Redesigning Teaching: Professionalism or Bureaucracy? (SUNY Series in Teacher Preparation and Development) (SUNY series, Teacher Preparation and Development) - Softcover

"The topic is absolutely central to the current debate of teacher professionalism and reform. The authors dig beneath the surface and provide insights and clarity about current reform attempts." -- Michael Fullan, University of Toronto

"The authors provide both a conceptual analysis of what is entailed by a professional and a bureaucratic view of teaching, and have case material which illustrates what actually happens when these differing approaches to teachers' work (or some mixture of these approaches) are tried out in school districts. We need more of this kind of conceptual work." -- Alan R. Tom, University of Arizona

Redesigning Teaching provides concrete case studies of school districts implementing teacher reforms. The cases describe the changes, give the history and dynamics of each project, examine how teachers respond to new policies and procedures, and tell how state policy affects local efforts to change teaching. The book also suggests that while short-term improvements can be accomplished through bureaucracy, serious reform requires professionalization. The authors identify challenges that state governments, school administrators, and teachers' associations must face if they really want to professionalize teaching.