Hard Truths: Uncovering the Deep Structure of Schooling

By Barbara Benham Tye

Book Overview

This indispensable volume covers such topics as: Events and ideas that have shaped American schoolsConventional wisdom about schoolingMedia representations of schoolingHow institutional structures... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807739332
• ISBN13: 9780807739334
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Why most reform efforts fail

In this book, Barbara Benham Tye makes a strong case for her premise that most school reform efforts fail because they do not take into account the virtually insurmountable inhibiting factor she calls the deep structure. This deep structure is composed of the elements that we understand as schooling. "A composite of widely held beliefs about what schools are for and how they should function" (p. 23), the deep structure may be understood as a society's conventional wisdom about schooling, "coupled with a number of inhibiting forces that actively seek to prevent change in how schools are put together and work" (p. 23), including the bureaucratic nature of the school system, how it is financed, and teachers' responses to reforms. Extremely resistant to change, the deep structure is the force continuously working to maintain the status quo. Only when a reform is compatible with changing societal expectations is it likely to succeed. Which leads Tye to wonder, "what, then, makes it a `reform'?" Rather than a reform, the author proposes that a successful change ought to be seen as an accommodation by the deep structure.As a future public school teacher, I found Tye's diagnosis both enlightening and discouraging. I have observed the pendulum swing of reform movements, with none ever seeming to last terribly long, yet I had not considered the underlying structure as the primary cause. The existence of this resistant underpinning leads one to wonder what can be done. At the same time, though, Tye's revelation of the deep structure is also reassuring. If I am unable to make significant changes in teaching methodology or curriculum due to the deep structure, I can save the time, energy, and resources I would have expended in a futile effort to spend on activities that have a greater likelihood of succeeding, such as making changes at my school that take into account "the particular configuration of characteristics that give that school its distinctive identity" (p. 155).Tye writes in a style that is enjoyable and easy to read and understand. She blends first-person experiences with extensive references to other sources in support of her thesis. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in education, especially those directly involved with school reform efforts.

The truth in education

Hard Truths is a long over due realization of American education. Any educator would enjoy reading the text even if you don't necessarily agree with B.B. Tye. The author has a great understanding of education from a teachers perspective and a knowledge of what truly happens behind school doors. The authors pure yet simple manner of explaining what is wrong with education in America is relaxed yet to the point and with strong convection. The author provides the reader a sense of understanding of where we have been, where we are and what we need to do to produce a real change in education that will be meaningful. I strongly reccommend this text for all teachers both young and old to read and digest for their own personal gain, knowledge, and understanding of what American education is, how it came about and why we don't see much real change in the educational setting.