Adrienne McElroy
EDG 6627
Artifact 1
A Book Review on Quality School by William Glasser
Organizational leadership emphasizing quality over quantity
X
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This artifact was developed during a graduate level course, Curriculum
and Instruction EDG 6627.
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This graduate level coursework was completed at Florida Gulf Coast
University in Spring 2006.
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My role in producing the written paper was as graduate student.
Independent reading increases my background knowledge.
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100 A
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This project addresses the following Florida Educational Leadership
Standards:
Standard 1:
Vision
The principal has a personal vision for the school and the
knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop, articulate and
implement a shared vision that is supported by the larger
organization and the school community.
Standard 2:
Instructional
Leadership
The principal promotes a positive learning culture, provides
an effective instructional program and applies best practices
to student learning, especially in the area of reading and
other foundational skills.
Standard 3:
Managing
the Learning
Environment
The principal manages the organization, operations, facilities
and resources in ways that maximize the use of resources in
an instructional organization and promotes a safe, efficient,
legal, and effective learning environment.
Standard 4:
Community
and
Stakeholder
Partnerships
The principal collaborates with families, business, and
community members, responds to diverse community
interests and needs, works effectively within the larger
organization and mobilizes community resources.
Standard 5:
Decision
Making
The principal plans effectively, uses critical thinking and
problem solving techniques, and collects and analyzes data
for continuous school improvement.
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Adrienne McElroy
EDG 6627
Strategies
Standard 6:
Diversity
Standard 7:
Technology
Standard 8:
Learning,
Accountabili
ty, and
Assessment
X
Standard 9:
Human
Resource
Developmen
t
Standard 10:
Ethical
Leadership
The principal understands, responds to, and influences the
personal, political, social, economic, legal, and cultural
relationships in the classroom, the school, and the local
community.
The principal plans and implements the integration of
technological and electronic tools in teaching, learning,
management, research and communication responsibilities.
The principal monitors the success of all students in the
learning environment, aligns the curriculum, instruction, and
assessment process to promote effective student
performance, and uses a variety of benchmarks, learning
expectations, and feedback measures to ensure
accountability for all participants engaged in the educational
process
The principal recruits, selects, nurtures and where
appropriate, retains effective personnel, develops mentor
and partnership programs, and designs and implements
comprehensive professional growth plans for all staff—paid
and volunteer.
The principal acts with integrity, fairness, and honesty in an
ethical manner.
Reflective statement: I added these strategies to my teaching and leading
repertoire. I have obtained more quality work from those around me by
eliminating coercion from my classroom and school. Glasser’s book has
tremendously impacted my outlook on teaching and leading.
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Adrienne McElroy
EDG 6627
Book Review of
The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion
by William Glasser
William Glasser introduces the difference between a boss-manager and a
lead-manager as according to Dr. W. Edwards Denning’s ideas. The book begins
with various vignettes of failing boss-managers and successful lead-managers.
There are four essential elements of lead-managing that I have paraphrased into
the lead-teaching elements that are the most applicable to me. First, the leadteacher engages in discussions with students of quality work while making an
effort to fit the job to the skills and needs of the learner. Secondly, the leadteacher models high expectations of work while gaining input on the assignment
or project. Thirdly, the lead-teacher asks the students to evaluate their work for
quality while understanding the high quality work may be different for each
student. Lastly, the lead-teacher must provide a classroom atmosphere that is
non-coercive and non-adversarial.
The Quality School is an extension of William Glasser’s book Choice
Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom. The choice theory involves
self control of our own behavior so that what we choose to do is the most needsatisfying thing we can do at the time. Choice theory is the explanation of this
constant attempt to control both ourselves and others, even though in practice
we can control only ourselves. Understanding what motivates students and
adults will assist in the transformation into a quality school. Choice theory
contents that all human beings are born with five basic needs built into their
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genetic structure: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom. In all of our lives we
must attempt to live in a way that will best satisfy one or more of these needs. As
a teacher this knowledge will be essential to the success of students. If what I
ask my students to do in school does not satisfy one or more of these needs or if
they do not care about me, then they will do the task poorly or maybe not at all.
This has tremendous application for me as a teacher and as a leader of a school.
In order to practice this theory, I must be a good lead-teacher by teaching
survival skills, becoming a good friend, sharing a few laughs, and giving
students/colleagues the freedom to learn as they see best. These essential
elements will carry on with me after reading this book as well as the message
that the essence of good managing is caring and hard work (Glasser, 1990, p.
39).
In a Quality School according to Glasser, relationships are based upon
trust and respect, and all discipline problems have been eliminated although
some incidents may still occur. Quality of work is stressed versus quantity of
work. The grading system has to change to an evaluation system of competence
and below competence, ultimately eliminating D and F grades from schools.
Students must be asked only to complete useful work – need satisfying work.
This has huge ramifications for me as a teacher and as a leader of a school. This
changes the entire system of school success and failures. As a lead-teacher, I
must explain what I mean by quality work and post quality papers for students to
inspect. Although, I do not think I can assume the grading system of Glasser’s
Quality School approach I do want to offer some power to the students in the
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scoring process. I will encourage students to be the judge of their quality work as
much as I am. After sharing examples, guiding and modeling I believe I can
encourage a marking system for students to convey their opinion on the quality of
the project. I believe it can be simple as a plus for quality, a check for average,
and a minus for little or no effort. This will be a good means of communication
regarding whether I am challenging them enough.
In conclusion, Glasser discusses several strategies and activities that
encourage quality work from students. Cooperative learning is already part of my
classroom, yet incorporating self evaluation of quality work is not. Name tag
usage in my school seems simple enough, yet the importance had not occurred
to me. All the adults in our school wear badges, so I have to wonder why we
haven’t started it sooner. A wonderful strategy that I presume will get great
rewards is establishing student goals and incentives similar to adult paychecks. I
envision every student making a visual representation of their future occupation
and using it as a constant reminder of why to participate in quality work.
Volunteer “friends” and student peer counselors appear to be great ways to
counter discipline problems in the classroom without coercion or loss of control. I
plan to add these strategies to my teaching and leading repertoire. I hope that
these additions will help me to obtain quality work from those around me by
eliminating coercion from my class room and school. Glasser’s book has
tremendously impacted my outlook on teaching and leading.
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Adrienne McElroy
EDG 6627
References
Glasser, William (1998). The Quality School - Managing Students Without
Coercion. New York, NY: HarperCollins Pubishers, Inc.
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