Accountibility vs Answerability

Surprise, surprise, I once again got strong reactions when suggesting accountability for those who would experiment with educational methods. Perhaps asking for answerability might have met with less resistance.

A few months ago, a consultant in the district threw up an interesting slide that listed the differences between accountability and answerability - a distinction I'd not thought much about before. 

 Accountability                              Answerability

External locus of control               Clear expectations

Lack of ownership                           Ownership

Punitive                                            Invites collaboration

Perhaps the virulent reaction to NCLB rests in that it asks for accountability and not answerability? 

The consultant did not share the source of these definitions. If you, dear reader, have encountered this before, let me know your source. Thanks.

Comments

[Miguel Guhlin]

Doug, I've tried to respond to your questions...
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2006/04/entry_1363.htm

You might also want to listen to Bud the teacher who has responded as well.

Who knew all this would happen? <grin>


miguel

[Bishal Sapkota]

Answerability is a part of Accountability. The two major components of Accountability are Answerability and Responsibility. It suggests that being answerable doesn't always mean to be accountable but when you are accountable, you are already answerable too.