In response to a message to Charles on ...
LH>Chuck: 
LH>Received your reply on my note to Donna about uniforms - therefore you 
LH>might be interested to know that I received a letter in Xmas card from 
LH>former team mate at former school in Fl.  They have abolished uniforms 
LH>this year after 15 years of trying.  Kids became too adept at 
LH>camouflage and making the uniform conform.  The teachers finally 
LH>rebelled because their discipline over their uniforms was enforced 
LH>strictly to the point of pay penalties this past year.  The students 
LH>were not penalized, only warned.
Consistent enforcement of any policy depends on total committment 
from all parties.  Policies on uniforms can only work if everyoe is 
committed to making the rules stick.  We have a wonderful discipline 
system in our high school that doesn't work because the principal 
doesn't follow the rules.  I think policies regarding uniforms have 
a limited life expectancy - they will work as long as the team has 
consensus on the need for it, but as the original people leave, the 
committment will die and its effectiveness will wane.
LH>Rules,Rules,Rules on top of rules just doesn't work.
Rules and standards can only work if there is total agreement and 
committment to the principles that underlie the solution.  We 
cleaned smoking out of our middle school in less than a year through 
a strong committment to a policy that placed second offenders on 
home instruction.  Today our high school staff still fights the 
problem - the principal offers too many second chances and the 
building discipline policy allows four offenses before a student is 
expelled.
LH>As to your comment on how colleges can improve courses.  Yea!!  We see 
LH>the same problem.  Not enough preparation for the real world.  They come 
LH>in with too many idealistic "new" approaches which only work in theory 
LH>or after the new teacher has management under control.   
In earlier years of teacher preparation, we had "Normal" schools 
that trained teachers in "on-campus" public schools and most of the 
methodology taught was tried and proven.  Today we have theorists 
who base their trust in their teaching theories on "qualitative 
research" and we have all sorts of teachers graduating from our 
schools who've been taught that teaching ought to be a good time - 
projects, group work, self-discovery, student directed curriculum, 
etc.  The new word is that lectures, memorization and facts are 
boring - avoid them at all costs.  The result is that we are trying 
to teach kids to think without giving them an information base to 
use - sort of like asking a carpenter to think about building a 
house instead of giving them some tools so they can actually build a 
house.  Great theory, poor practice.
LH>Since I am now in public middle school teaching we find the biggest 
LH>problems dealing with polar ideals in approaching student discipline. 
LH>Our administrators really need to get back into the classroom to see 
LH>what the changes are.
An interesting phenomenon is taking place in our area - the pay 
differential between teachers and administrators is decreasing.  
Teacher unions are pushing salaries upward while public pressure to 
keep administrators salaries under 6-figures is depressing their 
salaries.  As a result, the pool of candidates for administrative 
positions is very poor - usually made up of those who've only taught 
a few years, those who've burned out and those who really don't like 
teaching.  The last administrator we hired is being paid about 
$12,000/year less than I am.
The point of this is that at least some of our administrators are 
not doing the job well and have little concept of the way in which 
they need to support the teaching staff.  We are building 
"administrator-proof" discipline policies, usually based on a point 
system (5 points for insubordination, 25 points for fighting, etc.), 
and some of our administrators work very well with it, but others 
wind up giving second chances, overlooking infractions and not 
sticking to the policy.  Discipline can only be as strong as the 
total committment of staff, including teachers and administrators.
Chuck
Chuck Beams
cbeams@dreamscape.com
http://www.dreamscape.com/cbeams
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* UniQWK #5290* An atheist is one who has no invisible means of support.
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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