When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
—Alexander Den Heijer
In an election year, many of us may be considering our work and how it might act as a catalyst for change across systems. Every year, countless articles are published, presentations are given, and tweets are posted concerning the state of education, the struggles of schools, and the obstacles facing teachers and students. Sometimes it can feel hopeless to watch the constant mill of research that presumably has the intention of producing change, and yet to see very little actual progress toward that change.
In this issue of The Educational Forum, you will read articles that are attempting to move the needle. Much like Skinner's interpretation of behaviorism, the approach of these articles toward creating change is to modify the environment in ways that benefit everyone. The research reports and essays in this issue highlight the systemic influences that are constantly at play and the bidirectional nature of relationships among individuals, schools, and communities. The authors discuss practices that leverage the strengths available in these diverse groups of stakeholders.
One of the propositions that we see offered in this issue is the value of building meaningful relationships with the community outside school walls. Aidman and Nelson Baray examine partnering with private sector and community agencies, while DeMatthews and Izquierdo suggest the importance of multiple stakeholders, including families. Gonzalez-DeHass and Willems emphasize the importance of families in cultivating strategy instruction. These authors show that extending the learning community beyond the school walls provides an opportunity to enhance the network of support for students. Expanding the traditional school community brings in those who were once seen as outsiders, welcoming them as partners to take advantage of the assistance they might offer. To be sure, as increasing pressure is put upon schools to accomplish more with fewer resources, it makes sense to solicit and accept willing allies such as parents, community partners, and the private sector. And, in an essay that captures the complex dynamic of being both a teacher educator and a parent, Whitney explores the critical idea of partnership toward positive change from a personal point of view.
As another step in scrutinizing the elements of the environment that might be ripe for change, we need to look closely at our own practice—both in the ways we are prepared and in the ways we enact our beliefs. We are reminded of foundational understandings of learning theory and how to apply that knowledge creatively to support learning in Macy's look at how a teacher designs drama activities to teach language arts and science. Our authors not only interrogate the reality of accountability measures such as value-added models, as in Brady, Heiser, McCormick, and Forgan's article, but also delve into how preservice teachers know and understand the political context they are choosing to enter, as examined by Thompson and Dentino. Moreover, Mourad asks us to consider how we initiate our preservice teachers with respect to morality and ethics. The more recent focus on content mastery in teacher education has inched us further and further from the philosophical foundations of education and the pursuit of inquiry with future teachers about the essential questions that surround the profession, and closer to a more technical, even mechanical, view of teaching.
Through endorsement of collaborations and partnerships, attention to the macrolevel influences on education, and promotion of a stance that includes attention to not only the technical aspects of teaching, but also the social, communicative, and affective realities of schools, this set of articles seeks to maneuver away from the deficit-model rhetoric that problematizes children and toward an examination of the surrounding context and how that can be strengthened to benefit children. Although this issue of The Educational Forum is nonthemed, we hope our readers will notice and appreciate how the dimensions described briefly here are embedded in the work of the authors to offer a shared perspective aimed at enhancing our collective efforts to improve the on-the-ground realities for students, teachers, and school leaders.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Tabitha Dell'Angelo
Dr. Tabitha Dell'Angelo is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Urban Education Master's Program at The College of New Jersey. Her research interests include social justice in education, cultural identity development, stress tolerance, and coping strategies for teachers. She uses improvisational acting techniques to support teacher development and arts-based approaches in data analysis and presentation. She is a licensed Yoga4Classrooms instructor and promotes the practice of yoga with children to help support self-regulation and learning readiness. Dr. Dell'Angelo holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania and teaches courses in child and adolescent development, urban education, cultural foundations, and teacher research.