BEST AND WORST SCHOOLING PRACTICES

Developed and written by John O. Warner, revised January, 2005©

BEST PRACTICES (characterized by the systems approach; often indirect, causes and effects multiple, sometimes widely separated in time, space and energy input).

  1. Emphasis on producing quality work. Quality work is frequently done in the lower grades where excellent instruction is exemplified. Quality work can be recognized at a glance because it looks good. It has been done with care and reflects a high level of student interest and involvement. Quality work is never done on worksheets, usually the work of teachers or publishers.
  2. Emphasis on speaking, reading aloud, giving opinions, articulating ideas. These create high levels of student involvement and promote identity, self-definition within the class. I systems psychology, defining one’s self and one’s place in the world is the primary, lifelong task of every person. Speaking can be done concurrently with seatwork.
  3. Emphasis on writing sentences and paragraphs rather than checking “yes” or “no” or filling in short answers. Again students using self-generated language are much more involved. Who in the world, beyond the school gate, could possibly get enthusiastic about filling out a health history or an IRS form?
  4. Emphases on what the student does right. Positive comments on papers are preferable to marking for errors.
  5. Leveraging learning with social systems dynamics. (Leverage = small input gets big results.) The Federal Reserve Bank leverages the economic system by adjusting the prime rate.
  • Cooperative learning. Meta-analyses of hundreds of studies conducted over a century-long period show an improvement of 2/3 standard deviation (equates to a shift from the 50th percentile to the 74th) over individual or competitive learning. See the Johnson brothers’ website at the University of Minnesota for details on this.
  • Learner-centered hand-on learning. This is preferable to government, publisher, and teacher-centered learning where the student is seen as a passive receptacle of information.
  • Montessori, Waldorf, and Deep Springs models. These can be nicely explored on the Web using search engines.
  • Support group model. This is the model I used in my several years prior to retirement. Characterized by a very high level of student involvement, classes almost run themselves, yet achievement is quite high.
  1. Emphasis on thinking: analysis, synthesis, application, cause-effect, creativity, relationship, and value.

WORST PRACTICES (characterized by the direct approach; cause and effect closely associated in time, space, and energy input). The current climate of “accountability,” and public ranking of schools and school districts compel every greater use of these practices.

  1. Ranking. Emphasis on points, marks, gold-star lists, honor rolls. Those who rank high do so at the expense of those ranked low. Once ranked low, students are stigmatized and in accordance with the Pygmalion effect, continue to rank low. This affects whole communities and ethnic groups as well as individual students. Please see for more on the Pygmalion effect.
  2. Coercion. Failure and threat of failure. Academic detention, retention in grade, ineligibility, threat of state takeover, dismissal or transfer of teachers, administrators, etc.
  3. Busy work. Consists of puzzles, worksheets. Corresponds in the real world to filling out forms.
  4. “Objective,” multiple choice, fill-in, yes/no tests. In the real world, people are not paid for what they know but for what they can do. Students should also be marked for what they can do—they ability to communicate orally and in writing, and to calculate—skills valued beyond the classroom
  5. Cramming, priming for test, memorizing facts. This is basis of change on the Stanford-9 scores. Essentially SAT-9 scores are IQ scores. Over a lifetime, IQ is very stable. Attempts to raise scores are mostly futile.
  6. Videos, lectures, head-filling exercises of all kinds.

(Please see references on reverse side)

REFERENCES toBest and Worst schooling Practicesby John O. Warner

Capra, Fritjof. The Turning Point—A Reconciliation of Science and the Human Spirit for a Future That Will Work, 1982. Reference here is to Chapter 9 titled “The Systems View of Life” which outlines the theoretical basis of the Quality Movement and the organization of just about everything from subatomic particles to the universe itself. Dr. Capra is a physicist-philosopher, author of The Tao of Physics and The Web of Life. He has endorsed the Waldorf Method. This is the best concise summary of general systems theory that I have come across and it has been a continuing reference for me and a source of inspiration. By applying this information, I was able to see my classroom as a living system such as an ecosystem or a community.

Deming, W. Edwards. The New Economics for Industry, government and Education, 1994. Dr. Deming is credited with taking quality management principles to Japan in 1950 and is the acknowledged master of the Quality Movement. The book is more or less a transcript of the material he covered in his famous four-day seminars attended by hundreds of CEOs in industry. Note page 122, which carts the “Forces of Destruction” at work in the lifetime of a human being that is subjected to the prevailing management style. Quoting from the chart, “One is born with intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, dignity, cooperation, curiosity, joy in learning. These attributes are high at the beginning of life, but are gradually crushed by the forces of destruction. These forces cause humiliation, fear, self-defense, competition for gold stars, high grades, and high ranking on the job. They crush out joy in learning, joy on the job, innovation.”

Forrester, Jay W. “System Dynamics and Learner-Centered-Learning in Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Education,” 1992. This paper, along with a number of others can be accessed at

Glasser, Howard. Transforming the Difficult Child—The Nurtured Heart Approach, ca.1999. Mr. Glasser offers a positive alternative to punishment, coercion, behavior modification, and prescription drugs for parents and teachers. “Difficult children” include those with attention deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity, oppositional-defiant (passive-aggressive), depression, and more. Mr. Glasser’s work is rooted in family systems theory and, by extension, classroom systems theory. His approach works with all children including the under-motivated and under-achieving. For excerpts from the book and impressive research validation, please see Mr. Glasser’s website

Glasser, William, MD. Schools Without Failure, 1969. This is the book that transformed my teaching style. Since reading it in the early 1970s, I have used community seating (more or less circular), had students write out all their work on notebook paper, and make their own comprehensive tests. The Quality School and its later companion The Quality School Teacher, ca 1990 & 1993 introduced Dr. Glasser’s focus on implementing lead management in favor of boss management.

Johnson, David and Roger. “Cooperative Learning and Social Interdependence Theory.” Available with other material at The value of cooperative learning is one of the most firmly established principles in social psychology.

Senge, Peter, et.al. Schools That Learn–A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education, 2000. This is a companion to Dr. Senge’s The Fifth Discipline—The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, published in 1990. The Fifth Discipline, is the basis of the whole thrust of the quality and new leadership models. The book is a wonderful collection of writings on classrooms, schools, systems thinking and systems theory, leadership and community, by people in the field who describe practices that are working for them and are helping schools and classrooms learn to learn.

Wheatley, Margaret. Leadership and the New Science—Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, 2nd edition, 1999. Called a “daring book” by The Wall Street Journal it “will convince you that leaders must substitute their Newtonian mental model for a biological model in organizations of every size [including classrooms]…Your employees [parent too] are already getting hip to this tuff. You’d be wise to catch up.” Dr. Wheatley discovered systems theory, as I did, from Dr. Capra’s Turning Point in the 1980s.