THE BUREAUCRATIC MODEL
STATUE EXERCISE
For this exercise students will select a piece of paper out of a hat that contains one of the following identities: Superintendent, Principal, Teacher, Student. They will then tape this identity to their shirt and take a moment to look around and identify who everyone is according to their new identity.
Then the teacher will give the following instructions: I’d like you to think about how schools are organized today. Think about the distribution of power. Who is on the top, and who is on the bottom? Who are the managers and who are the workers? I’d like you to create a statue as a group, using your bodies and your new identities, to show what you believe to me the current organization of American schools. Please do this silently. Look around and decide what position you are in comparison to everyone else. Strike a pose that represents what your role is in the school system. Once you feel you are in the correct position in relation to everyone else, freeze. nce everyone is frozen, I will have you hold the position for a few seconds so we can all take in the image you have created. Then I will tell you what to do next.
Teacher:
Does anyone have an observation they might like to share about the way this statue is formed? Please raise your hands. If you are a superintendent what gender do you think you would likely be? How about a principal? A teacher?
DIARY EXERCISE
Teacher:
Ok everyone, please have a seat. Autumn and I will now read the fictional diary entries of two young girls in two different schools in the mid 1800’s. While we are reading, please think about what you here that reflects the concept of hierarchy.
Dear Diary,
This school year has been so great. As you probably remember, last year, I had to sit right next to my sister and I hated it. Well, this year I am in a room with only 10 year olds and she is with all the 7 year olds in another room. It is so great. My teacher is also quite nice. Her name is Miss Crocker. I think that she is the prettiest lady I have ever seen in my life. She is so nice to all of us. The other day she baked some treats and brought them into share and she is teaching a few of my friends how to sew after class. Our principle is Mr. Johnson. He comes to our school about once a week to check on Mrs. Crocker. Right now he only comes once a week because he has to check on other schools in different towns but I heard that pretty soon he will be moving into a room upstairs and will always be here. Mr. Johnson is so handsome. The other day I told Mrs. Crocker that when I get older I would like to be a principle because I think I would be good at checking on teachers and keeping everyone organized (my mother says that I am a very organized person). Mrs. Crocker laughed at said that she thought I was cute and told me that some day I would make a very good teacher because girls are teachers not principles. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that but it kind of made me mad. It also made me think about the future and wonder if girls will ever be principles or if they will always be teacher. Anyways diary, I have to go to help my mother. Until next time…
Yours Truly,
Sara
Dear Diary,
Today was a terrible day at school. I spilled milk on my dress and I had to run and change before leaving. This made me tardy, which Miss. Wilson absolutely hates. She made me stand at the front of the room and struck my hands with her yardstick. Oh, what a sting that caused! But I was a strong girl and held back my tears. Miss Wilson explained to the class once again that punctuality is one of the most important virtues a person can possess. I wanted to explain to her about the milk, but I didn't dare. I’m that sure if I would have come into the schoolroom smelling of soured milk, she would have rapped my knuckles for being slovenly! Miss Wilson is very strict, especially on the issues of punctuality and attendance. She says we must learn to be in school on time everyday if we are ever to become respectable citizens. The girls should become good mothers some day, and the boy’s good workers. Somehow coming to school on time will makes us into those things, according to Miss Wilson, but I can't say I follow her logic.
School is usually better than it was today, but it's very different that it was last year. Last year all students were together in one great room, and we had two instructors, Miss Wilson and Miss Simons. Miss Wilson, having taught school here for five years, was the principal teacher and Miss Simons was her assistant. This year they have divided the school into 8 grades, and I was placed in the 6th grade. There are many new teachers, and Mr. Aldridge is the principal. He had the building divided into 8 small rooms, one for each grade, and a large office for himself. What he does in there I can't say. Miss Wilson seemed to do everything the school required in the past, so what could Mr. Aldridge have to do in his office? I've seen that he has a great many files and stacks of paper, so I suppose it takes time to mind all of that. There is also a superintendent, Mr. Olsen, who is in charge of all of the schools in this area. He comes to visit the school on occasion, and Mr. Aldridge and himself walk between the rooms and give advice to Miss Wilson and the other teachers. Mr. Olsen makes sure that all the schools are studying the same subjects in the same way. The two men seem to have many ideas about what Miss Wilson might do better! I don't see how they would know, having never taught a class themselves, but Miss Wilson has no choice but to mind their orders. I wish they would tell her to put away her yardstick!
Well, I’m off to tend to my chores, I shall write more tomorrow.
Yours, Mary
Teacher:
What aspects of these diary entries reflect a school system evolving into a bureaurocracy? Please raise your hands. (Call on students, write down ideas on butcher paper, if any keys ideas are left out, ask guiding questions to encourage students to make connections, give students time to come up with the rest of the key points, fill in missing concepts if onnections are not made). Before you leave to go into your next group, think about three key points you’d like to share. You pair up with the person in this group who has the same color as you, and you will share what you’ve learned together when you go into your next group.
Key ideas:
Bureaucratic organization and emphasis punctuality/attendance important to prepare students for functioning in an industrial society.
Hierarchy- men manage, women teach Schools divided into grades, progressing from 1st to 8th Standardized curriculum .
STATUE EXERCISE (second time)
Ok, now we are going to repeat the statue activity we did at the beginning of this lesson. Only this time I’d like you to create a statue that represents the school system in America during the mid 1800’s. Remember, Think about the distribution of power. Who is on the top, and who is on the bottom? Who are the managers and who are the workers? Please do this silently. Look around and decide what position you are in comparison to everyone else. Strike a pose that represents what your role is in the school system. Once you feel you are in the correct position in relation to everyone else, freeze. Once everyone is frozen, I will have you hold the position for a few seconds so we can all take in the image you have created. Then I will tell you what to do next.
Teacher: What has changed from the first statue exercise? What has stayed the same? What does this say about the American school system, has it the distribution of power changed very much?