The Dark Side of School Reform: Teaching in the Space between Reality and Utopia

Citation

Martínez, J.G. (2007), "The Dark Side of School Reform: Teaching in the Space between Reality and Utopia", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 45 No. 2, pp. 229-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230710732989

In his book, The Dark Side of School Reform: Teaching in the Space between Reality and Utopia, Brooks exposes readers to the reform efforts of an American high school – Wintervalley High. His two‐year qualitative case study that used a sociological conceptual framework reveals an accurate, yet sensitive exposé of how USA educators struggle to reconcile the Art and the Science of teaching and reforming education. Much like novels captivate their readers, Brooks draws us into the school as if we were accompanying him on this journey. What follows feels like a peek through binoculars at the day‐to‐day struggles of the American educator. The driving force behind the research is an attempt to explain teacher dissatisfaction with the public school systems where they serve. As Brooks introduces individual faculty members at Wintervalley High, readers feel compelled to diagnose the problems: disengagement, sporadic teacher recognition at best, disenfranchisement, intrusion from policymakers, and/or organizational or managerial deficiencies. Readers participate, empathize, disagree, and react.

The book is organized into eleven chapters. Chapter one quickly describes Brooks' arrival at Wintervalley, expands on the school's characteristics, and introduces us to Rachel, one of the English teachers. It also shows how the reform process drives the pace of the day, the semester, the school year. As Brooks struggles to keep up with Rachel's activities, the bureaucracy, and everything that interferes with classroom instruction (e.g. State tests), the reader is redrawn to Teaching. Brooks describes Wintervalley teachers after an adjourned faculty meeting held one morning before class. “They scurried out of sight like rabbits who've seen the fox…boom! Gone!” (p. 11). Brooks' connection with anyone who has taught high school is apparent throughout this book. He, too, understands the Pavlovian adrenaline rush that takes place throughout the school day between the “first” and the “second” bells.

Chapter two focuses on the role and responsibilities of teachers as they pertain to school reform. Brooks presents evidence suggesting that meaningful academic instruction is adversely affected by unfocused reform initiatives imposed on educators. Readers meet Ms Warren, Ms Brindon, Mr Flannery, and Mr Finnan, critical of practices that detract from student‐centered instruction. Brooks' candid interviews present some of the challenges that teachers found in a reform‐driven setting: the inability to act in the best interest of the students, ineffective training or no training at all, and the difficulties of striking a balance between personal and professional priorities are cited as essential obstacles to a successful teaching experience. Refrains such as:; “Teaching to the test?”; “Who needs silent reading?”; “What about my curriculum?”; and “You expect me to do what?” are highlighted throughout the chapter.

Chapter three sheds light on what so many high school teachers feel once they close their classroom door. Unfocused reform in an inflexible and insensitive school system takes a toll on a committed faculty. The vibrancy of a new school year fades and ambiguity settles in. Teachers are left with their own convictions and driven by their personal commitment to their students and the profession. Yet many feel alone in a sea of turbulence. Their classroom is their salvation. They quietly dream about inspiring a revolution behind closed doors, one student at a time. Winter break is approaching and teachers struggle to convince themselves that after the break they will surely work up the energy to tackle the herd head on. They are shocked at how fast time has elapsed.

In chapter four Brooks analyzes views on reform along “generational lines”, from junior to mid‐career to veteran faculty members. Brooks introduces a personal twist by briefly reflecting on his own career path, how it affected interaction with his own family, and how it fits in with his findings at Wintervalley. Expectedly, younger teachers put forth an optimistic attitude toward change while more experienced teachers adopt more cynical ones. In chapter five, Brooks puts forth the opinions of a few more faculty members to ascertain “the amount of power teachers experienced in the classroom and the amount of powerlessness they experienced when engaging in beyond‐the‐classroom activities” (p. 77). Brooks struggled to understand why many teachers felt they had very little influence over the outcome of school‐wide decisions even if his school visit showed active participation, involvement, and an apparent emphasis on consensus. His quest for greater understanding led Brooks to Mr Barnes' classroom. Consequently, the author concluded that the decision‐making process was in the hands of an elite group of teachers who successfully manipulated policy in spite of dissent. This chapter rings a bell for many high school teachers who quickly come up with a few names of their own.

The next two chapters draw the readers' attention to various reasons that contributed to teacher disillusionment. In them, Brooks conveys his sensitivity for the individual, the human being behind the professional. Through it, he again reflects on some of the experiences that lead educators to struggle with the balance between self and profession. Unfortunately, he also comes too close for comfort to the gap that might exist between Academia and the future teachers it produces. Brooks roams from Nietzshe to Nieto, dropping scholarly names of theorists that might have informed the pedagogic currents that spin forward reactionary policies from the likes of the Department of Education. However, nothing changes at the school site. Whether Albert Camus' point is more valid than Chester Finn's or Rick Hess', “despite their differences, these ideological opponents held their hands to cry: We must come together as a collective to solve the riddles of education!” (p. 85). If only Brooks' vision translated into more effective action by a broader audience among our colleagues in teacher‐preparation programs across the nation. Perhaps we operate in a different classroom, far from where Mr Finnan paid a harsh personal price in the name of our profession.

Chapters eight and nine place Jim Finnan's experience as a teacher in a broader context. Brooks tries to capture the frustrations that school reform brings onto teachers who feel left behind when “a few people in… school lead change and the rest of us get on board or we don't” (p. 117). These two chapters present readers with the opposition between schooling and education, the contradictions that result when institutional hurdles detract from the mission of educating. Ironically, Chapter eleven wraps up what is left of a bankrupt system. In it, Brooks puts forth a review of the literature that sheds light on some of the fundamental assumptions that color his perceptions of teacher alienation. The closing chapter offers eleven valid reasons why school reform initiatives fail upon implementation and identifies well‐designed, consensus‐based, and research‐driven methods as important prerequisites for effective change. Additionally, practitioner‐oriented solutions are suggested that may aid educators in their efforts to facilitate meaningful educational change.

The Dark Side of School Reform directly engages some of the more difficult aspects of working as an educator in a public school. This book investigates what it means to teach, lead, and live during times of ongoing and intense change and offers insights which might help committed professionals better serve the needs of students as they seek to implement their own reforms in the ever‐shifting organizations public schools have become. It is a highly recommended book for constituents vested in school reform and educational change. It is especially recommended for teachers, school administrators, staff members, professors of education, graduate students, sociologists, and policymakers. When reading it, these constituents of education reform will certainly identify with Brooks message.