Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School - Chapter 1 Review

This time I'm serious!  I've been picking away at this book all year, but now I'm committing to reviewing it on TeachingtoLead.  Stay tuned for more.  (The following is a re-post from May 13, 2014)

To begin my summer book review series, I’ve decided to read an intriguing book called Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan.  I’ll dedicate a new post to my reactions on each chapter.  Feel free to comment and join in the conversation. 

Chapter 1: A Capital Idea

Hargreaves and Fullan do a great job in chapter 1 to establish the groundwork for their ultimate thesis: to change education through “professional capital” and “articulate an inspiring vision of the future for the teaching profession, along with a coherent set of actions to get there” (9). 

To establish an understanding of professional capital, the authors mention several different types of capital: financial capital, business capital, cultural capital, spiritual capital, and “natural” capital (1).  However, to better understand the types of capital that make up professional capital, the authors’ definitions are as follows:

1.       Human Capital – the “talent” of the individual and his ability to use his talent to be a great classroom teacher (3)

2.       Social Capital – the relationships and interactions among teachers and between teachers and administrators (3)

3.       Decisional Capital – exercising judgments and decisions with collective responsibility, openness to feedback, and willing transparency (5)

These three types of capital, according to the authors, make up professional capital. 

In the long run, the author’s argue, that cultivating human capital (talents) and relying only on human capital to sustain education will ultimately fail.  Programs like Teach for America rely on human capital and take advantage of highly talented individuals to step into schools and teach.  However, these “teachers” cannot sustain a school and leave after several short years because they are overworked, burned out, and underpaid. 

The only real way to sustain a high standard of education is to invest in social capital.  According to the authors, investing in a school’s social capital will also increase the human capital of the school; this idea will not work in reverse order, by the way. 

In the end, the authors state that 40% of teachers in the United States are ‘disheartened’ with their jobs (6) and the only way to create dedicated, creative, and dynamic teachers is to invest in the social capital of the school.  While professional capital is comprised of human, social, and decisional capital, the relationships and interactions among teachers and between teachers and administrators is a key component to creating a healthy school.