keeper of things.

“…changes in governance have generally failed to alter basic patterns of instruction. One reason may be that teachers are rarely consulted when leaders seek to change schooling. In its list of “Who Does What,” America 2000 (U.S. Department of Education, 1991) mentions the president, Congress, the governors, and the business community, finally remembering teachers as one of eleven groups “at the community level.” The caution here is obvious: Why should teachers buy into reform when they are an afterthought or are blamed as mossbacks, the source of the problem (McLaughlin, 1991)? Educational reform, as Elmore and McLaughlin (1988) say, is “steady work.” A key way to improve schooling is to start with the classroom and to attend to the teachers who do that steady work. By moving from the inside out, and not from top down, one may gain a better sense of how to improve instruction.”