Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities 
asked by lauren on November 29, 2006 4:16 AM
Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities answers the question most often asked by schools that are seeking to transform themselves into professional learning communities: "Where do we begin?" The authors focus on the cultural shifts that must take place as schools move from more traditional ways of doing things to functioning as professional learning communities. They offer suggestions for finishing the time for transformation, a case study on how one school made the transition in one year with dramatic results, and a special question-and-answer section.
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In the movie Inherit the Wind, the story of Golden Dancer is related to the audience. Golden Dancer was a beautiful and expensive wooden rocking horse that a family bought for its child after saving for it. The first time the child rode the horse, it collapsed as the wood was rotten to the core; so, is the DuFour premise as found on page 37. His conclusion that all students can achieve at the same level (learn specified topics) is asinine. He argues that all that is needed for struggling students is more time and support. He refuses to take into account intelligence and student effort (responsibility) in his equation. If his premise has any chance of coming true, teachers will have to dumb down what they teach to the lowest common denominator. Additionally, he and his colleagues lump all "traditional schools" into the same problem heap. His approach is simplistic and insulting. I would give this book zero stars, but that is not an option.
reviewed by vcedwards on November 29, 2006 9:24 AM