Incentives (and read Freakonomics!)

I was intrigued by Barth's comment that "...all school cultures are incredibly resistant to change." It caused me to reflect upon why this might be. And it seems to me that it is a question of incentive. I recently read Freakonomics --this may seem off the point but indulge me for a moment--which got me thinking about incentives. In that book is the story of a day care center which began to charge late fees to parents who picked their children up late. The rate of lateness among parents went up. What the center had unwittingly done the authors claimed, was make available to parents the option of lateness - the price did not scare them off. What had scared the parents before was the notion that their children might be kicked out of the center if the parents were chronically late. THAT was a real incentive.

Back to the point - what is the incentive for educators to change, to innovate, to initiate new programs? For administators it is often resume building in order to move to a better-paying job (something teachers deeply committed to a particular district intuitively sense and usually resent). For teachers there is no benefit other than intrinsic motivation and let's face it - this has its limits. There are no promotions, no moving into a new department, no bonuses, no stock options. That teacher can put in 25-hour days trying to plan, grade, impact students and effect change in the building at the same time. He/she will get the exact paycheck as the teacher who punches in at 8 and leaves at 3 not even carrying home a briefcase, but has been showing up in the building for the same number of years.

Anyone who who studies human behavior and incentives will not be surprised to find that it is the rare teacher who does not come to understand this formula, and begin to burn out. Both anecdotal (I can think of exactly two 20+ year teachers in my building who I still see in the vanguard of every change) and empirical evidence (I learned in an article in a supervision class one semester that as a 20-year teacher I am well into the downside of my effectiveness - it was very encouraging) bear this out Additionally that teacher is likely to have to fight for funding, materials, time, and institutional support. In a business, employees would be encouraged (indeed required) to keep the company competitive or get it an edge, to find a way to build a better mousetrap. Everything in teaching is designed to undermine the entrepeneurial teacher. Look at Kate in the case study. Her heart is in the right place but her superiors just want another report. We look for grant money, we sweat out our budget vote each spring, we go without textbooks. We beg for at least 20 working computers in that computers class they enrolled 32 kids in and are ecstatic about the donation of three year old computers the local business is throwing out. Those who still retain motivation and idealism get a few dollars to prepare and conduct an in-service for a bunch of disgruntled colleagues checking their watches, and knowing full well that there is no reason for them to make this change either. Why should they? That paycheck - in the exact amount give or take a few bucks once they reach the top of the guide - will just keep coming.