Tyack and Cuban: Epilogue

I found Tyack and Cuban's Epilogue very interesting after our class discussion about the involvment of teachers in "policy talk", or lack thereof. As an MAT student in my first semester with an undergrad in Sport Managment I am still grasping the History of Education and it's current practices. After reading about "policy talk" and realizing how little say teachers have in the changes that are made in their districts/states, the very changes that they themselves will someday be implementing directly, I found it surprising that they are not involved more. Some might argue that "policy elites" include former educators that can give a teacher's input. I am sure that having those former educators on the board can be very beneficial because of their experience and knowledge, but what about the current teachers who are working with the students of today? What about the teachers who are trying to prepare their students to enter a world that is completely different than 20 years ago? I believe Tyack and Cuban's idea of using an "inside out" instead of a "top down" approach is the only logical solution to the struggle of school reform. That is not to say that teachers should be given full control over what happens in our schools. I believe it should be a combonation of many members including "policy elites", teachers, parents, as well as the students.

The whole idea of school reform is to make public schools better to enhance student learning. Did anyone ever think of asking the students their opinion? After all, it is their education that is on the line here. If policy makers took the input of those who are directly involved in education, day in and day out (ie: teachers and students), it is quite possible that the quality of education will improve. Teachers will be more motivated to implement new policies if they had a part in making them. Students will be more interested in learning if their voice was heard about what they felt education should be. As a future teacher, I hope that I will have a chance to voice my opinion and have it matter to those who are making policy changes. I also hope the same for my future students.