Twitter Book Club: Seymour B. Sarason (1996) Revisiting "The Culture of The School and the Problem of Change" - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: University and School Cultures

"By virtue of the fact that the observer is personally part of a structure—be it in the school culture or in one ou... http://tl.gd/aolu8kless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"from certain ways of looking at nature, apples and oranges are indeed comparable." Sarasonless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"by virtue of immersion in, and relation to, the school culture he or she is ordinarily prevented from perceiving t... http://tl.gd/aolvbbless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"theorists who are unconnected to practitioners, that theories that do not derive from practice, and that theories ... http://tl.gd/aom05vless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"any effort to introduce change maximizes the role of ignorance with its all too familiar consequences." Sarasonless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"until we understood better the ways in which school personnel were defining and experiencing problems in their dai... http://tl.gd/aom243less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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Twitter Book Club: Seymour B. Sarason (1996) Revisiting "The Culture of The School and the Problem of Change" - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Encapsulated School System

"First, the most potent source for change has come not from within the school system, or from state and federal pol... http://tl.gd/ammfolless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"it takes very special, upsetting conditions to force one to ask why one has thought and acted the way one has." Sarasonless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"if your aim is to understand why schools do or do not change, the usual concept of a school system can be an effec... http://tl.gd/anc8j2less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"the more you realize how many different 'systems' have to change if the change you seek in the schools can be succ... http://tl.gd/anc9b8less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"It is all too easy to pinpoint a problem in schools and to propose changes within schools, unaware that the proble... http://tl.gd/anc9bjless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of th... http://tl.gd/anc9g6less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"In the past the school (particularly the urban one) has 'learned' that if a stranger comes into the school the odd... http://tl.gd/ancfk1less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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Twitter Book Club: Seymour B. Sarason (1996) Revisiting "The Culture of The School and the Problem of Change" - Chapter 1

I picked up this book, as well as two others by Sarason, on the recommendation of Gary Stager. I have to say, after reading this book I have a love-hate relationship with this author. Sarason wrote something like more than 40 books in his career. My first thought was, how can anyone have enough time or experience to draw from to write this many books. After reading this book I kind of have a clue. While I highly recommend reading this author's work and feel the ideas presented here are very important I am pretty sure you can skip this one and just read the quotes in this series of posts.

Revisiting is a 1996 republication of his 1982 book, the Culture of the School and the Problem of Change, with additional chapters added. I just about flipped out when I read the first passage in the second section where he openly states that when writing the first draft of this book he never reread or did any revisions. That actually explains a lot about the style of writing as well as how someone could write more than 40 books in their career. I will withhold further judgement about Sarason's writing ability until I read the other two books of his that I ordered. Writing style and lack of revisions aside, the ideas expressed were important and great. He time and again asks his readers to consider a factor most never consider, what is the culture of the school? and How does the culture of the school affect efforts to enact change?

Chapter 1: The Plan of the Book

"To take distance from the setting in which one is an integral part is a ubiquitous problem in dealing with the cul... http://tl.gd/akofb8less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"The notion that schools will change if only the federal government will make a commitment to the public schools, a... http://tl.gd/akohb4less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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