Sat 17 Sep 2005
Probably the most difficult aspect of my new job is that I am a department unto myself. There is only 1 person with my role in my entire school. Fortunately, one of my administrators was the last to hold my position and she has been a source of great support. But I have to say, she gave me some not so great advice this week.
Being in charge of professional learning is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s what interests me most about my job and the aspect that influenced me to make the switch. On the other hand, it’s the most difficult part, primarily because much of the faculty does not want to be “professionally developed.†And these people also happen to be the most vocal of the group, which basically means my sessions are often dominated by the “kids†who come in every day saying, “I hate this class. It’s so stupid.â€
I had one such meeting this week and it was brutal. It began with a peppering of questions from one teacher that felt like machine gun fire, followed by another who unfavorably compared me to my predecessor and topped off by a third who characterized the implementation of our school improvement plan as “meaningless and trivial.†(By the way, does anyone else find it concerning that a teacher would think that developing and posting learning goals in the form of essential questions is meaningless and trivial?) Through it all, the chair of the department sat silently nodding her head in agreement with all that was being said.
So my predecessor, the new admin, recommended that I talk to my principal about the meeting. She felt that the teachers were very unprofessional and that he should know about it. In spite of “Danger, Will Robinson†pounding through my head, I followed her advice.
B. I. G. M. I. S. T. A. K. E.
What’s worse than being attacked by a group of teachers all at once? Having those same teachers come to your office one by one to defend (and reiterate) their previous attack under the guise of an apology.
So I’m keeping my big mouth shut in the future. And donning a bullet-proof vest for all training sessions.
September 17th, 2005 at 10:27 am
Sounds to me like you need whole body armour. You would have to love your job to stay in it. I think that teachers need to realize that there is always room for improvement. Stick with it and maybe they will come around. Who Knows!
September 17th, 2005 at 3:30 pm
You have a very difficult, if not impossible, job. I’ve had one or two of these jobs in the corporate world and stuck with them – the results can be very satisfying. Hang in there, get some sucesses, and the ball will start rolling.
September 17th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Lucy: My career as a teacher certainly wasn’t love at first sight–that first year was ROUGH. But I stuck it out. Here’s hoping this job gets easier too.
Fred: It’s good to hear that successes are possible. I’ll keep plugging away.
September 20th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
“developing and posting learning goals in the form of essential questions is meaningless and trivial” only if (in the experience of those teachers expressing the sentiment) no one has ever followed up, except in meaningless and trivial ways.
You don’t strike me as the sort who would waste time – your own or anyone else’s. That some might have doubt about your intent is not on your shoulders, nor is it really on theirs. It rests on the shoulders of others who have placed trivial burdens on them in the name of “professional development.”
You’re better than that. Understand it and continue. Just do everything in your power to prove that those school improvement plans matter, no matter how they’re phrased.