ABSTRACT
The mechanistic input-output metaphor of the Newtownian machine is struggling to pass the laugh test in most complex schools and classrooms as a form of realistic representation. To continue to think about schools in terms of the long shadow of the largely discredited and outmoded mass-production education is to live a fantasy, the effects of which are extremely damaging to those most affected. The quality of student learning is measured by narrow tests, and, increasingly, teachers’ salaries and school resources are being tied to test scores. Teachers have little time or incentive to work together as professionals in the service of children’s learning. Learning has become an instrument for so much else than education that the vocabulary commonsensically talk about learning and education cannot be trusted. A crucial ingredient in reclamation project is the language and practice of critical inquiry in instructional supervision.
