Building Community In Schools.

Building Community In Schools. BUILDING COMMUNITY IN SCHOOLS THOMAS J. SERGIOVANNI JOSSEY-BASS,1994 $25.00, 256 pages By combining research, case studies, and original ideas, ThomasSergiovanni attempts to address the major obstacle to providing qualityeducation in schools today: a loss of a sense of community. Building onprevious books about effective school leadership, Sergiovanni offers thereader ideas about the root causes of this loss of school community andways in which individuals concerned with this issue might reverse thistrend. Written for parents, teachers, superintendents, scholars ineducational administration, organizational theorists, and othersinterested in building community, the author expounds on why reversingthe loss of community is not only in our best interest for children, butwhy such community development is essential for us, as human beings. The opening chapters of the book lay out the origins of communityloss today, how the loss is manifested in our schools, and why itsre-establishment is so critical. Sergiovanni sees the breakdown inschool community in its relation to the dissolution of community insociety at large. In our past, the socialization socialization/so��cial��iza��tion/ (so?shal-i-za��shun) the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways. so��cial��i��za��tionn. of young people wasshared by the family, the neighborhood, and the school. Today, societalchanges have contributed to the partial failure of each of theseinstitutions to provide social support for children, leading them tolook internally or to dysfunctional substitutes to address this need forcommunity. While the author is careful to state that the schools cannever be a replacement for family and neighborhood, "communitybuilding in schools can provide an important safety net as an interimstrategy" for "as schools become communities, they facilitatethe strengthening of family and neighborhood" (p. 13). Sergiovanni claims that schools have come to be seen asorganizations rather than communities. Dividing content areas intodepartments, separating students into grade levels, and designingexplicit instructional delivery vehicles are all ways to convince thepublic that the school knows what it is doing; creating rules andregulations and monitoring programs convey the message of control.However, Sergiovanni claims that such directives over time separateorganizations from the people they are created for and end up servingtheir own organizational goals. The resultant self-interest tricklesdown to each level of the organization, leaving principals, teachers,and students working solely for their own calculated reasons, seekingreward and avoiding punishment. Communities, however, are different inthat they join people to a purpose, connect people via commitment notcontract, and rely on norms and values over external control measures. The reason community is so critical, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. Sergiovanni, isbecause of its status as a basic human need. Drawing upon the work ofLeakey, Oldenquist, and Durkheim, the author furthers the claim ofhumans as social beings who, when faced with the absence of socialconstructs, experience negative consequences. Needs are divided intorational connections, emphasizing the pursuit of self-interest, andcultural connections, focusing on loyalties, purposes, and sentiments.While both connections are part of our human reality, schools have begunto promote a dominance of rational connections over cultural ones. The remainder of the book reveals Sergiovanni's ideas on howcommunity can be incorporated into today's schools. While schoolscan become communities in many different forms, the need for them firstbecoming purposeful pur��pose��ful?adj.1. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician.2. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look. communities is paramount. These purposefulcommunities are "places where members have developed a community ofmind that bonds them together in special ways and binds them to a sharedideology" (p. 72). Curriculum is another way to help createcommunity in a school by transforming the ideology into decisions aboutwhat should be taught and how the curriculum should be organized. Yetboth the discipline of adhering to such shared beliefs and thediscretion of allowing teachers and students some freedom to createtheir own teaching objectives and learning outcomes are essential. On aclassroom level, democracy can be used to include all classroom membersin designing discipline strategies, instilling in��stillalso in��stil ?tr.v. in��stilled, in��still��ing, in��stills also in��stils1. To introduce by gradual, persistent efforts; implant: "Morality . . . a spirit of generosity,engaging students in service projects, and enabling students to resolveconflicts peacefully. Such a democratic community promotes activecitizenship Active citizenship generally refers to a philosophy espoused by some organizations and educational institutions. It often states that members of companies or nation-states have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment, although those members may not have and student involvement, leading to intrinsic classroommotivation. Professionalism can assist this transformation by committingeducators to improving their practice, assisting their colleagues, andviewing students as persons who require care. Professionalism transformsa school into "a place where everyone is involved in learning andeveryone is involved in teaching" (p. 143). This characteristicreveals Sergiovanni's two remaining utopian ideals for today'sschools: becoming communities of learners and communities of leaders.Only where openness to new ideas, suspension of judgments, andcommitment to inquiry exist can true reflection and dialogue occurbetween all members. Sergiovanni claims that when such learning is mademanifest, there is no need for a single, authoritative leader. Thecreation of a community of the mind, centered around theall-encompassing ideology, "becomes the primary source of authorityfor what people do" (p. 170). Principals, teachers, and studentsalike are followers of this ideal, and their commitment to making this areality makes them all leaders. Sergiovanni makes a convincing argument for the need to createcommunity in today's schools and offers some helpful guidelineswhich schools can use to implement change on different levels to reachthis goal. Particularly enriching are the means by which the mission ofa school can be inculcated into each realm of a school's social andintellectual structure and into the relationships exhibited by itsmembers. Likewise, the concluding chapter on leadership is beneficialfor its summation summationn. the final argument of an attorney at the close of a trial in which he/she attempts to convince the judge and/or jury of the virtues of the client's case. (See: closing argument) of central themes and its innovative application ofthese ideals to the nebulous and evolving concept of school leadership. The only detractions from this book were its lack of specific meansby which to achieve the community constructs extolled by the author,some minor inconsistencies in the intellectual arguments, and a seemingdisconnect disconnect - SCSI reconnect between some of the author's ideas and the targetaudience. Sergiovanni provides the intellectual framework and benchmarks toachieve a successful school community but does not clearly represent themeans by which these community standards Community standards are local norms bounding acceptable conduct. Sometimes these standards can itemized in a list that states the community's values and sets guidelines for participation in the community. can be achieved. The authordemonstrates how a school with an established community atmosphere wouldappear and suggests certain essential elements inherent in the existenceof such an atmosphere, yet for the process involved in creating such acommunity, Sergiovanni relies exclusively on case studies. While many ofthe case studies are helpful and informative, not all of them clarifythe methods used to achieve the specific community characteristics forwhich they are being recognized. Further, the case studies whichdescribe the process of community building are often situation-specificand may not be applicable to all schools. Such an open-ended set-upallows for a fair amount of organizational freedom in constructingcommunity, but might not meet the needs of administrators from schoolswho are suffering from a dearth of concrete ways in which to begin thecommunity development process. Therefore, the content of this bookoffers a clear look at the final destination of a school embracing amodel of community but at times remains vague on the journey a schoolmust take to reach this goal. This reviewer also takes issue with some of the terminology andarguments used to further the points being made about community. The useof some terms and examples causes one to question whether they werechosen simply as a convenient means to drive the author'spreconceived pre��con��ceive?tr.v. pre��con��ceived, pre��con��ceiv��ing, pre��con��ceivesTo form (an opinion, for example) before possessing full or adequate knowledge or experience. arguments or if they are supposed to truly reflectestablished community practices. The most glaring example of this occursin the section on democracy. The notion of infusing democracy into theclassroom has merit, but the wholesale reliance on this notion opens theentire concept to question. The author contends that a classroom inwhich students design the discipline policies is preferable to one inwhich those same policies are created by the teacher. Sergiovanni positsthat in the former, fewer discipline problems occur, while in thelatter, "no lessons are learned" (p. 133). The author offers acontrived example of a student who fails to complete an assignment, butis allowed to reflect on how he let his classmates Classmates can refer to either: Classmates.com, a social networking website. Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ... down and turn in theassignment later. Leaving aside pedagogical ped��a��gog��ic? also ped��a��gog��i��caladj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of pedagogy.2. Characterized by pedantic formality: a haughty, pedagogic manner. theory and practice, one hasto wonder the true lesson that is being learned by the student in thissituation. Is it more valuable to learn that through a student-createddiscipline policy approach, second chances are to be expected, or that,as is the case in the traditional system, that actions haveconsequences? Combine this with the earlier assertion of the author thata community breakdown exists in the home. If the home is not providingstructure or discipline, is it not contradictory to claim that theschool should provide this support for the child yet deny the school themeans to discipline? While the author admits that certain behavioralacts should be explicitly up to the determination of adults, the listSergiovanni mentions includes such extremes as weapons, fire alarms, andalcohol. Clearly there is a middle road that should allow teachers toinfuse in��fusev.1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles.2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. their own measure of rule-making and discipline, as opposed towholesale reliance on democracy to enhance community. Apart from this example, the entire notion of democracy and its usein the book calls into question what the author is trying to get across.Throughout the book, Sergiovanni meticulously chooses words and phrases Words and Phrases?A multivolume set of law books published by West Group containing thousands of judicial definitions of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically, from 1658 to the present. to emphasize precise meanings. Yet the author incorrectly applies theterm democracy to the classroom environment when discussing disciplinestrategies to promote active citizenship. Sergiovanni contends thatstudents should be enlisted to help determine the rules and norms ofclassroom behavior in order "for the classroom to become ademocratic community" (p. 120) to prepare students for activecitizenship. The author then cites the U.S. Constitution as an exampleof "unflinching testimonies to democratic values that define theobligations of citizenship" (p. 123). Yet, the obligations ofcitizenship spoken of by our ancestors Our Ancestors (Italian: I Nostri Antenati) is the name of Italo Calvino's "heraldic trilogy" that comprises The Cloven Viscount (1952), The Baron in the Trees (1957), and The Nonexistent Knight (1959). was not one of democracy, but ofa republic. Our system of government requires citizens to voluntarilyhand over their individual rights or control to the care and guidance ofothers who rule for them. It is this ideal, if the author wishes to drawthe connection between present and future citizenship, that shouldjustify allowing the teacher to prescribe the rules of classroombehavior and discipline. Therefore, are the examples of a democraticclassroom advocated by Sergiovanni designed to bolster this incorrectview of citizenship, or is the paramount ideal of democracy, regardlessof the accuracy of its portrayal, used to construct these notions ofclassroom practices? The greater point rests in the potential reason why suchterminology was chosen and the audience for which the book was written.Throughout the book, there are a lot of unnamed, but clearlyidentifiable religious notions. The author suggests that communitycannot be achieved unless we commit ourselves to "love thy neighboras thyself thy��self?pron. ArchaicYourself. Used as the reflexive or emphatic form of thee or thou.thyselfpronArchaic the reflexive form of thou1 " (p. 29). Private schools are championed over publicschools in promoting cultural connections because of their"well-established religious and other traditions" (p. 59). Indiscussing professional communities, the author laments that "eventhough we fall short, our quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby"quest after, go after, pursuelook for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the the professional ideal is a worthyend in itself" (p. 152), reflecting the wisdom of Christianspiritual masters, such as Thomas Merton. Yet when referring todiscipline, Sergiovanni claims that the purpose is to teach studentscitizenship. It seems rather odd that in a book about community whichcontains hidden references to religion, that the purpose of disciplinewould not elicit calls to justice, to divine love, or to help build thekingdom of God on earth. This reviewer has to wonder if Sergiovanni hastempered beliefs about community for a secular audience. It would beinteresting to see if, in dealing with Catholic schools, Sergiovannimight move beyond the notions of democracy and citizenship to a moresatisfying theological foundation for community. Sean Lynch Sean Lynch (born 31 January 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.Lynch is another youngster coming through the ranks making his first-team debut against Kilmarnock on 5 April 2006. is an assistant administrator and teaches Americanhistory at Bishop Sullivan High School For Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Indiana, see . Sullivan High School is a high school located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Their athletic teams are known as the Tigers. External linksSullivan High School website in Baton Rouge, Louisiana For the Canadian restaurant, see .Baton Rouge (from the French baton rouge), pronounced /ˈb?tn ˈɹuːʒ/in English, and .