Who Moved Our Pride? We’re all just mice in a maze.
Those of you who have been in the New York City Public School system when Bloomberg came into power may remember, the “Who Moved My Cheese” phenomena that took place. Who Moved My Cheese is an allegorical book that discusses the trials and tribulations of two human characters who, along with their mouse friends, live complacently in a maze.
These characters, like all animals in lab experiments, find their food placed for them in the same place every day. Of course, this makes them complacent and lazy. Then, suddenly,someone moves the cheese to another place. The characters are stumped. How can they possibly find the cheese on their own? They are used to someone else placing the cheese there for them. Now, they have to find it themselves.
Such was Bloomberg’s message to New York City teachers- you’ve had it easy for too long. You expect to have things handed to you. Guess what, things are changing around here. Now, you have to adapt to our ways.
OK, forgive me if I’m wrong but..did we have it easy? Was having to beg for basic supplies such as paper to make photo copies of exams for our students such a huge luxury? Was teaching children who enter high school with a fourth or fifth grade reading level akin to complacency? Was having to manage huge classes of children who had deficits larger than out nation’s current one easy?
Was having to do so on a salary that was 15 to 20 thousand dollars less than our suburban counterparts a walk in the park?
Apparently, it was. And Bloomberg was there to tell you that it was all going to change.
Administrators proudly carried the book under their arms. Many used excerpts from the book in their department meetings. They embraced the new philosophy and printed out excerpts from it for their teachers. Everyone was moving their cheeses.
I kept an open mind. I knew that we needed a change. Like most of us, I was silently hoping that the new mayor might actually understand the decay that was taking place in the public schools. Maybe, he had a great idea for a real change.
And then I saw the video.
I was sitting at a meeting at the newly formed regional office when I was shown the film. I was horrified.
I truly hope that the above link works; it has been removed a few times. Please watch it; it is horrifying. Still, though , it explains a lot about what the powerful elite think about the working class schnooks of this country.
Here’s the link again, just in case:
What do you think?
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Comments
Wow, this is a classic case study in misinterpretation. “Who Moved My Cheese” is a completely innocuous book that illustrates the difficulty of changing any organization, and you guys take it as a symbol of aristocratic evil. I guess you kind of made the book’s point for them, huh?
Socrates’s last blog post..YES, we can
It’s degrading and insulting and quite frankly, ineffectual.
Paradigm shifts do not occur by insulting the individuals upon whom you wish to make a change.
Most leadership courses teach that change takes time, and all parties must be involved in order for the change to last. O f course, there are some who believe that the solution is to “staff out” the entire group and thus start from scratch. however, it’s only a matter of time until your new staff figures things out.
You really think there are some people who think we should replace the entire NYC faculty with new teachers? Who thinks that?
This book isn’t insulting the people who react negatively to change, because everyone reacts negatively to change. It’s just pointing out that fact.
Socrates’s last blog post..YES, we can
[...] tooted the praises of “Who Moved My Cheese” when he first came into office. Some believed that is was an [...]
“Administrators proudly carried the book under their arms. ” Ohmigod, I remember that!
The principal took that book out in a faculty conference one afternoon and read it to us word for word.
That was the same principal who, amongst many infamous acts against the contract, refused to buy the foreign language people textbooks, filled two-thirds of the school with oversized classes and would only back down after I filed a grievance (they finally lost lost at Step III had to re-program two whole grades), and refused to hire the candidates whom the teacher-run hiring committees had selected.
Change good. Immorality acceptable, and actually condoned.
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