The Fourth Way
This compelling and provocative book ilustrates how the old ways for effecting social and educational change are no longer suited to the fast, flexible, and vulnerable new world of the 21st century. Hargreaves and Shirleyguide readers through three ways of change that have defined global educational policy and practice from the 1960s to the present.
About the Authors
Andy Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan Chair at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. Dennis Shirleyis Professor of Education at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College.
News
Read the Sept 7, 2009 Boston Globe Editorial by Dennis Shirleyand Andy Hargreaves
A Smarter Education Strategy.
Read and listen to The Persistence of Presentismauthored by Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009, on the Teachers College Record website.
Publisher
This book is a joint publication of
Corwin: A SAGE CompanyOntario Principals' CouncilNational Staff Development Council
Click here to purchase:
Andy Hargreaves
is the Thomas More Brennan Chair, Boston College Lynch School of Education. He is the elected Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, London. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Educational Change. He serves as the leading editor of the first and second International Handbook of Educational Change. Hargreaves is the cofounder and former director of the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in Toronto. He has written numerous books on culture, change and leadership in education that are available in many languages.
Dennis Shirley
is Professor of Education at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. His work ranges from assisting beginning teachers in complex school environments to designing large-scale research and intervention projects for school districts and states. Shirley was the first U.S. scholar to document community organizing as an educational change strategy, which has resulted in visiting professorships at Harvard University and the University of Barcelona and in keynote speechesand educational consulting in Italy, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has published extensively.
Purchase The Fourth Way
A First Way
of state support, innovation, and professional freedom, but also of inconsistency; of economic/ political confidence, but also of uneven school performance and leaadership; and of educational improvements informed by intuition and ideology, rather than by evidence.
Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley offer an inspiring new vision and plan that leads to remarkable reforms in student learning and achievement and embraces
An inclusive vision with schools, communities, and corporate partnerships working together
- Learning that is creative, engaging, and demanding
- Shared and ambitious improvement targets
- Prudent accountability that tests samples
- Strong schools helping their weaker peers
- An evidence-informed rather than data-driven, profession
- Sustainable leadership that spreads and lasts
A Second Way
of competition and educational prescriptions in which professional autonomy is lost and innovation gives way to standardization, uniformity, and inequity - harming teacher motivation, leadership capacity, and student learning.
A Third Way
that has tried to balance professional autonomy with accountability but has become focused on the gathering of endless quantities of achievement / performance data so that short term solutions prevail - instead of transforming teaching and learning together for the 21st century.
Anthony Giddens
Director, London School of Economics
Author, The Third Way
In some places, Third Way politics have barely begun. In others, they have been pushed as far as they can go. It is high time for a new Fourth Way of social and educational reform. In their unique and excellent text, Hargreaves and Shirley outline this way for the first time and provide crystal clear examples of what it looks like in practice.
Linda Darling-Hammond
Professor of Education, Stanford University
Hargreaves and Shirley draw on their firsthand studies of the highest-performing systems in the U.S. and across the world to demonstrate that one best hope for education in a time of turmoil rests in change strategies that are both professional and democratic. Inspiring in vision, accessible in style, and solid in its evidence base, this book will be an engine for change for years to come.
Michael Fullan
Educational Consultant
Author, The Challenge of School Change
Hargreaves and Shirley present an extremely balanced and insightful treatment of the first three ways of change, articulating the strengths and limitations of each model. Then they map out the Fourth Way-a compelling framework for change that integrates teacher professionalism, community engagement, government policy, and accountability. This is a powerful 'catalyst for coherence' in a field that badly needs guidance. Read the book and rethink your approach to educational reform.
Dennis Van Roekel
President, National Educational Association
This book just might offer the best ideas yet for broad-scale educational improvement. Hargreaves and Shirley refreshingly depart from old-school arguments. With concrete examples, they identify and embrace successful elements of past reforms while illustrating flaws in unhelpful efforts. Their careful analysis and insights on lessons learned are invaluable to those serious about making positive, sustainable changes that deliver a great public school to every student.
Susan Moore Johnson
Pforzheimer Professor of Teaching and Learning, Harvard University
Perplexed and demoralized by policies that diminsh and routinize their work, many educators fear that public schooling has reached a dead end. In this informed and inspiring book, Hargreaves and Shirley point to a new and promising path for progress. The Fourth Way, as they explain, is not only open to educators, but must be forged by them, with shared purpose, foresight, and common sense.
Daniel A. Domenech
Executive Director, American Association
of School Administrators
The authors propose a new vision for transforming public education for the 21st century. They argue that school systems must move away from a culture of high-stakes testing, encourage innovation and creativity, and engage parents and communities in educational change. Their ideas are timely and relevant for educational leaders today.
Contact Us
Dr. Dennis Shirley
Boston College
Lynch School of Education
Campion Hall Room 221
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Phone: 617.552.1642
E-mail: dennis.shirley.1_bc.edu
Dr. Andy Hargreaves
Lynch School of Educaion
Campion Hall Room 110
Phone: 617.552.4078
E-mail: andrew.hargreaves_bc.edu
