struggled.

I received plenty of advice. Some advice I sought. Some came to me unsolicited.

My principal suggested I needed to be tougher. More discipline. Don't let the little things slide. Stop misbehavior in its tracks.

Impose my will!

I tried that approach. It wasn't me.

What I discovered was another approach.

I made my class interesting. When I did interesting things that connected in a meaningful way to my students interests I had few, if any, discipline issues.

I thought of that as I read Malcolm Gladwell's book David and Goliath: Underdogs, misfits, and the art of battling giants. In his chapter on the limits of power, Gladwell talks about a teacher named Stella. He suggests that the students in Stella's class misbehave because Stella does an "appalling job" of teaching the lesson.

Gladwell states that a natural response to disobedience in many situations is to crack down. Use your authority to make people do what you want them to do. But, Gladwell makes an interesting point: "Disobedience can also be a response to authority. If the teacher doesn't do her job properly, then the child will become disobedient."

As I read this chapter I was once again struck by the tremendous responsibility those of us in leadership have to do the right thing.

Gladwell says it best when he says: "When people in authority want the rest of us to behave, it matters - first and foremost - how they behave."

I can get compliance as a leader.

What I want is commitment and passion.

Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes. Teachers lead. Parents lead. Friends lead. Colleagues lead. Creating a space that is productive depends not on power and the ability to impose your will. It depends instead on creating a space where people are engaged, invested, and committed.