I forgot about Chester Barnard

Yesterday, the question was posed of "why don't more teachers speak up?"

I responded that I too have for years wondered about this. During the night, I remembered that I tried to research this phenonenon a long time ago and I did find that some sociologists had attempted to make sense of it. Chester Barnard is one of them, and I presented some of his theory in my post "How To Sleep At Night". This is not an easy read, but to get an understanding of how leaders gain and maintain influence over their subordintates, one should comprehend the entire writing of Barnard.



The answer to these local issues lies deep within the "culture of the system". The depth and strength of the "culture of the system" is dependent on several factors, including time that "the leaders" have been the influential factor and the degree that the leaders and their supporters gain "power". This is nothing unique to edcuational systems. It stands to reason that keeping the leadership within the group that "controls the culture" will enhance the longevity of same. Powerful political families such as the Kennedys and the Rockefellers have been around for a very long time, and they have tremendous influence over the "status-quo" of what they have power over.

I believe that all politics are local. Studying the history of Hillsborough County would provide the information about political, social and econonmic influences of individuals as well as the resulting "culture of the system" that these individuals have created.

A Look Gained By Following the Links

I was curious about the onset of Jack Levine in the SDHC Parent Press


http://www.4generationsinstitute.org/


Health Care Access is Essential, one would find:

....... "Please visit the Voices for America's Children site at www.voices.org and click on the Speak Up section of the site. .........


JACK LEVINE,

founder,

4Generations Institute,

Tallahassee "


If one follows the www.voices.org link, one can find Speak Out but not Speak Up.

Today's headline is:

SCHIP Secured, Progress Denied

On December 19 Congress completed action a stop-gap measure to continue the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) through March 2009, Voices for America’s Children hailed the extension of the vital program for children’s health care, but expressed outrage that that lack of an authorization halts the drive to provide coverage to more of the nation’s nine million uninsured children.