What Schools Are for

As an educator who reads a lot of polemics I was pleasantly surprised at how Goodlad cut through a lot of the ideas currently floating around the edu-sphere. Perhaps it's because he wrote this in 1984(?). Two ideas stuck with me. First, simply asking the question of "what are schools for?" made me stop and think. So many people have answers to the "problem" of public education that we never stop and ask what the goal is. As a middle school teacher, I swing between teaching the basics and being a third parent. Goodlad asks good questions and give the reader much to think about. I've been asking my peers as we discuss policy, and it stops the conversation fast. It also helps put other articles in perspective, and offers a critical eye. Second, in this age of testing and holding teachers accountable, Goodlad talks about assessing the process of teaching and not the outcomes. As he writes, we are not a factory where more input results in a greater output. We need to examine our methods and rationale instead of simply trying to raise test scores. He makes other salient and interesting points, but those are my favorite discussions. His writing style is a bit wordy. He writes about writing this without notes and wanting his reader to read it in a single sitting, yet his academic style makes it twice as long as it needs be. I don't mind putting in the time, but many of his ideas are unnecessarily obfuscated. I ordered a used copy from a Goodwill in California for less money than the shipping. Great copy (read but solid) and a bargain price. A good antidote to whatever is popular right now in education.