Tuesday, September 18, 2012

What Provoked the Chicago Teachers Strike? Bad Managment Philosophy

Greg Anrig writes in the Pacific Standard magazine that the Chicago teachers strike is at bottom a response by teachers to an outmoded Taylorist "carrot and stick" management approach being pursued by the likes of Rahm Emanuel and Michelle Rhee. Most successful businesses actually no longer use this problematic early 20th century approach but have rather adopted the more progressive "Total Quality Management" pioneered by Edward Demming. The US education reform movement seems to have been captured by an outmoded philosophy, particularly inappropriate in education, that is being roundly rejected by the education profession. In that sense, the Chicago teachers are standing up for the entire education profession, says Anrig.

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