C.R.A.P. and other reasons why teachers grow cynical

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Eccl. 1:9

Ever feel like the same educational trends re-appear ever so many years with different authors and terminology. There is a name for this phenomena*: CRAP which stands for:

Continually
Renaming
Academic
Practices

Add the "This too shall pass" mindset that most time-pressed and skeptical educators hold, the lack of credible, non-biased applicable research on best educational practices, underinvestment in thoughtful staff development, and societal pressures for schools remain unchanged, one can see why resistance is often considered the only sane approach to new programs and methodologies by practicing teachers.

One of my favorite commercials visualizes trying to build an aircraft while it is in flight (a spin on changing the tires of a moving car):

I suppose a studied, deliberate and measured approach to new methodology will always be wishful thinking since educators don't have the luxury of closing school for re-tooling either, but do we ever give any new approach enough time to determine if it actually works? Or do all those who advocate for change suffer from ADD?

* I picked up at NHEMA.

Comments

[Nathan]

GREAT acronym! I haven't been around long enough to see this for myself, but my veteran friends with 15 years+ in talk about it often. We're told we need to do this or that different...bring new ideas into our classrooms. The bottom line is good teachers do good things for students no matter what the reform du jour is.

[Matt T.]

Thanks for the humorous (but oh-so-true) acronym, Doug. I have been in the education profession for less than a decade, but still long enough to hear from others the "it too shall pass" phrase enough times to wonder what the future holds. If everything new thing is "C.R.A.P" what fuel do we have to push forward in improving our educational system?

[Dottie]

I would like the "new" thing to be letting good teachers do their thing without intervention. What really drives me mad is that many of these new "programs" are ridiculously expensive. Some administrator gets sold at a conference and comes back and declares they have found the next best thing. They never talk to the end user about how feasible this program is given the resources they have. This year the district decided to buy an expensive computer program without talking to the IT staff about the fact that the old computers in most schools couldn't run it. Why do these people still have their jobs?
I think administrators should have to cycle through as teachers every 3 or 4 years. Let them remember what it feels like to actually have the responsibility of teaching. I doubt they would last 2 weeks!

[Kenn Gorman]

I am currently working through a unit where the students are supposed to ask a venture capitalist (me) for money. I named my company Capital Resources Alliance Products - and so far only about three students "got it". Seems like there is crap everywhere...
I am fortunate enough to pretty much be able to do what I persoanlly think my freshman students need, since there are only two instructors in my department. So in a way I am continually renaming academic practices, but I believe that is a good thing - but there are changes for good. I hope.

[Michelle]

Similiarly, I have heard that the local School Improvement Team should be renamed the School and Home Improvement Team, just for the acronym. ;)

[Paul C]

Humorous acronym especially for those literacy leaders and coaches who try to promote research based learning strategies. It's human nature for teachers to resist something new. I ran across eight reasons why teachers may be resistant:
- fear
- feeling overwhelmed
- the comfort of the familiar
- this too shall pass
- lack of support, resources, or time
- unclear expectations or lack of understanding
- belief systems
- inadequate professional development

There is, by the way, an answer to each of the concerns. Great post, Doug.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Nathan,

I agree. I also find what works actually requires work to make it happen and that just calling an old practice by a new set of buzz words doesn't do much good.

All the best,

Doug

Hi Matt and Dorothy,

You are welcome. I suspect most of take from new initiatives the things that seem to make sense, fit with our own educational philosophy, and can actually be implemented. Most teachers DO want to improve their professional practice, but we haven't done a good job of treating them LIKE professionals.

Sad, but too true in many instances about administrators. Had the same lack of planning happen in our district too many times,

All the best,

Doug

Hi Ken,

Was it Neil Postman who used to say kids were great "crap detectors?" I guess the word has a long and honored history in education since the ruder term might not be appropriate for kids!

Doug

Michelle,

I worked in a district where we celebrated Sure Happy It's Thursday instead of Thank God It's Friday!

Doug

Thanks, Paul.

I would only add one to your list:

- a feeling of not being treated like an adult professional

Amazing what a bad job we do teaching each other and managing staff development sometimes.

Appreciate the list. I'll be thinking about it.

Doug