It never changes, its always one thing or another, someone is always walking out of there shaking their head or angry. Whether it be the receiver of the discipline or the giver of the disciplinary actions, someone is usually walking of the office displeased. The Principal certainly has one of the toughest roles, he is a metaphorical teacher of the teacher. It is true, that is why as a principal his signature on the bottom of your observation makes it gold, as well as why his notes on your record will never allow you to receive another job in that board again.
I cannot seem to shake the attention of the administration at times. as a first year teacher, maybe it is normal. Being overseas where there is no human resource to get involved and go after someone for workplace harassment, maybe its normal. But my goodness, the small infractions in a school of over 200 BCT certified staff, and I am one of them who time is found to be "talked" to. I will admit our administrator has buckled down a bit and has been on the way of getting the small house cleaning tasks done but in terms of the big picture I always wonder what certain administrators are supposed to do.
I was talking with a couple of coworkers who were talking to me about us getting our masters, etc and maybe doing "big picture" things. Later that evening we spoke someone had joked that they could see me as an administrator in the near future. Really? You think so? You think that little of me? I just want to not teach, push papers, nod and smile then micromanage people granted it is similar to that of a classroom teacher just in different situations and social environments, BUT no, I don't see that. The reason I don't see myself as a principal is not for my lack of expertise in the field of education because in certain overseas schools that really doesn't matter; the reason I don't see myself as a principal is because it doesn't fit as "big picture" in my books. Yes, ideally, the board wants principals and other grey-haired old dogs in the office space of the think tank we call education. In reality though, a teacher knows the students; a teacher knows other teachers; a teacher takes the time to know the school's environment. A principal may know the school will seldom times know the true students. That is the nature of the beast, it is only natural, true principals will know most students, all teachers and most parents. That is what their job is in my books, not to mention running the school and committees, etc. But big picture to me, is the curriculum, yes in the case of a principal who knows the school, the students and the parents, great, they certainly are working to earn that ability to see and build a big picture but most times you get desensitized, and close minded individuals working on the toilet paper we call curriculum often times. For the most part as time goes on (depending on the province or country you live in), the curriculum gets better but why can't it just be all around great?
Simply put, the individuals often times picked for curriculum development in these more developed countries are golf buddies and individuals who haven't seen the inside of a classroom in far too long. If our curriculum documents were really up to date, they would not still be worded vaguely or missing the integration of technology into the classroom. Don't get me wrong, I hate that students are glued to their devices but with the amount of resources in the world and schools today, there is no reason a teacher should need to spend their class time everyday disciplining a class for even the most remote mistake of moving your cellphone from one pocket to the other. Nor in the documents is it made clear that students should be taught how to be accountable for their learning. The burden of learning does fall upon the shoulders of the educators as it should but, we have grown our society into one with a wealth of knowledge at the slightest touch of a screen, as important as knowledge is, the use of it is what we need to stress. Why is it important to know how to write a story, understand what happens when magnesium is super heated.
Things need to change and if big picture is built by people who simply lived long enough to outlast the rest, then we will be struggling with issues in schools until the end of time, if a social construction is created and new monkey is thrown into it, that monkey will adopt the necessary traits to be successful in that population along with the other monkeys.
-C.B.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Administrative Apprenhension
Like students teachers are always learning as well; most if not all teachers would agree that learning is a life long process and for that reason must be treated in the similar fashion. This idea is obviously practiced in many ways, professional development, school social events and even disciplinary actions.
Students and teachers have more similarities than differences when the roles are carefully examined. At first glance people always consider the two binary opposites. On a shallow level, yes the two are opposites, one teaches and the other studies the teachings of the teacher. It is more common that not, teachers forget that they themselves feel the same things students feel when in the school community at times.
How often is a student called down to the office? Not often, unless they are often times in trouble. Teachers (depending on the school and the teacher's role) are not often in the office themselves. I myself have been called down to the office for numerous reasons, some good, some...not so good. The office is always a place that is seen as a strictly business area, not much socializing happens around here because of the premises it carries when someone is in the office often.
There are ways to break this stigma of the office but it takes time and a lot of work. It is certainly not a change one would see in the near future or in a larger school setting either. Disciplinary action should not be dealt with in one's office, that is similar to moving into a home where someone has recently passed away (the analogy is quite realistic depending on the area the school is located in); there is a large amount of tension and negative energy that surrounds that space and for those who don't like the term "energy" one can say that the space eventually becomes poisoned.
It is difficult for teachers to play the role of the respectable educator as well as the fun loving individual they want to be with the students. Similarly, administrative figureheads also suffer from the dilemma of "stern administrator" and "work buddy". Granted the term "work buddy" is a rare and formerly used term as office rules and human resource sanctions halt any legitimate human interaction due to our "do and sue" society. I am coining "do an sue" because if you openly admit to "doing" something and that something has injured, offended or impeded on anyone's life in anyway, they are within legal grounds to sue your or whatever institution they deem fit. Nonetheless, the term "work buddy" merely represents an individual which you may confide in at times. Administrators cannot be these people. The simple reason for it is because their is too much at stake, there are people's jobs, families, professionalism, and mental well being involved.
For example, an administrator and a teacher go for a bite to eat at lunch. The teacher at lunch with the administrator begins discussing a specific student or two that has been giving them trouble lately, then its joked that the student could be expelled because of whatever reason. Later that week, the student really irritates the teacher and the teacher (as last resort) sends the student to the office (expecting the student will be expelled) and finds that the student has returned to class the next day. There is now a conflict of interests for the principal, not to mention the social turmoil created between these coworkers.
Yes, this is a terrible teacher or maybe just a teacher who simply had enough but regardless, for argument sake, this is the scenario.
A better example, as human beings teachers and principals have needs and wants as well as vices. A couple of co workers (teacher and principal) make their way "downtown" one night and partake in some activities that are on the fringe in their society. Next weekend the teacher goes out and has fun with other friends, does the same thing as they and the principal did the weekend before, but this time someone had spotted them for whatever reason. The situation is reported to the administrator and he is left to discipline accordingly. Granted, a first time offence and anything short of a felony shouldn't get you in huge trouble but there is always the risk of the bologna permanent record that people are often times concerned about. The principal in the end needs to discipline and write a report regarding the teacher. Morally the principal knows that he himself does not see any harm in the situation but understands the moral roles that the school staff is required to carry with themselves in the public eye. For this reason there is a dispute between the teacher and principal because the teacher knows full well that the principal is just as "bad" as they are said to be.
For reasons like this there is a major blockade between administration and the classroom teachers. There are exceptions but these exceptions need to be studied and explained to create a more consistent routine.
Although I myself, have not been in anything too serious, aside from invigilation issues, field trip supervision issues and electronic attendance submission, and dirty classroom issues; I can still see the possibilities of things like this arising so I understand the stern administrator attitude. When an individual makes no attempt to socialize on a non-department level basis with anyone except people from the department of which they began in the school, there is going to be a lot of negative feedback surrounding the premise of any situation that calls someone down to the office.
It is important for an administrator to remember that yes, their job is an ENTIRE school, yes, teachers need to remember the responsibilities of the Administrators as well however, like a teacher needs to have a level of understanding when a student forgets their books in the locker or is being bullied in another class causing them reason to feel like they need to compensate in a different environment. Teachers require this level of understanding as well, no one is perfect, yes there are things that need to be done but it goes both ways.
Who will watch the watcher?
-C.B.
Students and teachers have more similarities than differences when the roles are carefully examined. At first glance people always consider the two binary opposites. On a shallow level, yes the two are opposites, one teaches and the other studies the teachings of the teacher. It is more common that not, teachers forget that they themselves feel the same things students feel when in the school community at times.
How often is a student called down to the office? Not often, unless they are often times in trouble. Teachers (depending on the school and the teacher's role) are not often in the office themselves. I myself have been called down to the office for numerous reasons, some good, some...not so good. The office is always a place that is seen as a strictly business area, not much socializing happens around here because of the premises it carries when someone is in the office often.
There are ways to break this stigma of the office but it takes time and a lot of work. It is certainly not a change one would see in the near future or in a larger school setting either. Disciplinary action should not be dealt with in one's office, that is similar to moving into a home where someone has recently passed away (the analogy is quite realistic depending on the area the school is located in); there is a large amount of tension and negative energy that surrounds that space and for those who don't like the term "energy" one can say that the space eventually becomes poisoned.
It is difficult for teachers to play the role of the respectable educator as well as the fun loving individual they want to be with the students. Similarly, administrative figureheads also suffer from the dilemma of "stern administrator" and "work buddy". Granted the term "work buddy" is a rare and formerly used term as office rules and human resource sanctions halt any legitimate human interaction due to our "do and sue" society. I am coining "do an sue" because if you openly admit to "doing" something and that something has injured, offended or impeded on anyone's life in anyway, they are within legal grounds to sue your or whatever institution they deem fit. Nonetheless, the term "work buddy" merely represents an individual which you may confide in at times. Administrators cannot be these people. The simple reason for it is because their is too much at stake, there are people's jobs, families, professionalism, and mental well being involved.
For example, an administrator and a teacher go for a bite to eat at lunch. The teacher at lunch with the administrator begins discussing a specific student or two that has been giving them trouble lately, then its joked that the student could be expelled because of whatever reason. Later that week, the student really irritates the teacher and the teacher (as last resort) sends the student to the office (expecting the student will be expelled) and finds that the student has returned to class the next day. There is now a conflict of interests for the principal, not to mention the social turmoil created between these coworkers.
Yes, this is a terrible teacher or maybe just a teacher who simply had enough but regardless, for argument sake, this is the scenario.
A better example, as human beings teachers and principals have needs and wants as well as vices. A couple of co workers (teacher and principal) make their way "downtown" one night and partake in some activities that are on the fringe in their society. Next weekend the teacher goes out and has fun with other friends, does the same thing as they and the principal did the weekend before, but this time someone had spotted them for whatever reason. The situation is reported to the administrator and he is left to discipline accordingly. Granted, a first time offence and anything short of a felony shouldn't get you in huge trouble but there is always the risk of the bologna permanent record that people are often times concerned about. The principal in the end needs to discipline and write a report regarding the teacher. Morally the principal knows that he himself does not see any harm in the situation but understands the moral roles that the school staff is required to carry with themselves in the public eye. For this reason there is a dispute between the teacher and principal because the teacher knows full well that the principal is just as "bad" as they are said to be.
For reasons like this there is a major blockade between administration and the classroom teachers. There are exceptions but these exceptions need to be studied and explained to create a more consistent routine.
Although I myself, have not been in anything too serious, aside from invigilation issues, field trip supervision issues and electronic attendance submission, and dirty classroom issues; I can still see the possibilities of things like this arising so I understand the stern administrator attitude. When an individual makes no attempt to socialize on a non-department level basis with anyone except people from the department of which they began in the school, there is going to be a lot of negative feedback surrounding the premise of any situation that calls someone down to the office.
It is important for an administrator to remember that yes, their job is an ENTIRE school, yes, teachers need to remember the responsibilities of the Administrators as well however, like a teacher needs to have a level of understanding when a student forgets their books in the locker or is being bullied in another class causing them reason to feel like they need to compensate in a different environment. Teachers require this level of understanding as well, no one is perfect, yes there are things that need to be done but it goes both ways.
Who will watch the watcher?
-C.B.
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