"Unexamined Wallpaper"

Richard Elmore coined the phrase "unexamined wallpaper." In other words, certain ways of doing things have become such a part of the school or classroom culture that it is not questioned whether it helps to achieve important goals.

This reminds me of the story of the woman who always cut off part of the roast before putting it in the pan. Someone finally asked her why she did that. She said that she didn't know but her mother had always done it. The mother said she had only done it because her mother had. When the grandmother was asked why she did it she replied that the roast was too big for the pan she had.

An educator must continually ask himself what the ultimate goal is and if what he is doing--even if has become the way of doing things around here--helps to achieve that goal.