Abstract
Drawing on literary critic Kenneth Burke's concept of “terministic screens,” the author explores some of the history and a few of the troubling implications for the work of teachers and teacher educators that flow from the idea of reform. Concluding that “reform is a bad idea,” the author argues for an alternative conception of educational improvement, one that is more life-affirming and hopeful. Seeking to weaken the conceptual and ethical hold of reform on policy-makers and educators, the author argues with John Goodlad that educational improvement first and foremost must be understood as a learning problem, an issue of educational renewal.
Highlights
In his dramatistic conception of language, language as symbolic action, literary critic Burke (1989) called attention to what he characterized as “terministic screens,” how words, functioning as screens, direct “attention.” What he had in mind was “the fact that any nomenclature necessarily directs the attention into some channels rather than others” (p. 115)
The screens employed bring with them what Burke called a “‘terministic compulsion’ to carry out the implications of one’s terminology”
As “reform of teacher education is implemented in different teacher education institutions, systemic, and long-term empirical studies need to be developed to determine whether the intended results were achieved and to identify any unintended effects” (p. 399)
Summary
In his dramatistic conception of language, language as symbolic action, literary critic Burke (1989) called attention to what he characterized as “terministic screens,” how words, functioning as screens, direct “attention.” What he had in mind was “the fact that any nomenclature necessarily directs the attention into some channels rather than others” (p. 115). As “reform of teacher education is implemented in different teacher education institutions, systemic, and long-term empirical studies need to be developed to determine whether the intended results were achieved and to identify any unintended effects” Note use of the word, “definitive,” a synonym for “best practice.” The ambition, on this view, which parallels that expressed by the National Research Council Committee on the Study of Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States (National Research Council (NRC), 2010; see Bullough, 2014), appears to reduce teacher education to training: In the quest for reliability, training centers on the measurement and demonstration of detailed prespecified outcomes, carefully defined skills and behaviors; in contrast, education–a process, not a product–is a messy business; results are uncertain, surprises common, standards negotiable, and direction of learning often more important than arriving at any particular destination.
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