School/Business Systems LO15588

Steve Renne (srenne@d300.kane.k12.il.us)
Fri, 31 Oct 1997 15:00:55 -0600

I am an educational administrator in a large school district in Illinois.
For the past several months a colleague and I have been working on a
special project to develop a process in which members of the school
district community (business, parents, teachers, students, and others)
would conduct school site visits to obtain information on school
performance, improvement processes, and indicators of quality. We
recently met with representatives from the local Chambers of Commerce to
obtain input on the development of our process. What was designed as an
information gathering meeting quickly became a rich dialogue which
continued beyond our planned time frame. I would like to share a few
thoughts from this dialogue and would welcome comments to the list or to
my address.

One theme which emerged was the need to develop a "work ethic" in
students. This concept seemed to incorporate several concepts including
self-motivation, teamwork, punctuality, dependability, continual
self-improvement, etc. Yet I sensed a lack of consensus in the group as
to how the workplace develops and supports this ethic. Some individuals
indicated that accountability to "the boss", the use of time clocks, and
fear of losing one's job were the primary ingredients in supporting the
work ethic. Others stated that seeing value in one's work, a sense of
organizational membership, and continual opportunities were key. What is
the role and responsibility of the workplace in supporting an individual's
work ethic?

Another concept that began to emerge was a systems understanding of the
school/work dynamic. Several chamber members mentioned that they had been
in high schools recently and observed a lack of attentiveness and even
students sleeping during instruction. It was pointed out that many of
these students work up to 8 hours a day in local businesses providing the
inexpensive labor needed to maintain those businesses and important
consumer pool in the local economy. As a result, their readiness for
learning is impeded. A concept of systems thinking began to emerge.
Educators began seeing students as economic players and businesses began
to see their workers as students.

This leads to another systems concept.....the business community invests
significant resources in training, education and development to maintain
their employees ability to remain competitive in changing world markets.
The concept of lifelong learning is becoming imbedded in the economic
conceptual framework. Yet our school systems are designed on a model of
preK-12 teaching/learning with students exiting "ready" for the world of
work or higher education. Why does "work" begin with the end of
schooling? What if instead of school districts we had "learning
districts" (including libraries, park districts, etc.) which gathered
resources for the personal and professional development of all citizens?

We are continuing the dialogue with this group and plan to expand the list
of participants. I can see a new vision of school-business partnership
emerging within a systems framework which can have a significant impact on
the structure of our educational system. I am very interested in hearing
from anyone who has similar processes occurring in their communities or
who see promise in this type of activity.

Steve Renne

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Steve Renne <srenne@d300.kane.k12.il.us>


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