Redesigning Schools: Lessons for the 21st Century (Jossey-Bass Education) - Hardcover

McDonald, Joseph P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787903213 ISBN 13: 9780787903213

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 1996

Synopsis

"Should be read by all who are not satisfied with the status quo in education."
--Teachers College Record

This book patiently and persuasively asks us to rethink before we `redesign' schools, to question many of our deeply ingrained beliefs about learning and schooling, and to move beyond those which no longer meet the test of common sense. It mercifully gives us no ready-to-implement school reform blueprint but rather the necessary design of how to think well about learning and teaching and schooling.
?Theodore R. Sizer, chairman, Coalition of Essential Schools, university professor emeritus, Brown University

About this title

About the Author

LARRY MCDONALD is a former teacher and principal. He is currently director of research at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

From the Back Cover

?This very probing analysis exposes deep-seated barriers to all school reform and makes powerful and challenging suggestions for overcoming the problems. It is a very important contribution, and a must read for all concerned about schooling in America.?--James P. Comer, M.D., Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, and director, School Development Program, Yale University Child Study CenterWhat would it take to educate all children to use their minds well? In this unique book, Joseph P. McDonald provides us with a comprehensive view of the issues that lie at the heart of serious school reform--laying out the attitudes, concepts, and tools needed to redesign American education for the coming century. For five years, McDonald charted the progress of ten schools in the Coalition of Essential Schools as they immersed themselves in the hard work of school reform. He also visited many other schools, both elementary and secondary, in an attempt to understand serious school reform and its prospects. By describing the efforts of real schools in real places and by recognizing that no two schools occupy the same position on the educational landscape, McDonald has assembled an invaluable guide for tackling the challenge of improving schools.

From the Inside Flap

What would it take to educate all children to use their minds well? In this unique book, Joseph P. McDonald provides us with a comprehensive view of the issues that lie at the heart of serious school reform--laying out the attitudes, concepts, and tools needed to redesign American education for the coming century.For five years, McDonald charted the progress of ten schools in the Coalition of Essential Schools as they immersed themselves in the hard work of school reform. He also visited many other schools, both elementary and secondary, in an attempt to understand serious school reform and its prospects. He concludes that school reform requires redesign in three critical areas. The first is a shift in the ordinary and often tacit beliefs of the people who work in schools, the communities that support them, and even the children who attAnd them. The second area, which McDonald dubs the ?wiring arena,? involves internal communication and power arrangements. The third area, called ?tuning,? involves connecting the school to the needs, interests and values of the communities it serves.By describing the efforts of real schools in real places and by recognizing that no two schools occupy the same position on the educational landscape, McDonald has assembled an invaluable guide for tackling the challenge of improving schools.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787903213
• ISBN 13: 9780787903213
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296