Reading Analysis T and C Epilogue

There were many times while reading "Tinkering Toward Utopia" that I felt the book had a very negative tone. After reading the epilogue I changed my view about this book. The end of the book changed its negative tone to a more positive one when it discussed the role of the teacher when reforming schools. It stressed the idea that the future of our public schools lies in the hands of the teacher, not government official. One sentence in particular stood out to me in this chapter. It stated "To bring out improvement at the heart of education......will result in the future from internal changes created by the knowledge and expertise of teachers from the decisions of external policy makers. " The book pointed out a section from president Bush's former education plan. The section was called "Who Does What" in which state officials, the business community, and parents were listed as the key components of a successful education systems. When reading this I was astounded that teachers were not put first on the list. In my mind it would seem common sense that teachers hold the most important role. They are the ones actually teaching the students every single day. The authors pointed out that many of these laws are passed for "show" and that high test scores becomes the main goal for policy makers. To me this just proves that many people view teachers as incompetent and unable to make important decisions for the schools. I agree with the authors that until teachers are allowed to dictate policies made for schools, reform will not be successful.