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//The Moral Life of Schools// by Philip Jackson, Robert Boostrom, and David Hansen


 * Summary**

Part 3 is a summary of four observations. Each of these observations talks about the moral environment in the classroom as well as the morals of the teacher. This part of the book is more negative, because the authors raise more disturbing moral questions about pedagogical actions. They look not only at the positive aspects of the teachers, but also the weaknesses. The first observation is

Part four of this book talks about the conclusions the authors formed and provided reasoning for a lot of their methods. The authors state that their main goal before starting their work was to see if they could identify some of the ways in which schools and teachers might be having a beneficial effect on today’s students. Throughout their work they found themselves focusing more orienting attitudes of both the teachers and the researchers. A lot of the focus in the fourth section is on having a sympathetic bias while observing. They also explain that the observing process is time consuming as well as the time needed for reflection on the notes taken. Because of this many people can be discouraged to carry out observations. In the end of this section the authors address the “critics” of their ideal way of observing and state that there is no test or hard evidence that can prove that a sympathetic outlook on the students helps to create a better classroom moral it is just common sense also, because students are people and deserve to be treated kindly. The last thought that the authors leave on is that yes, there are much more important issues in schools such as monetary problems and drop-out rates, however the issues addressed in this book are ones that affect all students regardless of age, or citizenship.

“In the final analysis the question of what goes on within schools and classrooms is truly everyone’s business.” Pg xi
 * Key Passages:**

“We might expect some of their [teachers] goodness to rub off or at least to become evident without their explicitly intending that to happen and therefore without their being aware that it had.” Pg xvi

“It is apparent to most of us that schools and teachers also have the potential for doing moral harm to those in their care. Doubtless there are some schools and classrooms in which that harm is realized.” Pg xvi

“Every detail of school life, from the interior of the principal’s office to the way the school’s cafeteria operates, from the school-wide policy that governs the giving of grades to the rules that deal with the way students move through halls, can be examined with an eye to moral significance.” Pg xviii

“What we offer instead is a generalized way of looking at and thinking about what goes on in classrooms, one that highlights the moral significance of much that occurs there. This perspective is important because the world of classrooms- and by extension the world in general- becomes a far more interesting and more vibrant place in which to live and work when its moral complexity, which is to say its full potential for communicating the moral meaning of all that surrounds us, begins to come into focus. Only then do we realize how shortsighted it is to think of schools as institutions whose sole function is to equip students with the knowledge and skills they will need to get by in the world.” Pg xii

“Classrooms do, of course, form the heart of every school. They are where the action is, as the saying goes… But the larger institutional settings in which they are lodged- schools in general- are not to be ignored as sources of moral influence. They too are capable of having a powerful impact upon their inhabitants.” Pg xix

“Some of the things that we first thought were quite easy to see and talk about became so apparent that we wondered how we could have overlooked them in the first place.” Pg 3

“Although it was the most obvious thing to look for, formal moral instruction as a recurrent and identifiable piece of the curriculum was close to absent in the classrooms we visited. The clear exceptions were in the two Roman Catholic schools. In the Catholic elementary school, twenty minutes a day was set aside for religious instruction at each grade level. In the Catholic high school, religion was a required course for all students. We encountered nothing remotely similar in any of the other schools.” Pg 4

“In almost all of the classrooms, we encountered lessons that were decidedly moral in tone, though part of the regular curriculum. Often these dealt with the character of real or legendary figures or with issues of social injustice.” Pg 5

“What made us think of these activities are being essentially moral in nature was the mood or attitude they sought to engender. This included feelings of pride, loyalty, inspiration, reverence, piety, sorrow, prudence, thankfulness, and dedication. These activities also called upon students to identify themselves with causes, social missions, and social and political entities whose goals and purposes lay outside the framework of the students’ individual interests and daily concerns.” Pg 7

“The impression the displays gave of being designed more for show and instantaneous recognition than for sustained inspection was confirmed by the fact that we seldom saw them being discussed by the teacher and the class as a whole. It is possible, of course, that many such discussions took place and we just happened to miss them. However, the frequency of our visits makes that possibility seem unlikely.” Pg 9

“From time to time, in each of the classrooms, the teachers introduced moral subject matter that had almost nothing to do with the lesson at hand or the activity in progress. What sometimes triggered its introduction was a breach of moral conduct so egregious that it could not be ignored… In these often dramatic and emotionally upsetting situations, the teacher would commonly bring a halt to whatever was going on at the time and then proceed to discuss the matter with the class as a whole, while at the same time giving vent to his or her own feelings of consternation, dismay, disappointment, and regret.” Pg 9-10

“Every classroom constitutes a small society embedded within a complex web of social entities whose overlapping systems of laws, customs, and traditions it partially shares and sometimes adds to or contradicts.” Pg 12

“We discovered that rules are often the surface manifestations of broader moral principles that reflect the individual teacher’s vision of his or her role in the classroom.” Pg 14

“Most of the time, however, teachers and students alike can only presume that the condition of truthfulness is being upheld. For how can either party possibly know that the other is always being truthful? Obviously, they can never know for sure…Teachers and students, like the participants in most other social situations, usually strive to create and maintain a framework of mutual trust within which the work of the day can be carried on, thus keeping to a minimum the instances in which that trust is called into question.” Pg 17

"Why should it be necessary to assume the worthwhileness of what goes on in classrooms when instruction is under way? Why shouldn’t that condition be abundantly evident to all concerned without having to assume anything at all? In some subjects the usefulness and importance of what is being taught does indeed seem evident to everyone…There are many subjects, however, whose worthwhileness is far from obvious…Teachers may explain the benefits of such subjects and many obviously do. But if no explanation is proffered, the subject’s worthwhileness has to be assumed…even if it is granted that a subject is worthwhile, it does not follow that the activities offered in the name of that subject are equally worthwhile.” Pg 24-25

"The key point to keep in mind is the idea of there being a set of underlying, typically invisible enabling conditions that are moral in nature and that allow instruction to proceed smoothly and amicably.” Pg 29

“What a teacher expressively communicates to students in moral terms goes far beyond trying to figure out what his or her posture and facial expressions convey at any given moment.” Pg 36

“Beyond what the room’s appearance may say about the teacher in charge, it also says something about the room itself, and what it says is often tinged with moral significance. Some classrooms are bright and cheerful; others are gloomy and depressing. And it doesn’t matter, in a sense, who made them that way. That’s just the way they are.” Pg 40

“Some of the things teachers and school administrators do to affect the moral well-being of their students are done intentionally. For example, when teachers put up signs that encourage students to be charitable or to adopt a positive attitude toward their personal goals and ambitions, they are almost certainly hopeful that these actions will lead their students to become better persons. The same is doubtless true when they organize ceremonies that are intended to be uplifting and when they spend time in class discussing the moral significance of some passing episode or event. The intent of all such actions is to leave a moral mark of some kind. Of course, not everything that teachers and administrators hope might leave such a mark actually does. And the mark it leaves is not always the one that was intended.” Pg 43

“We believe that the unintentional outcomes of schooling, the ones teachers and administrators seldom plan in advance, are of greater moral significance- that is, more likely to have enduring effects- than those that are intended and consciously sought.” Pg 44

“When we describe a teacher as responding candidly to a student’s question or as waiting patiently for the room to become quiet, we believe that description to be fully as real and objective as the color of the teacher’s eyes or the chalk smudge on his sleeve. This is not to say that everyone will have seen the same thing and will agree with our perception. Others who were present in the room may have failed to note the qualities of candor and patience, just as they may have failed to note the color of the teacher’s eyes or the chalk smudge on his sleeve. Or the observers, particularly if they are very young students, may lack the conceptual tools that allow them to see candor and patience when they are expressed. But the failure of others to see what we have seen does not by itself discredit our observation or imply that what we have seen is somehow unreal.” Pg 48-49

“The first thing the observer does is locate the teacher and describe her position. In our experience that itself is a very typical observational move. It underscores the centrality of the teacher as the person to keep an eye on in this environment. The children probably sense that as keenly as the observer. The teacher, in turn, positions herself to have the widest angle of vision possible. She needs to see everyone just as everyone needs to see her.” Pg 50

In short, if every student’s drawing is to be put on display, regardless of its quality, does that not vitiate the idea of using such a practice to reward and encourage good students? Moreover, from a moral point of view, is it not in some ways unfair to those who worked hard and did a good job to have their work displayed alongside that of students who seem almost to have flouted such standards of excellence?” (134) “However, our two hypothetical observers inhabit different moral worlds; they speak different moral languages”. (141) " Our goal of illuminating the moral dimensions of everyday teaching has compelled us to criticize certain of the things she is reported to have done"

"The adoption of a sympathetic point of view does not entail being blind to imperfections" page 259.

"expressive awareness entails... the necessity of stepping back from the ongoing flow of day-to-day activity in order to look upon persons and objects as isolable entities worthy of contemplation in their own right." page 261

"The longer we look and the more we reflect upon what we have seen, the more we come to care about whatever we were looking and reflecting upon." page 272


 * Key Terminology:**
 * Classroom/School**- pg xvi- the authors make a note of distinguishing between a classroom in which the students are taught and the school which is the building encompassing the classrooms. These terms are used somewhat interchangeably throughout the book in the sense that they talk about their observations in classrooms and its applicability to the whole school.
 * Moral**- the authors refer to the world moral in a number of different contexts. Generally, the authors refer to moral as doing something right. In terms of education and schooling, and specifically the title, the moral life of schools, the authors refer to creating schools that do good for the students and create a positive learning experience.
 * Perspective**- pg xii- the authors refer to their perspective in the introduction to address the fact that they are presenting their opinion rather than straight facts that include all sides of the story
 * Rules and Regulations**- pg 12- within the classroom, rules and regulations are used to govern the moral code of that classroom.
 * Structural/Substructural**- pg 15- these terms are used interchangeably in the text, referring to the arrangement of the curriculum in reference to the meaning of the arrangement conditions that exist to move forward teaching sessions in all subjects that are covered by the curriculum.
 * Amalgam**- pg 16- encompasses shared understandings, beliefs, assumptions and presumptions which allows for the interacting of all participants, both students and teachers.
 * Assumption of Truthfulness**- pg 18- The authors refer to the assumption of truthfulness as students and teachers assuming that each other are being truthful. This enables amalgam to proceed smoothly.
 * Intellectual Honesty vs. honesty in general**- pg 18- Intellectual honesty as discussed in The Moral Life of Schools refers to everyone being truthful about what they know or don’t know, what they understand or don’t understand. This term is usually reserved for advanced scholars and intellectuals.
 * Assumption of Worthwhileness**- pg 24- When the authors use the term assumption of worthwhileness they are referring to the expectation that everything being taught and all activities within the classroom are important, purposeful and worthwhile.
 * Active Assumption**- pg 27- the authors use this term to describe the constant state of assuming the truthfulness and worthwhileness of subject matter.
 * Style**- pg 37- in The Moral Life of Schools, style is used to refer to a teaching style, or the way in which the teacher handles situations. It should be noted that a teacher’s style is distinct from a teacher’s personality.
 * Objective**- pg 47- The authors use the term objective to refer to facts and descriptions of objects and activities.
 * Subjective**- pg 47- The authors use the term subjective to refer to feelings, opinions, mood and manner of what occurs.


 * Pedagogical** – educational actions of teacher
 * Vitiate** - make faulty; spoil; to impair the quality of a students work by placing it next to a student’s work of unequal quality
 * Embeddedness**- page 255- suggests that we look closely for the details of what we hear and see.
 * Sympathetic Bias**- page 258- going about a task biases in the direction of making positive errors, of seeing virtues where there are not, rahter tahn the other way around.
 * Expressive Meaning**- page 261- qualities the students may be seen exhibiting through words and actions. Also includes everything within the classroom.