What's Worth Fighting for in Your School?

by Michael Fullan

In addition to its outstanding analysis of "total teachers" and school culture, this book provides action guidelines for teachers and for principals that are filled with insight that will help school educators take responsibility for reform 6/96.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

168 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 1996

Reviews

[Exavidreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it frankly discusses what many teachers have long thought about but are rarely allowed to voice out; it recognises teachers as professionals with vast and precious experiences that are rarely acknowledged much less tapped. Here's my favourite part:

"Appraisal schemes that implicate 100% of the staff in order to detect a small percentage of incompetents are a gross waste of time. Ironically, the anxiety they generate can also hold back the excellence of the many as they become more reluctant to take risks for fear of punishment. Interactive professionalism exposes problems of incompetence more naturally and gracefully."

Practical tips are also given. However, I still feel that the tips would only work in an environment of collaboration and trust (an environment that the book did advocate for at the start). Without that, it would be very difficult to carry them out. When you feel that you are being judged and found wanting all the time, when you don't know who you can trust, when every small mistake you make is made into a big deal, you won't feel the slightest inclination to ask your peers to observe you, to critically discuss practices you've read or take the risk of trying something new.

Nevertheless, it is a great book, and should be used for programs designed to groom promising school leaders.

[Ann Yanchura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fullan and Hargreaves are two of my favorite authors and researchers in the field of educational leadership. While this small book is 20 years old, it addresses the major issues in a simple and direct fashion.