Because Teaching Matters

Because Teaching Matters provides teachers with a realistic depiction of today?s classrooms while highlighting the enormous impact they have on everyday lives. The second edition presents material around a framework of five professional commitments that allows them to make sense of what it means to be a teacher. A new critical-thinking framework helps them manage the content better and retain more of what they learn. Increased coverage of diversity and technology is integrated throughout the chapters. A new chapter has also been added on the history and philosophy of education. This book will help teachers make decisions and take responsibility for the consequences of those choices.

CHAPTER 1 Teaching: A Career That Makes a Difference 1 Five Professional Commitments to Guide the Choices You Make 2 Commitment #1: Learning from Multiple Sources of Knowledge Throughout Your Career 3 Commitment #2: Using the Curriculum Responsibly 5 Commitment #3: Crossing Your Own Familiar Borders to Embrace Diversity 6 Commitment #4: Meeting the Needs of Individual Students in the Context of the Classroom and the School 7 Commitment #5: Contributing Actively to the Profession 7 The Role of Reflection and Action in the Choices You Make 8 The Rewards and Demands of Making a Commitment to Teaching 8 The Rewards of Teaching 9 A Case In Point: Influencing the Lives of Students—A Teacher’s Gift 10 The Demands of Teaching 11 Meeting Standards for Good Beginning Teachers 12 Teaching: Is It Really for You? 14 Making a Choice about the Kind of Teacher You Want to Be 15 COMMITMENT #1 LEARNING FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER 17 CHAPTER 2 Putting What You Already Know about Teaching into Perspective 19 Five Kinds of Experience That Create Prior Knowledge about Teaching 20 Knowledge about Teaching from Your Own Experience of Schooling 20 Autobiographical Knowledge about Teaching 23 Rewards and Challenges: Getting Started 25 A Case In Point: Natalie’s Story 26 Knowledge about Teaching from Working in Schools 27 A Case In Point: From Paraprofessional to Teacher 29 Knowledge about Teaching from Images in the Media 30 Historical Note: Catharine Beecher’s Image of Teachers 32 Digging Deeper: Is Teaching a Science or an Art? 35 Knowledge from Your Own Beliefs about Teaching 36 Philosophical Note: The Role of a Philosophy of Teaching 38 Observation and Interviewing: “Making the Familiar Strange” 39 Making the Familiar Strange through Formal Classroom Observation 40 Making the Familiar Strange through Interviewing 45 Final Pointers on Observation and Interviewing 48 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 48 CHAPTER 3 Learning to Teach:What Does It Mean? 57 The Research Is In: Good Teaching Matters 58 Who Governs Teacher Education and Certification? 60 What Do Prospective Teachers Study? 62 Subject Matter Content 62 Foundations of Education 63 Pedagogy 64 Field Experience in PK–12 Classrooms 65 Connecting the Elements of Teacher Education 66 Reforming the Preparation of Teachers: A National Commitment 67 Historical Note: Normal Schools and the Early History of Teacher Education 67 From Coursework to Standards: Increasing Rigor in Teacher Education 70 The Purpose of Standards in Teacher Education 71 The Role of Portfolios in Standards-Based Teacher Education 71 A Case In Point: How Portfolios Demonstrate What Teachers Know and Can Do 73 Good Teacher Education: A Shared Responsibility between Schools and Universities 74 A Case In Point: Working in a Professional Development School 76 The New Role of Testing in Preparing Beginning Teachers—Help or Hindrance? 76 Philosophical Note: An Essentialist View of Teaching and Teacher Education 78 Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs 79 National Accreditation 79 Accreditation and Standards: The Road to Greater Professionalization? 80 Digging Deeper: Do Standards and Accreditation Really Ensure Good Beginning Teachers? 80 Preparing Enough Teachers: Responding to Teacher Shortages 82 Shortages—A Cyclical Event in Teaching 82 Alternate Routes: A Solution to the Shortage? 82 Rewards and Challenges: From Teacher Education to the Classroom 85 After Formal Teacher Education: What Comes Next? 85 Induction—The First Stage of Your Career 86 A Case In Point: Mentoring a First-Year Teacher in an Urban School 87 Renewing Your Teaching License 89 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 90 CHAPTER 4 Learning from the History and Philosophy of Education 97 Historical Origins of American Education 98 Early Educational Efforts in the Colonies 99 Expanding Education, Literacy, and Civil Society 100 The Jeffersonian Ideal of Education 101 The Contested Problem of the Control of Public Education 102 Common Schools 103 The Late 19th Century: Building a System of Education 105 Digging Deeper: A Colonial Conflict in a Modern Setting: What High School Curriculum is Best? 105 The Limited Reach of Universal Education 108 A Case In Point: What Can a History of Educational Inequity Mean for Today’s Students 110 Into the 20th Century 112 The Historical Record and the Current Era: Enduring Dilemmas and Persistent Controversies 113 Philosophical Views of Education 114 Rewards and Challenges: A New Teacher’s Philosophy 115 The Map of Western Philosophical Concepts and Schools of Thought 115 Major Philosophies of Education 117 Philosophy and Purpose Revisited 120 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 121 COMMITMENT #2 USING THE CURRICULUM RESPONSIBLY 127 CHAPTER 5 Deciding What to Teach 129 Curriculum: A Multidimensional Concept 131 The Explicit Curriculum—What It Is and Is Not 131 Curriculum as What Is Taught 132 Curriculum as What Is Learned 133 What Isn’t Taught—The Null Curriculum 135 Curriculum Dilemmas 136 Developing the Curriculum: How Does It Work? 136 How Are Academic Content Standards Created? 137 What Do Academic Content Standards Look Like? 137 What Do Curriculum Guides Look Like? 138 A Case In Point: Developing a Teaching Unit 141 National Influences on Curriculum Development 143 Historical Note: The Influence of National Committees on Schooling and the Curriculum 144 Curriculum—Teaching with a Purpose 145 Philosophical Note: John Dewey and the Progressive View of Education 146 Beyond a Technical Approach—Special Curriculum Identities for Individual Schools 147 Digging Deeper: The Role of Basic Skills in the Curriculum 150 Making Sense of Standards, Accountability, and the Purposes of Curriculum 152 Rewards and Challenges: Making the Curriculum Meaningful 153 The Role of Textbooks in the Curriculum 155 How Teachers Use Textbooks 155 Textbooks, Standards, and the Curriculum 158 The Textbook Industry in the United States 158 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 161 CHAPTER 6 More Than “What Is Taught”: School as a Social Institution 167 The Power of the Hidden Curriculum 169 The Hidden Curriculum and the School as a Culture 170 Benefits of the Hidden Curriculum 172 Liabilities of the Hidden Curriculum 173 A Case In Point: Current Events as the Hidden Curriculum 175 The Hidden Curriculum as a Commentary on the Social Purposes of Schooling 176 The Current Societal Context 176 Historical Note: The Emergence of the Common School 177 Population and the Schools 179 Changing Family Structures 179 Child Abuse and Neglect 185 Violence and the Schools 187 Digging Deeper: Will Smaller High Schools Meet Students’ Needs? 189 Teen Pregnancy 191 Drug and Alcohol Abuse 192 Addressing Social Dynamics by Changing the Regularities of Schooling 193 Redefining the Environment 193 Rewards and Challenges: Making School Work for Every Student 195 A Case In Point: The Salomé Ureña de Henriquez Campus, New York City 197 The Teacher’s Role in Promoting Competence 198 Philosophical Note: Meeting Individual Needs through a Humanistic Philosophy of Education 198 A Brief Word about the Extracurriculum 199 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 200 COMMITMENT #3 CROSSING YOUR OWN FAMILIAR BORDERS TO EMBRACE DIVERSITY 207 CHAPTER 7 Teaching Students Whose Race, Class, Culture, or Language Differs from Your Own 209 What Changing Demographics in the United States Mean for Teachers 211 Understanding Diversity as an Asset, Not a Deficit 213 A Case In Point: Deficit or Asset? 214 How Knowing about Your Students’ Lives Helps You Teach 216 Using Funds of Knowledge as a Resource for Student Learning 218 Devaluing Students in School: How Does It Happen? 219 What Teachers Communicate through Their Expectations 219 Historical Note: The Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision 221 What Schools Communicate through Academic Tracking 222 A Case In Point: A Rude Awakening about Tracking 225 Addressing Diversity of Language in the Classroom 226 Digging Deeper: What about Bilingual Education? 229 Rethinking Teaching as a Culturally Responsive Profession 231 Culturally Responsive Teaching 231 Why “Celebrating Difference” Is not Enough 233 Rewards and Challenges: Honoring Students’ Cultural Differences 234 Beyond Cultural Knowledge—Multiple Perspectives and Social Transformation 235 Philosophical Note: Transforming Society through Social Reconstructionism 236 Recognizing Privilege and Power 237 “Not Seeing Color” as a Problematic Response to Diversity 238 A Special Responsibility—Teaching in a Monocultural School 239 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 241 CHAPTER 8 Teaching Students with Disabilities 249 A Broad Commitment to Equity for Students with Disabilities 251 Historical Note: Burton Blatt’s Campaign to Expose Institutions for Mentally Retarded Persons 252 Federal Mandates for Equity 254 A Case In Point: Daniel Greenwood 256 From Birth to Work: Extending the Age Range of Students in School 257 Philosophical Note: The Inclusion Movement 258 Does Labeling Students with Disabilities Help or Hinder a Teacher’s Work? 261 What Disability Categories Do and Do Not Provide for Teachers 264 How Disability Labels Can Lead to Inequities 264 Simplifying the Categories 267 The Teacher’s Role 267 Rewards and Challenges: Meeting Students’ Diverse Instructional Needs 268 Building Classroom Communities Where Students with Disabilities Belong 268 Being Flexible and Accommodating for Students with Disabilities 269 Collaboration Among Teachers: The Key to Success 270 The Goal: A Classroom Environment that Diminishes Differences 272 Digging Deeper: What Kind of Curriculum is Best for Students with Disabilities? 273 How Technology Can Help You Teach Students with Disabilities 275 Integrating Assistive Technology into the Classroom 275 Universal Design as a Strategy for Inclusion 276 A Final Point about Assistive Technology and Disabilities 277 Disability: The Same as or Different from Other Diversities? 277 What about Educating Gifted and Talented Students? 279 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 280 COMMITMENT #4 MEETING THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CLASSROOM AND THE SCHOOL 287 CHAPTER 9 Organizing Good Schools and Good Classrooms 289 What Makes a Good School? What Makes a Good Classroom? 291 In Good Schools, Students Are Motivated, Challenged, and Engaged 291 Good Schools and Classrooms Are Communities of Learners 293 Good Schools Know How Well They, and Their Students, Are Doing 295 Rethinking School Organization to Meet Students’ Needs 296 The Traditional Approach: Age-Graded Classrooms and Curriculum 297 Multi-Age Classrooms 298 Looping 299 Historical Note: One-Room Schools 300 Class Size Reduction at the Elementary Level 301 Block Scheduling at the High School Level 302 Digging Deeper: Introducing Innovations into Schools 303 The Small High Schools Movement 304 Rethinking the School Day to Increase Time to Learn 307 Philosophical Note: Organizing Schools and Classrooms for Democracy 309 Rewards and Challenges: Preparing the Next Generation of Recyclers 311 A Recap: Different Organizational Patterns, Different Social Settings 311 Rethinking What Happens at the Classroom Level to Meet Student Needs 312 Differentiating Instruction to Meet Students’ Needs: The Need for Flexibility 312 How Technology Helps Meet Student Needs 313 A Case In Point: Transforming a Sixth Grade Classroom with Technology 318 Meeting Student Needs through Peer Tutoring 320 Meeting Student Needs through Cooperative Learning 321 How Paraprofessionals Help Meet Student Needs 322 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 324 CHAPTER 10 How Governing and Financing Schools Influence Teachers’Work 331 Putting Governance into Perspective 332 The Influence of Local Control of Schools on a Teacher’s Work 333 The Role of the Superintendent of Schools 334 The Relationship between the School Board and the Superintendent 335 Local School Board Policymaking 335 Decision Making at the Building Level 338 The Role of the Principal 338 Local School Governance through Shared Decision Making 339 Teachers’ Leadership Roles in Schools 339 Negotiated Decisions: The Role of Teachers’ Unions 340 Historical Note: Governing the Nation’s Earliest Schools 342 How State Governance Influences a Teacher’s Work 343 The Influence of the Federal Government in Education 344 Rewards and Challenges: Sharing Power in the Classroom 345 Direct Federal Involvement in Education Programs through Legislation 346 A Case In Point: Title IX in Action? 350 Court Decisions and Education 351 Philosophical Note: The Separation of Church and State and Public Education 352 The Influence of Other External Groups on Education Decisions 354 Financing Education: How Dollars Make their Way to Schools, Teachers, and Students 355 Inequities in School Funding 357 From the Federal Government, the State, and the Community to the School 358 Changing Views of the Governance and Control of Schools 359 Digging Deeper: Strengthening or Weakening Public Schools through Choice? 361 Home Schooling: Where Does It Fit? 363 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 365 COMMITMENT #5 CONTRIBUTING ACTIVELY TO THE PROFESSION 371 CHAPTER 11 Ethical and Legal Issues in the Work of Teaching 373 Trust: The Basic Moral Obligation of Teachers 375 The Multiple Dimensions of Trust 376 Philosophical Note: Nel Noddings and the Ethic of Care 378 Creating and Maintaining Trusting Relationships 381 The Teacher as Advocate 382 Rewards and Challenges: The Day-to-Day Challenges of Teaching Ethically 383 Ethical Considerations at the Teacher-to-Teacher Level 385 A Case In Point: Unwanted Advice 385 The School as an Ethical Community 386 A Case In Point: In or Out of the Teachers’ Lounge? 386 Ethical Behavior, Codes of Ethics, and Standards of Professional Practice 389 The Role of Codes of Ethics for Teachers 389 The Ethics of Recommending Candidates for Teaching 389 Historical Note: The Moral Context in Colonial Schools 392 How Legal Issues Influence Teachers’ Ethical Practice 393 Students’ Rights to Free Expression of Opinions 394 Privacy and Confidentiality 395 Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect 396 Corporal Punishment 396 Search and Seizure 397 Religion in the Schools 398 Digging Deeper: The Persistent Debate over Teaching Evolution 399 Technology, The Internet, Fair Use, and Copyright Issues 400 The Personal versus the Professional as an Ethical Issue for Teachers 402 Personal Beliefs and Inclusivity in Public Schools 403 Personal Beliefs and the Curriculum 403 Why It Counts in a Diverse World 404 CHAPTER 12 Becoming a Teacher: New Visions and Next Steps 411 The Profession/Job Conflict 412 Defining the Tension 412 Enduring Myths about Teaching 415 Beyond the Myths: Teaching as a Profession 416 Teaching as a Collaborative and More Public Form of Work 417 Opening the Classroom Doors for Observation and Feedback 418 Philosophical Note: Collaboration and Autonomy for Teachers 420 Collaboration: A Shared Resource for Professional Dialogue 420 Historical Note: The Emergence of Teachers’ Organizations in the United States 421 Teacher Leadership 422 Mentoring as Teacher Leadership 423 Coaching as Teacher Leadership 424 Peer Review of Teaching as Teacher Leadership 425 Teacher Leadership and the New Teacher Unionism 426 Teachers as Researchers 426 How Do Teachers Conduct Their Own Research? 427 A Case In Point: Yolanda’s Research on Teaching Writing in a Middle School Language Arts Class 429 Why Is Teacher Research a Sign of Increased Professionalism? 430 Recognizing Accomplished Teaching through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards 431 Digging Deeper: Differentiated Pay for Teachers? 434 The Role of Networking in Professional Growth and Development 435 Accountability and Control in the Profession of Teaching 437 Time to Grow, Time to Lead 439 Reflecting on Your Views and Beliefs, Assessing Your Progress 440 Reflection: An Enduring Habit 442 Incorporating New Developments in Teaching and Learning 442 School or Districtwide Professional Development 444 Setting Short- and Long-Term Goals 444 Rewards and Challenges: Revisiting Why We Teach 445 Becoming an Informed Professional 445 Challenges on the Horizon in Education 446 Global Education 447 World Languages Education 448 Resegregation of Schools 450 The Future of Public Education 450 Finding Your First Teaching Position: Smart Preparation Pays Off 451 Take Your Preparation Seriously 451 Make Your Portfolio Count 453 Become an Informed Job Applicant 453 Prepare for Your Job Interviews 454 What Counts for You Now as a Teacher in a Diverse World? 456 GLOSSARY 463 REFERENCES 469 NAME INDEX 483 SUBJECT INDEX 487