Description
Book SynopsisSociologist Harry L. Gracey spent two years studying an East-Coast school system, which he calls Brookview, and determined that the bureaucratic social structure of schools can have a profound and irreversibly negative effect on the creativity of teachers. This volume tells the story of the Wilbur Wright elementary school in Brookview. It examines the relationship between the educational institution as a bureaucracy and the goals of the two main types of teaching orientation found in elementary schools such as Wright. The majority of teachers are production oriented. They believe that their job is to see that the children in their charge complete as much of the standardized grade level curriculum as possible during the school year. They do achieve some success in preparing children for life in a society where bureaucracy is the dominant form of social organization. The other significant type of teaching orientation is that of the craftsmen. These instructors see their goal as the devel
