Written by:

Ronald J. Bonnstetter

University of Nebraska

Lincoln, NE

February, 1992

"On Research Column"

of

SCIENCE SCOPE

A publication of the National Science Teachers Association

A Middle School Science Teacher Journal

This is the original manuscript sent to Science Scope. The final published version will differ based on NSTA editorial changes.

During the recent NSTA trip to Russia, a Muscovite explained how things work in this way, "The government pretends to pay us and we pretend to work." Many school reformers offer a similar analogy; "We pretend to reward you and you pretend to care."

I could not help but draw this comparison after recently reading William Glasser's 1990 book entitled "The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion".1 This book takes many of Glasser's early control theory concepts and interfaces them with todays reform movement research.

The book starts by sharing the exciting and challenging similarities between business and school reform. Glasser describes how more and more American businesses are learning from the Japanese that high quality is attainable. The paradox is that we are just now reaching these conclusions. Conclusions which the Japanese learned from an American, Dr. W. Edwards Deming.(2)

Glasser has taken the work of business reformers, such as Peter M. Senge, (3), and described these differing teacher styles as either lead-management or boss-management.

BOSS-MANAGEMENT

The boss-manager is the most familiar teaching approach found in schools. In summary, it includes four major components.

1. The boss decides the task and sets all standards for what workers will be doing. The boss does not compromise; the workers must learn to adjust to the task as the boss has defined it.

2. The boss tells how work is to be done and rarely asks for input or suggestions as to how it could be improved.

3. The boss inspects the work and does not involve the workers in any form of evaluation. Consequently, workers tend to do just enough to get by.

4. And when workers resist, the boss uses coercion (punishment of some kind) to try to make them do what they are told and in so doing, the boss and workers become adversaries.

Glasser explains that by the end of the seventh grade more than half of the students are convinced that both teachers and principals are their adversaries. Even traditional reward systems, such as grades, are a boss-management tool built on extrinsic motivation.

The contrasting lead-management reform movement also has four components.

1. The leader and workers discuss the quality of work that is to be done and the time needed to do it.

2. The leader models the job while constantly asking for ways to improve.

3. The leader helps workers learn to inspect or evaluate their own work for quality based upon the agreed upon criteria.

4. The leader takes on the responsibility of providing the best workplace and tools needed to do a quality job; all in a noncoercive, nonadversarial environment.

These lead-managers make a constant effort to never coerce. It takes a long time and total consistency to persuade workers that doing their best is the ultimate goal and that there are no hidden agendas.

Thus lead-managers understand that motivation can not come from the outside. It is a direct result of satisfying one or more of the five basic human needs: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom. By meeting these needs, Lead-managers have discovered that the more they are able to empower workers, the harder they work.

In order to do this in schools, the threat level must be minimized. Quality is emphasized, deadlines are nonexistent. If a student does poorly they may try again until they succeed: for a lead-manager understands that the purpose of a grade is to show what a student knows, not to document deficiency and move on. Therefore a low grade is not a failure; it simply shows that the student has not learned enough yet. Glasser believes that all grades should be temporary until the final report. This means that if the teacher felt that a concept was important enough to be placed on a test, students should have opportunities to retake the tests and master the information. Students quickly learn that this teacher is not their adversary and is not out to prove their power by bossing students.

These and many other ideas presented by Glasser are so contrary to many teachers that they tend to dismiss them with the elusion that business as usual will win out in the long run. However, a growing number of educators are learning first hand that lead-management is a superior approach, when improving student learning is the primary goal.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise.

The good leader is he who the people revere.

The great leader is he who the people say, "We did it ourselves."

Lao Tsu

1. Glasser, W. (1990). The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion Harper & Row, Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-06-096513-4 (pbk)

2. Further information about Deming is published in Dr. Myron Tribus, Selected Papers on Quality and Productivity Improvement. This book can be obtained by sending $15.00 to the National Society of Professional Engineers, P.O. Box 96163, Washington, D.C 20090-6163.

3. Senge, P.M. (1990) The Leader's New Work: Building Learning Organizations. Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32, No.1, pp.7-22.