The Education Wonks
I do have to give our own district props on this end. The admin have nice desk chairs, but that's about it. They do not have their own bathrooms, they're subject to the same crappy A/C as the rest of the school, most all of us have carpeting, they don't get parking spaces or upholstered furniture.
And our district office is in "temporary" trailers that are in pretty lousy shape, and not only has it been in all the years I've been here, but there are no plans to move to anything more permanent.
I really think our district gets it right with treating admins and teachers equally, especially our site admins, and one of the main forces behind that is our teachers' union.
Of course, maybe that's why we can't seem to hold onto administrators for very long--they all leave for the perks for which they feel entitled.
Or one of the many reasons, anyway.
I've tried, and failed, to recruit Ms. Cornelius to the sunshine state in order to save her from those evil administrators she puts up with.
Now I'll resort to accusing you of enabling Ms. Cornelius. She's a great writer and has many interesting viewpoints. But she's got to give up on using school bosses as her whipping boys every time she gets depressed.
Amazingly, of the 5 or 6 teacher blogs I love and read every day, most were just as guilty of enablement as you were!
Surely I didn't work in some rural paradise in Florida for 30 years. In fact, I was able to meet and work with administrators from most of Florida's 67 countywide districts over the past 20 years. In our rural county district the percentage of administrators over 30 years who were guilty "not caring" was less than 5 percent. There were another 10 percent who were wonderful people, but should have remained in the classroom where they were more effective. (Mainly because they couldn't handle the stress related to making decisions.)
I have advised my administrative readers, citing an early rant from Ms. Cornelius, that they need to let teachers rant once in awhile and remember the good those ranting teachers do day after day in the classroom. Failing to read "A Shrewdness of Apes" would be a huge mistake.
But the frequency and intensity of Ms. Cornelius' rants are just plain unhealthy.
Plus, unless you only want to be read by teachers, and not administrators or parents, it may pay to think about the effect of these rants on those lay readers. Would it bother you if administrators publicly ranted so frequently and with such vigor about "teachers" categorically, as opposed to the few who fail to serve kids effectively?
Just a thought.
Talk about shooting the messenger....
Observations, rants-- potato, potahto, depending upon one's perspective. But is it a rant if it's true? This is what I see in my experience. Or does it make some feel better to call my request for real respect from administrators a "rant?" "Enabling" is an interesting word, too, somewhat dated, but with supercilious psychological connotations that are rather patronizing.
EdWonk stated that his school hasn't even recognized teachers this week, as have others with whom I have been in contact.
All I am saying is that authentic understanding of the role that administrators play through verbal and nonverbal contexts in setting the school climate and in particular in school management would be a far more effective step in improving the efficacy of schools than a pro-forma, empty gesture.
A common T-shirt slogan one sees often reflects a common theme: "My parents went to (name exotic location here) and all I got was a lousy T-shirt." Although amusing, it also contains a lesson. A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed this same phenomenon, noting that giving a coffee mug rather than real appreciation actually demoralizes employees. Unfortunately, I cannot access this article, but here is a link that describes what I mean.
Here's a sample: "Approaching the issue of improving employee morale from the perspective of 'We want to improve this critical driver of our success, but we don’t want to invest time and money in making it happen' makes as much sense as saying 'We want to deliver world class customer service, but we don’t want to invest in hiring the best people or taking the time and money to train them well.' It’s beyond illogical; it’s delusional. People who say they want to improve morale, but aren’t willing to invest in it, need to examine both their sincerity and their logic."
This is then followed up with this point: ..."the second critical perspective error that dooms the goodies, gimmicks, and gala events approach to failure is trying to solve what is fundamentally an experiential issue with material 'solutions”'(i.e. goodies) and events. Morale problems are experiential problems, they’re a result of a negative or dissatisfying work experience, whether due to the actual job itself, one’s relationship with one’s boss, not having adequate training, or the myriad of other factors that affect morale. Because morale is a problem of a [sic] unsatisfying work experience, the answer is in changing the work experience. More specifically, the answer is in creating an intrinsically rewarding work experience, a work experience that itself is rewarding (not always fun, but rewarding)."
And, those are SEVERAL thoughts, honestly. Thoughts that need to be taken seriously, not swept under the rug dismissively, which is how we got here in the first place.
It will good for the students appreciate what a teacher does. A teacher is like a candle that enlightens our life and make us more educations in terms of knowledge.
Administrators should know how to treat and deal with teachers.Administrators are not often interacts with students and their parents but teachers do..Obviously the school would be measured by the teachers ability...So its administrators part to keep their staffs happy!
AA Breakdown Cover
Our district doesn't even acknowledge Teacher Appreciation Day/Week--admin doesn't say anything and we don't have a PTA to make a fuss.
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