The Views on the Issues in American Education, Economics, and Society - Literature review Example

Running Head: Таylоr, Weber and Cаllаhаn Таylоr, Weber and Cаllаhаn Customer’s Name: Institution: Customer’s Course Tutor’s Name 23rd March, 2013. PART ONE Response 1a (Taylor) Having worked in the hospitality industry, Taylor’s unpacking of the systematic soldering seems to be a reality. Taylorism therefore seem to be a concept that is deeply rooted in the common understanding of work and based on this we at times fail to acknowledge it. Through my work experience I have been able to identify situations that present both the systematic soldering and also the use of leaders own understanding with the aim of gaining maximum prosperity (Taylor 1911). It is usually my greatest pleasure to work with by superior rather than work for them. Sensitive and dynamic leadership in most instances lead to creating a desire to work among the employees and thus they will always work with the aim of demonstrating their skills. The sense of belonging seems to be what Taylor is addressing. Response 1b (Taylor) After reading and reflecting on the book, Taylorism seem to be still around. A school seems to have the pleasure of history. Taylor 1911, states that organizations can only gain the required level of productivity through the development and training of the employee and workers. Based on the article education seems to the only guiding factor. Most decisions that are made in schools are evidence based rather than the connected traditions. Education tends to focus more on the test scores. There seems to be high levels of managerial control in the working of teachers with the aim of reducing soldiering and to ensure that there are maximum results. Whether we recognize Taylors recipe of scientific management seems to be in play currently irrespective of whether we acknowledge it or not (Taylor 1911). Response 2a (Weber) Though I do not agree with the recent dominance of bureaucracy on schools, I tend to have a belief that schools are very bureaucratic entities in themselves. Though the other members of the school community (for example the parents, students, teachers and the school board) can contribute or air their opinions the ultimate decision mainly lies at the head of the school. More so the head of the school is also answerable to the department of education, bureaucracy of the government and other related policies (Weber, 1968). In another article, Weber shows a lot of similarities when it comes to the administration of the institutions. Thus, I believe that bureaucracy seems to be dominated as well as an entrenched aspect in the education sector and without its use and application the managerial system would eventually crumble. Response 2b (Weber) Rahn 2011 asserts that bureaucracy as being an administrative arm of the government that tends to make decision that of the democratically elected illustration of a state. The most striking features of this concept are in hierarchical order, division of labor, working capacity, written documents and the application of impersonal regulations and they cannot be easily eliminated from the most successful institutions irrespective of whether they are private or public institutions (Weber, 1968). From the broad understanding of bureaucracy there seems to be an undisputed reality that bureaucracy seems to be rooted in most school administration units. This is based on the fact that division of labor, written documents, hierarchical order, and staffs working on a full time basis and the impersonal rules and regulations are core components of the administration of schools. Response 3a (Callahan) Back in the year 1962, Callahan wrote the article named as the American Tragedy in Education where the outlined that leaders in most educational institution applied industrial and business values to concepts of education and applied little educational purposes and values. The methods of teaching and administration have over time changed but the problems that are facing the educators are the same as the ones that were being experienced in the early days. Teachers are still supposed to work under tight budgets which makes it difficult for them to offer best practice in terms of education. As principals are pressured to cut the budget the size of classroom seems to be on the rise. It is important to note that the document, though it is 50 years old since applying to schools that are based in Australia. Response 3b (Callahan) In his article Callahan still asserts that educational concepts are viewed as being inferior to the economic decisions that relates to education. Irrespective of the fact that the article was written so many years back and also in the US, it seems noteworthy to note that the article seems to be relevant to the present conditions in the education system in Australia. I agree with the statement made by Callahan that though the economy and business decisions were implemented by the management with the aim of increasing the size of the class and increase the teaching load teachers need to be offered with an equitable level of job security in the aim of attracting and retaining excellent teachers (Callahan 1962). Callahan also asserts that the institutes of higher education need to ensure that there is an improvement in the standards of scholarships when it comes to teacher training. PART TWO Taylor 1911 Based on Taylor’s work, there are two major streams of thoughts based on his contemporary educational leadership literature. One of the streams states that Taylorism is dead and thus terms it as a thing of the past. The other stream is of the opinion that Taylorism seems to be so much embedded on the individual's understanding of the organization and thus individuals fail to understand and recognize that it exists. Based on the two streams I am of the opinion that Taylorism is dead and therefore it ought to be termed as being a thing of the past (Taylor 1911). Based on the above opinion, most old systems that were being used when organizing the production are not in existence today. This has eventually been replaced with newer technology and other high tech which are quickly revolutionizing the lives of most individuals. Also the old hierarchy that existed between the employees and the workers and also between the white collar and blue collar jobs are also disappearing. Also the division that existed between the various groups was mainly based on various concepts such as the fact that a production worker was not allowed to take any kind of responsibility and he was supposed to be under constant control. Taylorism viewed workers as being economical and rational when it came to their general approach to work and saw their basic motive as been the monetary remuneration (Taylor 1911). With the aim of mobilizing them, the employees were offered jobs that offered them with the opportunity to exploit their earnings. Such a thought cannot work in the current society where the employee receives many years of education prior to seeking for job opportunities and they also seem to be more stylish and they also expect improved levels of employment. With the advancement in technology, newer responsibilities will be given to the various individuals in the organizations and the production of the organization will depend uniformly on each of the workers in the organization. This will eventually make the concept of Taylorism obsolete and new working organizations will essentially be developed based on group work and the responsibilities of quality and production been shared equally among all the individuals that are involved. It is also interesting to note that even at the organizational level, individuals are no longer interested in maintaining the old structures and they are slowly replacing them with newer and advanced structures. Thus the concept of Taylorism been dead seems to be true (Taylor 1911). Weber 1968 Currently, bureaucracy seems to be an idea that is greatly diminished by many, but irrespective of that it still remains as the most efficient manner through which large organization can be managed. Based on my opinion bureaucracy seems to have a place when it comes to the administration of schooling, school and other educational institutions. Bureaucracy is commonly termed as a system of government where the state officials are tasked with the duty of making important decisions. Others also term bureaucracy as a rational and the most efficient way that individuals can use so as to complete certain tasks and at the same time reward the individuals based on their individual contributions (Weber 1968). At times bureaucratic systems have also presented inefficient, impersonal and cumbersome organization that seems to be unresponsive to the needs of the society. Through the division of organizations as being formal and informal parts, one is understood in better terms the working bureaucracy as well as the manner in which it relates to the school. It is important to take caution when discussing issues that are related to the schools as being bureaucratic organizations since schools seem to be unique organizations by themselves. Bureaucracy seems to be a noteworthy feature in the modern society and thus it ought to be viewed as an essential aspect of an organization. In most schools bureaucracy is said to endure since there seems to be an assurance of order, accountability, stability and rationality that it offers to the general public. Bureaucracy is termed as a system in which there is a certain hierarchy is paid and there are also full time staff and workers. This stipulates that bureaucracy in the schools seemed to be more concerned with the mass leadership whereby the power and authority in schools is decentralized among the different departments. For example we have academic and sport departments in most schools (Weber 1968). All these departments have different leader who is tasked with the duty of leading them. Thus the rational action mainly involves having a clear awareness of the goals. The rational action of Weber is the methodical attainment of the definable practical and given end that is achieved through increasingly precise calculations of the means. Thus based on this discussion schools seem to be a clear representation of bureaucratic systems. Callahan 1962 Based on the fact that Callahan’s study is almost 50 years old and it was conducted in another country rather than I Australia, the current schools tend to contend with Callahan claims. In his article the American tragedy in education leader in most educational systems applied industrial as well as business values of education and they also applied little or even at times to educational purposes and values (Callahan 1962). Callahan observed that, based on the above statement, education was essentially seen as being a product that could have been manufactured by the use of the lowest cost that was available in the market. By the year 1920, this method of administering schools was ingrained in thinking of alternative leadership methods and mangers and the educate lot from the university were left unnoticed and thus most of them opted to change their professions since the teaching profession did not seem promising. Most parents argue that the lack of enough funds seems to be the most crucial issues that limit them in offering better as well as improved educational opportunities for their children. Callahan also asserts that the future needs to present opportunities in which the schools can become the centers of learning and this can be done by the improvement of the graduate work when it comes to educational administration. He suggested that real change will really occur when every child irrespective of his background is able to work in a class where there is a small number of students and fine teachers who have been tasked with a reasonable teaching load (Callahan 1962). Also after all those years the methods administration and teaching have in one way or another changed. Irrespective of these the educators seems to be faced with the same problems that faced the early educators. One of the major issues that faced them was that they were and are expected to operate within very tight budgets and thus it becomes difficult for them to be able to offer best practice when it comes to education (Callahan 1962). As the pressure to cut the budget size increase, the number of students seems to be in the rise and this also makes it difficult to achieve the principles of best practice. Though the article was written 50 years back, the situations that were present are still present in the schools that are being operated today and mostly in Australia. References Taylor, F. W. (1911). The principles of scientific management. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Weber, M. (1968). Economy and society: an outline of interprise sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Callahan, R. E. (1962). Education and the cult of efficiency. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Read More

 

Read More