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With critical attention focused on education, and the teaching profession itself under close scrutiny by federal, state, and local officials and governing boards, a heightened sense of the need to attract and retain good teachers has surfaced as a national priority.
Based on data collected on elementary school teachers, principals, and central office administrators in a large unified school district, the authors draw upon cultural rather than economic or psychological concepts to reveal and explain how educators become oriented to their work responsibilities. The book presents a comprehensive description of the rewards and incentives provided for teachers. It also describes the roles of principals and links the principal's work to classroom performance and teaching effectiveness. Throughout this fascinating account the authors describe and reflect upon the ways in which teaching is controlled by a system of beliefs and meanings that specify the overall purposes of schooling and establish norms for social relationships with students and colleagues.
"...an extremely relevant piece of research in terms of contemporary educational reform. In light of the current controversy over the restructuring of the teaching profession, merit pay, etc. a detailed ethnographic study of this type is enormously valuable. The theoretical introduction provided at the beginning of the book is particularly informative, along with the literature review. Their descriptions are concise and informative."— Eugene F. Provenzo Jr., University of Miami
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Chapter I Teacher Incentives and School Performance
Effective Schools and Teachers
The Plan of this Book
Data Sources and Research Methods
A Preliminary Perspective on Teaching Incentives
Chapter II Work Motivation, Rewards, and Incentive Systems: A Review of Prior Research
Motivation, Rewards, and Incentives
Distinguishing Incentives from Rewards
The Work Motivation Literature
The Dangers of Overreliance on Some Incentives
Six Underlying Psychological Theories
Behaviorist Theories
Need Psychologies
Cognitive Psychologies
Toward a Cultural Theory of Teaching Incentives
A Cultural Perspective on School Organizations
Classrooms as Subcultural Groups
Culture at the Individual Level
Chapter III The Work Orientations and Incentive Systems of Fifteen Elementary Teachers
Organizational Incentives: Achievement Production versus Child Nurture
Group-Level Incentives: Keeping School versus Teaching Lessons
Individual Incentives: Role Definitions and Career Orientations
Group 1. The Master Teachers
Group 2. The Instructors
Group 3. The Coaches
Group 4. The Helpers
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter IV Teaching Lessons: The Cultural Enterprise of the Classroom
Lesson Structures: Archetypes and Variations
The Teacher-Led Verbal Lesson
The Activity Lesson
The Drill and Practice Lesson
Tests as Lessons
Basic Elements of the Lesson Structure
Beginning Demarcations
Lesson Openings
The Lesson Proper
Lesson Closings
Ending Demarcations
Work Orientations and Lesson Structures
The Master Teachers
The Instructors
The Coaches
The Helpers
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter V Managing Classrooms: A Cultural Perspective on Rules and Their Enforcement
The Fragile Character of Classroom order
Using Rewards to Enforce Rules
Rule-Based Order: Overt Power Strategies
Rule-Based Order: Normative Strategies
Kindergarten: Where the Socialization Process Begins
Successful Enculturation: Direction Giving Rather than Rule Enforcement
The Intrusion of the School's Rule Structure
Conclusion
Chapter VI Five School Principals: Administrative Work in Cultural Perspective
The Principal as Manager: The Case of Mrs. P
Contradictions in Mrs. P's Style
The Principal as Administrator: The Case of Mr. Q
Contradictions in Mr. Q's Style
The Principal as Leader: The Case of Mr. R
Contradictions in Mr. R's Style
The Principal as Supervisor: The Case of Mrs. S
Contradictions in Mrs. S's Style
The Multistyle Principal: The Case of Mrs. T
Flexibility Rather than Contradiction
Summary and Conclusions
Chapter VII Cultural Incentives and Effective Teaching
Motivation and Rewards
Motivation through Reward Distribution
Distinguishing Rewards from Reinforcements
Types of Rewards
Distinguishing Rewards from Incentives
School Incentive Systems
Teachers Receive Both Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards
Incentives as Cultural Expressions
Lessons and Rules: The Technical Core of the Classroom
Principals' Influence on Teacher Incentive Systems
The Cultural Roles Played by Principals
Conclusion
Chapter VIII Policy Implications
Establishing Culturally Grounded Teacher Incentive Systems
Enhancing School Achievement
Improving School Administration
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index