Chapter 2: Establishing a Culture of Support Within Which Teachers Come First, Pedagogy Second, and Technology Third.

"Culture of Support" is the term Selfe uses to describe his alternative to the dynamic of blame. In order to develop this culture of support, Selfe claims that three crucial steps must be taken.

1. Recognize "the kinds of support that teachers require to integrate technology - in a meaningful way - into English and language arts classes" and then commit to "creating a culture that supports this effort" (Selfe, pg. 23).
2. Enable teachers of English and language arts to "assume a leadership role in creating and sustaining such a culture of support" (Selfe, pg. 23).
3. Identify the range of "primary or interested stakeholders who see the benefits of establishing and participating in such an effort" (Self, pg. 24).
   
   

As Selfe describes, the first step is to recognize the difficulties for teachers in integrating technology into the classroom evidenced in the lack of time to develop plans for technology use, technical support, professional training, access to technology, and the opportunity to "participate in meaningful ways in shaping technology policy and making technology decisions that will affect their own teaching and the learning of students in their classrooms" (Selfe, pg. 25).  Recognizing these difficulties allows them to be addressed in the development of a meaningful culture of support.

Selfe's description of the culture of support reminds me a great deal of the concept of a community of practice, asking those who are stakeholders in creating effective, sustainable, technology-rich learning environments to bring their own experiences, skills, goals, and insights to the table to create a fully developed culture of support.  These individuals include

• "Teacher/Leaders"  who act as technology leaders by innovating and taking risks in incorporating technology into their classrooms and can also provide guidance for other teachers;
  
• "Teacher/Users" who may be more cautious and less inclined to incorporate technology into their writing classrooms, but who can also act as a balance in technology planning efforts by offering a critical perspective and/or "reality check" to the extensive and sometimes overly ambitious projects desired by Teacher/leaders;
  
• Technical Staff who support teacher's instructional goals by using their expertise to design supportive computer systems that are both helpful to teachers and can be sustained over long periods of time;
  
• Students/Students Workers who are the intended beneficiaries of technology-rich learning environments and can provide valuable insight on effective classroom practices;  and
  
• Administrators who can help revise policies to promote the development of a culture of support, recognize teachers' efforts in innovating with technology, and support those efforts through budgetary considerations.
  
  

According to Selfe, "teachers should be able to expect some level of support for their work in integrating technology into their classes.  At the same time, however, they should also expect to assume a leadership role in creating an effective culture of support that will sustain their efforts" (Selfe, pg. 26).  This belief that teachers must take on a leadership role in technology development is best described by the following quote from Aristotle

              "...the user, or in other words, the master of the house will even be a better judge
               than the builder, just as the pilot will judge better of the rudder than the carpenter,
               and the guest will judge better of the feast than the cook."
                                                                                                                                                           Politica

(quoted in Selfe, pg. 49 as quoted in Robert Johnson's User-Centered Technology: A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts, pg. 3)

As the users of technology-rich instructional systems and spaces, teachers are often the better judges of "what help they need to sustain literacy-based, technology-rich teaching practices" (Selfe, pg 26) and in the best position to "understand how these changes will alter the teaching of English and language arts" (Selfe, pg 49).