The notion of “loose coupling” has held
considerable sway in education research, frequently invoked to
account for the rather weak ties between policy and administration,
on the one hand, and classroom work, on the other hand. Spillane
and Burch argue that coupling—a potent construct—has
been misused. Treating instruction as a monolithic or unitary
practice, scholars too easily and readily conclude that instruction
is loosely coupled from policy and administration. The authors
argue that analyses of relations between institutional environments
and instruction be predicated on at least two ways of thinking
about instruction. They argue first that instruction is about
subject matter. Institutional environments are formed around and
shape instruction in particular subjects. Second, even within
a given subject area, instruction is not a single-dimensional
activity. Instruction involves numerous elements including content,
the academic tasks students work on, teaching strategies, ways
of representing ideas to students, student-grouping practices,
and student- work assignments. Institutional environments can
affect some dimensions of instructional practice, but not others.
James P. Spillane, Human Development
and Social Policy and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern
University Patricia Burch, School of Education, University
of Wisconsin-Madison
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