The Paradox of School Reform

Tyack and Cuban (1995) have pointed out that historically, people have always 'wanted schools to serve different and often contradictory purposes for their own children.' These are listed as follows, in the text:

• to socialize them to be obedient, yet to teach them to be critical thinkers;
• to pass on the best academic knowledge that the past has to offer, yet also to teach marketable and practical skills;
• to cultivate cooperation, yet to teach students to compete with one another in school and later in life;
• to stress basic skills but also encourage creativity and higher-order thinking;
• to focus on the academic 'basics' yet to permit a wide range of choice of courses.

They also mention three other issues related to the collective functions of schooling: assimilation of newcomers ('foreign talent'?) vs affirming ethnic (cultural?) diversity; perpetuating gender roles or challenging them; and giving equal opportunity while preserving the advantages of a favoured class.

Some things don't change across modern nations, states and cities, it seems. But the key to reform opportunities and moments is that when one of these balances is heavily shifted by a sudden change to one of two opposing factors, societal change forces make it more likely that education will be seen to be 'in crisis'. Examples of this are: a dramatic rise in immigration, the rise of protest movements such as civil rights, the challenge of global competition.

This book was written 15 years ago. Its lessons are all too relevant today in Atlantis.