Ockham's razor applied: It's mission clutter

Childhood Education, 1999 by DeCicco, Emily K, Allison, Jeanette

Mission clutter is the root cause of failure in America's worst public schools.

Teachers today are burdened with so many roles that teacher effectiveness and student achievement are shortchanged constantly. Applying the principle of Ockham's Razor-"Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity" (Reese, 1980, p. 399)-we arrived at this simple hypothesis: Mission clutter is the root cause of failure in America's worst public schools.

MISSION CLUTTER: A DESCRIPTION

Almost any problem or issue that exists in society becomes the responsibility of schools, and, ultimately, of teachers. Each day brings anew mission: drug prevention, sensitivity training, character formation, sexual harassment awareness, anti-smoking campaigns, ad infinitum. This mission du jour and a plethora of public policy initiatives have resulted in mission clutter.

The Student's Point of View

Consider this typical day in a 3rd-grader's life:

As Jane runs out of the house on her way to the bus, she performs a mental checklist: "Do I have everything I need? Got my Ritalin pills, check. Got my self-esteem chart, check. Got my candy bar sales slips, check. Got my 'Guidelines on Avoiding Sexual Harassment in School, With Special Emphasis on Inappropriate Banter by 8-Year-Olds on the Playground,' check. Oops! I forgot my math book. That's okay, we probably won't get to it today, because I have to go to an assembly on 'Joe Camel and the Evils of Smoking.' " When Jane returns home from school, her grandmother asks, "What did you do today?" Jane replies, "I don't know what we did, but we sure were busy!" Her grandmother calls out, "Don't you have any math homework?" As Jane runs out the back door, she answers, "Can't do that now. Gotta go sell some more candy so I can go on the field trip."

The Teacher's Point of View

Now envasion a teacher as he gets ready to go to work. He looks down a row of hats, trying to decided which ones to wear.

"Let me see . . . I've got my Social Worker hat on because I have to testify for a child abuse case today, and I have to be sure Dick does not go home with his non-custodial parent. I might have to intervene with sexual harassment issues between kids on the playground as well. Oh, right . . . here's my Psychologist hat. I'll need it for the crisis intervention session related to that recent school shooting, plus Andrew's parents are going through a divorce. Can't forget my Baby Sitter hat, because kids will be arriving before school and staying past school hours. Then there's my Paramedic hat. Today, I will be trained in the use of epinephrine syringes, in case one of my students has an allergic reaction to peanut butter. That's in addition to the gloves I've been issued for cleaning up bodily fluids, and the timers I monitor as I remind students to take Ritalin. I'll also need my Recreation Director hat for playground duty . . . my Maitre D' hat for cafeteria duty . . . my Fundraiser/Telemarketer hat for the annual school carnival and candy bar sales contest this week. Here's the Miracle Worker hat so I can miraculously divide and multiply my paltry classroom budget to buy supplies for my 30 students for the entire year. Whew! I think I'm ready to go now . . . out the door . . . into the car. Oops! Of course, my Teacher hat. Just once before I leave teaching I'd like my Teacher hat to be the only one I had to wear. I can only imagine what my students and I could accomplish. "

MISSION CLUTTER IN EDUCATION: HOW IT HAPPENED

Mission Clutter Creep

Mission clutter creep was very subtle at first, ushered in through benevolent concepts such as "Teaching the whole child" and "It takes an entire village to raise a child." Society stealthily moved the responsibility of the whole child from parents to the village, and from the village to the schools, and finally from the schools to the teachers. The problem is that all these entities, regardless of economic status, have become impaired in this shift-the result of which is tailor-made for a one-week theme on the Jerry Springer show.

Bear with us. We are not saying that the needs of children and families should go unmet. What we are saying is that a teacher cannot be expected to meet all these needs. How can one person effectively fulfill so many demanding roles? Teachers are being taxed beyond reason-to the point of becoming Jacks of All Trades and Masters of None. Thanks to mission clutter, the dire prediction of a "rising tide of mediocrity" has become a reality for all too many teachers and students.

THE DANGERS OF MISSION CLUTTER

Bankruptcy in the Marketplace of Ideas

The concept of mission clutter is well-known in business and the military. It means doing too many tasks and playing too many roles to be effective. It is the "stuff" that clutters up the workplace and that causes personnel to lose focus. Without focus, critical outcomes are jeopardized. Mission clutter can lead to a company's demise because it bankrupts the organization by tearing away at the social fabric of the workplace and, ultimately, at its profits (Rosenholtz, 1989). To thwart mission clutter, companies create teams, refine roles, and define a common vision. In the workplace, time and resources are prioritized to keep personnel creative and focused.