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in
education
wor-
intowinnersand.
3
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ational
debt,"therfunded,andun-Uessofeconomicoomsledbycar-~dteachers.Our;weshouldpress:lstochange.We
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what'sworth-]socomealways
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anuncer-
Mary
Ann
Reilly
79
DressingtheCorpse:
ProfessionalDevelopmentandthePlayofSingularities
MARYANNREILLY
MorruSchoolDistrict,
Morri.ffowl2,
NJ
Abstract
Inthispaper,theauthorreasonsthatasstudentssometimesarepositionedas
being
lowability,average,orhighability-alikebeliefofteachers'andschools'"intelligence"undergirdsdecisionsaboutprofessionalismandlearn-ing,andsanctionssubstituting"someinnerresource"inlieu
of
sustainedprofessionallearning.Shearguesthatprofessionaldevelopmenthaslargelybecomeamatterofimplementing"proven"programsandproductspro-ducedbyexternaldevelopers.Inexaminingthesemanifestations,shesitu-atesdevelopmentasanepicconstructusingMikhailBakhtin's
(1981)
delineationbetWeenepicandnovelandsuggestingthatmeaningisunder-stoodhereasatransferableconunodity.Theauthorsuggeststhatimple-mentationofliteracyprogramsasasubstitutionforprofessionallearningunderminesteachers'agency,obscurescapacitytorecognizeanomaloussituations,anddiminishesthinkingandlearning.Asacountermodel
to
de-velopment,shedescribes'professionallearningasrhizomatic(Deleuze
&.
Guattari,1987),offersexamples,andadvocatesforlocallydeterminedpro-fessional·learning.Presently,asignificantmeasureofthequalityofK-12publiceducationintheUnitedStatesisbasedonresultsgleanedfromannualhigh-stakesstatetestsoflanguagearts/readingandmathematics,mandatedthroughtheNoChild
Left
Behind(NCLB)Actof2001andusedasdataforitsac-countabilitysystem.Federalpolicymakers,politicians,businessleaders,schoolboardmembers,andothe~sroutinelyrelyonthissolemeasureasareliableindicatorofpublicschooleffectiveness,eventhoughonetestalonedoesnotprovideavalidmeasure
?f
achievementforindividualstudentsorgroups(Bracey,
2000;
Gardner,
1999;
Jones,
1997;
Kohn,2000,
2004;
Linn,
2000;
Nichols
&
Berliner,
2007;
Stake,
1995).
Thisbelieffuelspublic
 
,80
Journal
of
Curriculum
anJPedagogy
perceptions.Forexample,itisnotunusualtoseefront-pagearticlespro-claimingthesuccessorfailureofschoolsbasedonthepercentageofstu-dentsscoringbelow,at,andaboveproficiencylevelsonannualstatetests.Thesereports,castashardnews,proclaimthewinnersandlosers.Howwerespondtotheseperceptionsmatters.Theubiquityofusingsingletestdataasvalidrepresentationofstudentachievementandschooleffectivenessappearstohavebecomeinpracticeageneralandacceptedtruth.OnehasonlytoqueryprofessionaldevelopmentandteacherabilityontheInternettogetmorethan
12
millionhits,offeringwaystoimproveteachers'andschools'performance.Hundredsofbooksandarticlespub-lishedannuallyclaimto"develop"teachers'abilities;ideasfromsomeofthesetextsarepackagedasprogramsandadoptedbydistrictsorgiventoeducatorstoimplement.SinceNCLBtherehasalsobeenthepropagationof"scientificallyproven"programs,products,andmethodsaimedatim-provingstudent,teacher,andschoolperformance.
ScientificaUyproven,
akeyphraseappearingmorethan
100
timesinNCLB,suggeststhepresenceofrigorousandexperimentalmethodsofresearch.Yet,understandingthesepracticessimplyaswaystoincreaseteachers'abilitiesmayobscureamoreperniciousbeliefatplaythecorrelationofabilityandintelligence.GuyClaxtonassertsthat"inWesterneducationalculture,theword'ability'isusedasasynonymfor'intelligence',andistakentorefertosomeinnerresourcewhichexplainsoraccountsforper-formance"
(1999,
p.28).Inthisarticle,Ireasonthatasstudentssometimesarepositionedas
being
lowability,average,orhighabiliry~alikebeliefofteachers'andschools'"intelligence"undergirdsdecisionsaboutprofessionalismandlearning,andsanctionssubstituting"someinnerresource"inlieuofsustainedprofes-sionallearning.Iarguethatprofessionaldevelopmenthaslargelybecomeamatterofimplementing"proven"programsandproductsproducedbyex-ternaldevelopers.Inexaminingthesemanifestations,Isituatedevelopmentasanepicconstruct(Bakhtin,
1981)
wheremeaningisunderstoodasatransferablecommodityandexaminethiseffect.Isuggestthatimplementa-tionofprogramsasasubstitutionforprofessionallearningunderminesteachers'agency;obscuresourcapacitytorecognizeanomaloussituations,anddiminishesthinkingandlearning.Asacountermodeltodevelopment,Idescribeprofessionallearningas
rhizornatic,
GilleDeleuzeandFelixGuat-tari's
(1987)
metaphorforhorizontalthinkingthatisnonhierarchical,andadvocateforlocallydeterminedprofessionallearning.
UnpackingDifferer
Inthinkingabouttbprofessionallearning,U[t]hedifferencebetwalargematter=-r'tis
th
ning"
(1890,
pp.87-8learning,dissimilaritieDevelopmentisa
I
tachingtoverbs,suggasanobjectbeing
aci
tionsasaverbalnounquiresadoer.Learner:chasmbetweenbeing~Historyisrepletepositionsofpowerwning.Iwaskeenlyremcountryofmybirth,
<
Irelandforthe6rsttinowhailingfromtheandFahanStreetinIers'homes,andlook
1
Istaredatthatstronsurroundedbyaperilmyownsenseof
posii
encesinherentinbeinthebones.Itseemslikeanodimprovingtheirprofe:developmentcaneasiManifestDestinyruncan'tbemovedaninc
htin,1981,1986)anc
childrentomimea1U[dJiscourselives,asobject:ifwedetach
0
isthenakedcorpseofProfessionaldevecorpse:straighteningandthendonningdiBentdecaybeneathth,
 
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~.i.·.·.:t_•.•...•::,...•;.::,:.•.:,:.•::..:•.''.:'.'.:_':..:.,.•.•...•..•.'•..:,._.,::..',-.'
',::~:-:·U:L:\i~~bi"ij:;;;c!,;\:;:i:,::;':·.',-
-·'-,-L-:;,-~':
:~~·ilJ-~.;-:.~-::;_:,'_,'-
r
,
I
I
efront-pagearticlespro·onthepercentageofstu-
vels
onannualstatetests..nersandlosers.·s.Theubiquityofusing
t
achievementandschool~ageneralandaccepted
prnent
andteacherabiliiyofferingwaystoimprove:-booksandarticlespub-ities;ideasfromsomeof~dbydistrictsorgivento
ilso
beenthepropagation
id
methodsaimedat
im-
·Scientificallyproven,
akeysuggeststhepresenceof'I1aystoincreaseteachers'tplay:thecorrelationof"inWesterneducational·for'intelligence',andislainsoraccountsforper-nesarepositionedas
heing
·ofteachers'andschools'malismandlearning,andlieuofsustainedproies-
nent
haslargelybecomea
iroducts
producedbyex-
ms,
Isituatedevelopmentaningisunderstoodasasuggestthat
implementa-
mallearningundermines
uze
anomaloussituations,
-rmodel
todevelopment,IDeleuzeandFelixGuat-
at
isnonhierarchical,andng.
Mary
Ann
Reilly
81
UnpackingDifference
Inthinkingaboutthedifferencesbetweenprofessionaldevelopmentandprofessionallearning,
I
amremindedofMarkTwain'sobservationthat"[t]hedifferencebetweenthealmostrightwordandtherightwordisreallyalarge
matter
c-r'tisthedifferencebetweenthelightning-bugandthelight-ning"
(1890,
pp.
87-88).
If
wetakeamomenttounpackdevelopmentandlearning,dissimilaritiescanbeseen.Development
is
anoun.Itssuffix
-ment
usedtoformnounschieflybyat-tachingtoverbs,suggestsasubjectwhoisnolongerdoing,butratherexistsasanobjectbeingacted-upon.Incontrast,learningisagerundandfunc-tionsasaverbalnounindicatingongoingaction.ToprofessionallyJearnre-quiresadoer.Learnersactivelydeterminetheirpresenceandagency.
It
isthechasmbetweenbeingacted-uponandactingthatweneedtounderstand.Historyisrepletewithaccountsillustratingkeydifferencesregardingpositionsofpowerwithinthelivesofthosebeingacted-uponandthoseact-ing.IwaskeenlyremindedofthiswhenIrecentlyreturnedtoIreland,thecountryof
my
birth,andtravelednorthcrossingtheborderintoNorthernIrelandforthefrrsttime.
It
wasdisquietingasanIrishCatholic,evenonenowhailingfromtheUnitedStates,tostandonthecornerofLeckyRoadandFahanStreetinDerry,amongthepolishedpoornessofoldmillwork-ers'homes,andlookupthesteepinclinetowherethepolicestationsits.As
I
staredatthatstrongholdperchedabovetheFreeDenyneighborhood,surroundedbyaperimeterofbarbedwirefencing,
I
eltamarkedshiftinmyownsenseofposition.Suchanexperienceremindedmethatthediffer-encesinherentinbeingacted-uponandactingareoneswecometoknowinthebones.Itseemslikeanoddmarriagetome,thisdoinguntoothersasameansofimprovingtheirprofessionalperformance,foralthoughcompletedplansfordevelopmentcaneasilybetransportedacrosswholecontinents-akindofManifestDestinyrunamok-thekernelideasusedto(in)formsuchplanscan'tbemovedaninch.Meaningisdeterminedatpointsofutterance
(Bak-
htin,
1981,1986)
andcannotbepackedandsentalongforteachersandchildrentomimeatsomelatertime.MikhailBakhtinexplainsthat"[dJiscourselives,asitwere,beyonditself,inalivingimpulsetowardtheobject;
if
wedetachourselvescompletelyfromthisimpulseallwehaveleftisthenakedcorpseoftheword"
(1981,
p.
292).
Professionaldevelopmentconcernsitselflargelywithdressingthiscorpse:straighteningthelimbs,emptyingthebowels,settingthefeatures,andthendonningdiffer~tJ.tclothswithsuchsleightofhandthattheincipi-entdecaybeneaththefinerymaybedifficulttodiscern.Educatorsbeing
1
I
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