The Self-Organizing School Next-Generation Comprehensive School Reforms

by Bain, Alan

• ISBN13: 9781578866021
• ISBN10: 1578866022
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-23
• Publisher: R&L Education

Summary

Despite immense efforts to understand schools, we know very little about the contribution they make to student learning. Further, the limited available evidence indicates that the way schools are designed, organized, and managed have only a minimal effect on student outcomes. The Self-Organizing School addresses this problem and the pressing need for reform models that go further, last longer, and posses the capacity to both respect, as well as deeply influence, what teachers and schools do. The Self-Organizing School identifies nine next-generation reform targets and articulates theory and practice for achieving these goals. In doing so, a self-organized school sets a new benchmark for evaluating site-based data and examples of a process that turns theory into practice. This includes better ways to begin a reform process and understand the roles of technology and feedback in the teaching profession. The theory and practice described in the book are backed by more than 1,600 direct classroom observations, an 8-year study of student achievement, more than 12,000 student evaluations, and a 5-year study of teacher perspectives.

Author Biography

Alan Bain is associate professor of inclusive education at Charles Sturt University, Australia

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Next	p. 19
Theory	p. 41
Self-Organization	p. 61
Simple Rules	p. 83
Embedded Design	p. 105
Scaling Up	p. 137
Emergent Feedback	p. 173
Technology	p. 193
Results	p. 211
Emergence	p. 249
References	p. 261
Index	p. 275
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