Don't Just Do Something (1959)

"Don't just do something; stand there!" implores Nebraskan educator Galen Saylor, turning an old adage on its head. In the October 1959 issue of Educational Leadership, this university chairman asks school administrators to reflect on the fundamental goals of education and to make considered decisions before rushing to make changes in curriculum and school policy.

Read the article: Don't Just Do Something (PDF)

Saylor begins by emphasizing the importance of clearly defining the goals of education. Underscoring the value of establishing clear outcomes, he notes that many classroom teachers simply go through the motions without a well-defined sense of purpose, guided by the latest educational trend, or worse, by no real plan at all.

Galen acknowledges the real need for change in the late 1950s educational landscape, but he insists that reform efforts be animated by unambiguous and ambitious goals. He notes, "No report, no handbook of requirement for graduation, no curriculum guide, no plan for the education of gifted children, no state department regulation has merit or validity except as it helps us better attain goals for schools."

Over 50 years later, have we come any closer to defining the purpose of education? Do accountability efforts like the common core bring us nearer to Galen's vision, or do they merely set a standard without tackling questions of purpose and outcome? Are we just doing something? Or are we really "standing there"?

In "My Back Pages," we look at important issues through the historical lens of the Educational Leadership archives. ASCD members can access EL issues from 1943 to the present by signing in at the right.