Chapter 4: Schools as the Workplace for Students and Teachers

Compare/Contrast of American Schools and the Build-A-School Project

• When building a school one of the main decisions is who is going to be in charge of the main decisions. Staff and organization is a very important part of the success of the school. In our group we decided it would be most effective to have a board made up of equal amounts of administrators, teachers, students, outside community members, and parents. The schools represented in "The Joy of Teaching" are run by four main parts: the principal, the vice principal, department chairs and the teachers. In our system at Seashore Academy we decided it would be in the best interest of the students to have a variety of people making the school's decisions rather than a single group. Communication is very important in both circumstances.
• Another very crucial decision for creating a school is the involvement between the school system and the state. In the "The Joy of Teaching" this concept is addressed through the organization of school districts, the Board of Education in the state of the school and other state organizations. The involvement includes cost analysis, new policies, and public instruction. At our school, Seashore Academy, our school district is unlike this idea presented in the book. Being located on it's own island, Seashore Academy is basically it's own district. Because of these geological differences, as a school it is easier to focus on the needs of the students more effectively.
• The federal government almost always has some sort of wave of affect on schools. The state's ideas of government are generally the standards for the involvement in school systems. Different amendments in the Constitution have great effects on educational opportunities. Being on an island, the Seashore Academy generally is run by a local, public government that controls the majority of the island. That is the basic extent to the choices of government we discussed in our group.
• The idea of costs in schools was not fully discussed in our group. "The Joy of Teaching" suggests taxes as a main way to solve funding problems in schools. These sorts of ideas and concepts lead to some disapproval among citizens. Being on an island, it may be difficult to come up with a perfect solution to school funding issues. This is a concept that would be perfect to use the board of a variety of community and school members to decide. For fair and equal decisions, it is appropriate to involve everyone affected by the changes and ideas.