CHAPTER FOUR—FINDINGS
Contextual Issues of Thematic Instruction
Site and Setting
Inasmuch as schools always require support from the outside world, teachers and administrators must prove sensitive over the long run to the goals of those who pay for their operation (Gardner 1991). The site selected for this study is a faith-based parochial school located in a suburban community in the southwestern United States
Love of Learning Lutheran School is organized in a manner typical of most Lutheran schools. It is not independent; it is owned and operated by Love of Learning Lutheran Church who shares both the campus and the facilities. While the school is not independent, the church is. Lutheran churches and schools have no entity comparable to the Catholic diocese or the public school district. While the church owns and operates the school, the name on the articles of incorporation is Love of Learning Lutheran Church and School. Budgets for the two entities are completed separately, but all income is placed into one bank account, and expenses for the church and school are paid from that account.
The church chose to begin a school, secured financing for the school building and would be responsible for the outstanding loan balance should the school cease operation. The school pays the mortgage costs and most operational expenses through the tuition it collects.
Leadership for the school is hierarchical in nature. The principal is responsible for the day to day smooth operation of the school, teacher performance, tuition collection, and monitoring of school related expenditures. The principal is accountable to the School Board who decides matters of policy and sets tuition based upon projected expenses.
When school matters have effect beyond the school entity, church leadership enters the decision making process. The first of two groups that can be involved in this process is the church council, which is comprised of the corporate officers and leadership representatives from all the church programs. This group meets regularly and has decision-making authority. However, both the School Board and the church council have authority limits. Neither has the authority to borrow money, and any decision either makes can be reviewed and overturned by the church body as a whole. The church body as a whole is known as the voters’ assembly; they are the final decision making body in the organization. Since the church has a large financial interest in the school, there is careful monitoring of school activities and anything perceived as having the potential of diminishing school success is questioned.
Before proceeding, it should be noted that while the School Board and principal of Love of Learning Lutheran School are accountable to the church council and the voters’ assembly, neither of those overseeing bodies chooses to exert influence in the areas of curriculum and instruction. In these areas, the principal has nearly complete autonomy and is allowed to determine instructional philosophy and the curriculum necessary to facilitate that philosophy. However, as noted previously, that instructional philosophy and the results it yields need to be attractive so that there are enough students to generate sufficient income to cover expenses. Should a time arise that school enrollment falls short of budget projections and the instructional philosophy was suspected as the cause for this, the church council and the voters would call on the principal and the School Board to devise an instructional strategy that would attract more students to the school and, therefore, alleviate the budget shortfall. From the church perspective, success of the school is measured not in student achievement, but rather in the school’s ability to maintain financial viability, and as long as the school meets its enrollment and resultant financial projections, the instructional philosophy used to attract that enrollment is not called into question. As was noted above, the principal has near complete autonomy in the area of instructional philosophy.
This autonomy is similar to that of other principals in non-public schools. Based upon the results of “Administrator and Teacher Survey” given to 500 of the High School and Beyond schools, Chubb & Moe (1985) determined that in private sector schools – Catholic, other religious, and non-sectarian – the strongest outside influence (whatever that may be for each school) was found to be less influential than in the public sector. They also found that in the private sector, the strongest outside influence from an outside authority is weaker than the influence of the principal.
Tianna is the fourth grade teacher at Love of Learning Lutheran School. She has seven years of teaching experience at three Lutheran schools in three different parts of the country. Her frequent moves are due to her husband’s change of career. Her teaching career began in a first through fourth grade classroom in a school that was to cease operation the year after she left. This was a difficult year for her and came close to souring her on teaching. She is in her third year at Love of Learning Lutheran School. In her previous years she has proven herself to be an integral part of the small teaching staff, willing to take on outside of classroom responsibilities such as leading the school musical and directing a before school choir. She is well liked by her students, parents, and fellow staff members. She reflects on her teaching and seeks to improve through regular analysis of student progress and journal article reading. She takes guidance well and seeks to incorporate new ideas into her classroom routine. She is willing to attempt new instructional strategies and has designed and implemented thematic units several times during the year.
On her last performance review, she was given the goal of continuing her education past the Bachelor’s Degree she has now and examining the steps necessary to pursue a Master’s Degree. The comment was also made that upon completing her Master’s Degree she should continue her education at the doctoral level. Being involved in this study is a good opportunity for her to experience formal education at that level.
Estelle is the sixth grade teacher at Love of Learning Lutheran School. She has five years of teaching experience at two different schools and is in her second year of teaching at Love of Learning Lutheran School. Her first four years were spent at a Lutheran school in the Midwest. In her short time on faculty, she has shown herself to be a dedicated teacher, often spending the entire weekend in her classroom working on lesson plans. This and a willingness to work with students before and after school demonstrate that she “goes the extra mile” for the students she has. She, too, is well liked by students, parents, and fellow faculty members.
Although she is the sixth grade home room teacher, she also teaches science and social studies to grades five, six, and seven. She seeks new methods of instructional presentation by utilizing the Internet and the numerous teacher resources available there. Her students are often involved in creating, designing, or presenting. A walk through her class will, many times, find students working in pairs or groups on the floor, making a backdrop for a play they will present, or answering questions from classmates during a question and answer period following a presentation a student has made. She looks for ways to make classes meaningful to her students.
Being involved in this project is a good opportunity for Estelle to become familiar with and utilize even more innovative instructional strategies. During the past year she has reflected on her teaching strategies, so this is also an opportunity for her to clarify what her educational philosophy will be as she continues her teaching career.
The principal has the longest educational tenure on the Love of Learning Lutheran school staff, with thirty-one years of experience at seven different schools. He attended Lutheran schools as a child and has spent his entire working career in them.
He was a classroom teacher for seventeen and a half years. His teaching style and approach to education could best be considered traditional. His students sat in rows and worked independently throughout the day completing numerous assignments that could be classified as drill and kill. A glance into his room might most often find him talking with the students listening, taking notes that were to be memorized for the test that covered that material.
He is involved in this project as a student in an educational leadership doctoral program. Immediately preceding his involvement in that program, he was involved in an incident that involved the re-assignment of a teacher from one grade level to another. That re-assignment was difficult and caused a time of reflection for William. In that time of reflection, he realized that he had done little or no deliberate professional growth in over ten years. He also realized that while schools and the educational process had changed, he had remained the same, still holding on to the idea that if a traditional education was good enough for him, it must be good enough for students today.
This doctoral program began a process of re-evaluation of what constitutes effective instruction and how effective instructional strategies often come in conflict with accepted methods.
Sixteen years ago the church began a preschool to serve three and four year old students. Nine years ago, the parents of these preschool students exerted pressure on the School Board to begin a Kindergarten program. The Board sought church approval to begin a Kindergarten and hire a teacher to teach it. The congregation approved. A year later first, second, and third grade were added and an additional teacher hired to teach those three grades. The next year two teachers were hired, and the grades five and six were added. The following year, another teacher and the principal were hired.