Deborah Meier’s book ‘The Power of Their Idea’ explores a number of issues affecting the public education system. These factors include the leadership in the education system, the philosophy of education, constraints facing teachers in delivering education among other factors. The book seems to be speaking from the author’s viewpoint. The education today is a result of various developments hatched for the purpose of changing the values or the philosophy of education. According Meier (2002), the teachers should have the greater autonomy of handling or running the affairs of public schools. Arguably, such autonomy enables teachers to view the school environment as a place where social transformation and implementation of social ideas occurs. Thus, the school should be child centered as well community centered. This notion bends on the fact that children practice what they observe in schools.
Some of the issues I found interesting in “Power of Their Ideas” include Meier’s philosophy of education. She believed that education is instrumental in shaping the society thus public education should offer good education. The public schools have the capacity to offer quality education that parents seek in private schools. In her view, public schools can offer good education if the education system is both community-centered and school centered. In other words, the teachers must have the autonomy to exercise their mandates as well as integrating ideas generated by the community in running the public schools. The success of the public schools depends on the management system embraced in the schools. The parents and teachers must work together in order to realize the philosophy of education.
The society should shun the myths peddled about public schools, which suggest that the public schools have failed to offer quality education or the desired education to children. Instead, people need to offer their valuable arguments about the way they expect the public should offer quality education to the society. In this sense, the society would be able to realize the desired education that it seeks in the private institutions. Meier believed that the public schools had not failed, but the society had neglected its advisory role in shaping the future of the public education system. Everyone has responsibility of changing the face of the public education.
The educational and philosophical ground of leadership advocated by this book includes the power of choice. The society can choose to make the public schools what they want it to be. Largely, it can exercise this power by evaluating the most valuable choices in the education sectors as well as disseminating these proposals to the education sector. Meier (2002) argued that society should have the chance to contribute towards changing the face of education. Small school creates a greater chance for teachers and students to interact. This element is critical in the realization of the desired education because the students are able to decipher what the teachers offer. This factor lies on psychological theories of development that relate certain behavioral trends exhibited by the students to environmental factors. Largely, since the environment influence the behavior of the student, then the improved teacher student interaction would improve character building.
I think the author is suggestive that poverty is associated with public schools. Nevertheless, (Meier, 2002) argues that although social factors have predisposed the poor community into experiencing such, they have the power to exercise their democratic right in changing the public schools into what they desire from them. Poverty should not act as an impediment in expressing personal views that would change the state of the public education. Meier contends the society has power to exercise his or democratic right in bringing the change that he or she wants in the society. I think she is suggestive that failure to exercise democratic right contributes to the failure of the public education system.
This book is instrumental in understanding the education leadership embedded in the current education legislation. Some of this issues that the book has highlighted include involvement of the public in running the public schools. This aspect extends the value of education beyond the parental expectation to the society. The leadership system in the education sector seems to share the opinion of the author. Presently, the school management draw the opinion of the parents as well as teachers in making a major decision about the treatment that a student should receive. Moreover, the disciplinary system embedded in the education legislation tends to cements the philosophy of this book. The author believed that good education is an effort of the teachers and society, as opposed to the work of single individual (Meier, 2002). In conclusion, the author argues that public education is good for our children. Nevertheless, to achieve this value, the parents and teachers must focus the education on achieving community as well as realizing the objectives set in a school.
In conclusion, the author argues that public education is good for our children. Nevertheless, to achieve this value, the parents and teachers must focus the education on achieving community as well as realizing the objectives set in school. Meier believes that teachers should have the autonomy to lead public schools into delivering the desired education. Moreover, she calls upon the parents to inject their opinion in running the public schools. Such opinions are necessary in shaping the service delivery in schools. Lastly, teachers should consider every opinion regardless of the gender of the teacher offering it.
References
Meier, D. (2002). The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. New York: Beacon Press.
