I really enjoyed Wednesday's class. I find it interesting to listen to us talk as teachers. Right now with all that's going on with government and all of the armchair politicians are having a hay-day. However, with our discussions about leadership...we were mostly on the same page. I think this discussion showed us how much teacher leadership is really needed. Forget the nitty gritty details.... we were all on the same page. That was really cool. I think it would be interesting to poll our co-workers and see what they think makes a good leader. This would be a great discussion to have. I think if we came to a concensus as teachers, we could maybe get rid of some of our administrators, save money in our districts and have better run schools. Putting the power of leadership back into the people who actually DO the job.
Viva la Revolution!!
(Over the top....perhaps. An accurate assessment.... you bet!!!)
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Shawn,
ReplyDeleteI think if our administrations learned what us teachers think makes a great leader, maybe they would do a better job at leading and set better examples. I know you have discussed how your administration is not up to your liking, and I hope for your benefit and the other teachers and all the students in your district that changes real soon. I am also hoping that summer break has given everyone a chance to cool down after everything that has happened and ready for a fresh start this fall. I guess if we don't like our leaders, then we need to take charge and do our best to make things better!
There are some schools that do not have an administration. I know during my student teaching experience that another student was at such a school. they said that it could be a rather time consuming experience since the three teachers would spontaneously have to meet sometimes for disciplinary reasons and lesson changes. As much as we may disagree with them administration does have a purpose perhaps just not as big as they think
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how many of us have such negative opinions of our administrators? Our administrator was brand new last year, he's still working on his superintendent's license. He's done an awful job so far, and I think the school board finally talked to him. We are a small school and collaborate frequently with another small, rural district in our area. Many of us teachers have talked about sharing an administrator between the two districts. It's been very hard for many of us to take his incompetence when he's making $90,000/year and cutting staff positions.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I wonder why there is such a dysfunction between teachers and admin. Maybe if we had a "head" teacher or teachers instead of vice-principals? Maybe if before you can even be considered qualified to be a principal you need 15 years of classroom experience and 10 years for a vice principal or some such requirement.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? It seems like in every well run business, people who have done the job and done it well are the leaders. This seems to be the opposite in education. Why is that?
If all teachers were fired up to do a great job all the time and take responsibility for learning, growing and self-evaluating, we wouldn't need administrators to do that for us. That would free them up to get other stuff done. Teachers need to stay focused on the actual goal. The goal isn't a paycheck, or a pension, or a gold star on some evaluation. The goal is to educate students as effectively has possible. If everyone was on board with that, it would be amazing what kind of selfless collaboration could take place.
ReplyDeleteShawn,
ReplyDeleteYou're my hero! :) You make a great point that we would have better run schools if we had more people in leadership rolls who were actually in the "thick of it." It is important to note that the more Generals we have, the fewer the foot soldiers we have to keep the fight going. I understand your point and I admire it.