Misryoum argues that underperforming schools cannot improve while deflecting responsibility and avoiding honest internal review.
A school’s underachievement is often explained away before anyone even tries to change it, and Misryoum says that habit is exactly what keeps learning stuck.
Misryoum describes how schools that persistently produce weak outcomes can come to rely on external circumstances as a ready-made justification.. When performance is already being framed as “not our fault,” investing in a new direction becomes harder, and meaningful efforts stall.. Change, in this view, only gathers momentum when the current results become clearly unacceptable and the school can no longer ignore the embarrassment that comes with them.
In practice, the first step toward recovery is not a new slogan but a candid admission of what a school can control.
Misryoum argues that a reconstruction process starts when the institution accepts systemic shortcomings are not entirely outside its reach.. Progress begins when leaders and staff acknowledge that one or two things can be done better internally, instead of treating the status quo as unavoidable.. Refusing to accept responsibility for issues within the school’s own sphere can keep the same cycle running, even when remedial action is desperately needed.
While external pressures can be real, Misryoum stresses that not all blame belongs elsewhere.. Adequate funding, for example, affects what schools are able to acquire for teaching and learning, but how available resources are used still falls within school influence.. Likewise, the community around a school matters, especially when parental engagement weakens a shared effort toward improved outcomes.
This matters because education systems cannot treat learners like collateral damage of circumstances; students need consistent action rooted in local practice.
Misryoum also points to how a blame-heavy culture can distort the response to underperformance.. When parents adopt a hostile posture, attend too rarely, or undermine a school’s ability to build momentum, schools lose a key support structure.. And when oversight is overly negative, schools may anticipate condemnation, interpret engagement as an attack, and spend energy defending themselves rather than improving instruction.
Instead of adversarial visits and fault-finding, Misryoum suggests that constructive, coaching-style oversight can reduce resistance and encourage honest reflection.. That kind of engagement gives schools space to admit weaknesses and pursue remedial steps, rather than rehearsing explanations meant to survive scrutiny.
In the end, Misryoum’s core warning is that escaping responsibility turns attention toward the edges of the problem instead of the classroom practices that directly shape learning.. The relationship between the teacher, curriculum, and learner is portrayed as central and within school control, meaning the “train derails” case should trigger internal action rather than external contestation.
Misryoum concludes that each school is unique and must be treated as its own case, not as a generic example of wider system failure.. When accountability stays focused on what happens internally, schools have a better chance of breaking the culture of non-performance and building change that actually lasts.