Paper Law Vs Trial Law

Bad management theory is rampant in education.

There is a scene in one of the greatest movies of all time, A Few Good Men, where Demi Moore's character continues to make objections after she was overruled. Her co-counsel blows up at her after the court session-

Weinberg:

I strenuously object? Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled! No, no, no... I strenuously object! Oh, I should reconsider then!

Galloway:

I got it on the record.

Weinberg:

You got the court thinking we're afraid of the doctor. Christ, you even had the judge saying he was an expert! You object once, so we can say he's not a criminologist. You keep after it, our cross looks like a bunch of fancy lawyer tricks. It's the difference between paper law and trial law!

In education, there are too many cooks in the kitchen.  School boards, state legislatures, suits in the district office... all weighing in on how classrooms should function.  I can't tell you how many professional development sessions I have sat through over the decades where the presenter had little to no classroom experience. 

Paper law versus trial law. 

I remember reading an article when doing my grad work about a management theorist who took over a classroom to demonstrate the implementation of his theories. He gave up after a month when he realized he couldn't control the class. He still insisted his theories were valid. He just couldn't implement them.  His "trial law" experience didn't change his "paper law" outlook, so he probably went on to teach them in professional development sessions.