Political Leadership and Educational Failure.The writings of Seymour Sarason, professor emeritus of psychology at Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was , reflect several paradoxes. Though he believes the present public education system "is not rescuable," he offers hope that the American political system will find the will and the way to a form of public education that will work both for children and the larger society it is supposed to serve. In his latest work, Political Leadership and Educational Failure, Sarason offers no magic formula to change the system. He is clear, however, about what is wrong with public education: Classrooms do not provide "contexts" (arenas) for productive learning in which children acquire new knowledge to change their concept of self and their potential. They are unable to do so because teachers are smothered smoth·er v. smoth·ered, smoth·er·ing, smoth·ers v.tr. 1. a. To suffocate (another). b. To deprive (a fire) of the oxygen necessary for combustion. 2. in a system that abhors change. He concedes that pockets of success and innovation do exist in K-12 classrooms, but they are invariably in·var·i·a·ble adj. Not changing or subject to change; constant. in·var  i·a·bil site specific and seldom embraced
even by other schools in the same school system.
Sarason argues that fundamental change cannot come until the president makes clear to American citizens that such change is necessary. He devotes a chapter to Thomas Jefferson, whom he describes as the "only serious education president." He contends Jefferson would be appalled to find the public's preoccupation with test scores when participation in civic affair--a major purpose of educating the citizenry--is perilously low. He calls for a commission made up of the country's best minds to reinvent re·in·vent tr.v. re·in·vent·ed, re·in·vent·ing, re·in·vents 1. To make over completely: "She reinvented Indian cooking to fit a Western kitchen and a Western larder" the system, not simply study it. Sarason displays cautious optimism about charter schools. However, he believes their potential could be squandered squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. because neither the governors who favor them nor the president who supports them insists on carefully controlled evaluations of these mini-systems. (Political Leadership and Educational Failure, by Seymour B. Sarason, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Calif., 1998, 158 pp. with index, AASA AASA American Association of School Administrators AASA Asian American Student Association AASA Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia AASA Aging and Adult Services Administration AASA Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army member price $29.75 hardcover. Available from AASA Distribution Center. Stock #013-009SA) |
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