What If?

What If?

My father was a teacher in Chicago back in the day and I remember all the tension when their union started to really exert some influence and demand reasonable accommodation. It was clear that the hierarchy was shocked and dismayed at the suggestion that anyone but themselves could manage such an organization. Unfortunately, I see the same attitudes when I watch the school board meetings on TV (I need to get a life!) or when I have to deal with the downtown District office (you’re just a teacher, you couldn’t possibly understand). And closer to home, many teachers here believe that our administrators are convinced that they alone can properly lead Jordan. At meetings, in conversations, and in written comments, many concerns have been expressed about transparency, a lack of real input, the adversarial climate, and low morale.

Like the Chicago Board of Education, I was shocked and dismayed when I attended my first teachers’ meeting here last year. After watching and listening to some of the teachers at the meeting, I thought I had been transported back in time to junior high. And unfortunately, that meeting was not an isolated event. So it is not surprising to me that administrators believe that some of our teachers demonstrate a lack professionalism, are unwilling to participate or cooperate, and do all they can to deflect accountability.

While I am certain that many of the perceptions by everyone involved are exaggerated, there is also probably some truth to a few of them. And given the importance of what we are all trying to accomplish here, maybe some civil, yet honest, dialogue could help us all.

In the private sector, where the marketplace kills poor performers, leaders have learned that truly empowered team members are much more effective in helping the company and individuals succeed. There are numerous fantastic examples in the Fortune 100, and, while not as prevalent, there are also success stories in public organizations, including schools. Managers have also learned that pretending to empower employees is far worse than doing nothing at all. Employees are far more astute than greyhounds chasing fabricated rabbits. There are also numerous examples of these colossal failures. Where success has occurred there have been at least two key ingredients: (1) leaders who truly wanted to share power; and (2) team members who were willing to be accountable. While I am barely past being a rookie and I claim no expertise in educational administration, I think that some aspects of a participatory management model could be beneficial. I know that laws, contracts, history, politics, nepotism, and other factors provide obstacles, but it seems obvious that more sharing of power by our administrators and more accountability from teachers could do nothing but help.

What if all expenditures were clearly documented in an easy to understand format and shared with everyone? And what if there was full participation in the planning and decision making associated with those expenditures?

What if more than the same few teachers showed up to existing team (committee) meetings? And what if teachers took the extra time needed to prepare for those meetings? And what if those meetings did not have pre-planned outcomes? And what if administrators and teachers were committed to the team’s decisions even if they didn’t personally agree with them? And what if a teacher or an administrator could start and lead a new team to address the school’s changing needs?

What if staff and professional development meeting topics were responsive rather than prescriptive? And what if a team of teachers selected PD topics? And what if teachers made the effort to fill out questionnaires, or even to research valuable PD topics? And what if our own senior teachers prepared and presented development topics? And (here’s a biggie) what if our PD meetings were fun?

What if communications between teachers and administrators were open, honest and good-hearted? And what if we talked about important stuff rather than petty details? And what if we gave people the benefit of the doubt? And what if we started with the assumption that our peers will do the right thing and only get confrontational as a last resort? And what if we all remembered that 99% of the people who are at this place are here for the right reasons, even if even they sometimes forget it?

These are just a few of many issues that could probably benefit from more participation, shared authority, and accountability. There are more contentious ones, but it is probably best to leave those for another day. I am sure I have terribly oversimplified most of them, but I hope you get the point.

Finally, it makes me sad when I see our students, who have so many things in common, making each other’s lives more difficult. Given all the serious external challenges that they share, it’s hard to understand why they would want to make things harder for each other. Likewise, I find it disheartening when we, who have so many things in common and so many shared external obstacles, make each other’s lives more difficult.

Optimistically submitted,

Bill Lantz

Making Jordan What It Should Be

How do we get there from here? The symptoms of what ails our school are many and so will be the prescriptions. Let’s focus on one, us and...them. By us I mean teachers and them, administrators. Of course, this dichotomy should not exist. We are a team aren’t we? Well, here lies one of Jordan’s ailments. So what’s the prescription?

The Understanding

Teams work together and everyone has a critical role to play in the achievement of the objective. Members of the team provide constructive feedback when someone is not living up to their obligations. There is this understanding, an agreement, if you want. It’s a simple concept yet provides a proven system. In education, everyone on the team is seen as essential to reaching the educational objectives.

Problems arise when the rules of the game are changed midcourse simply because we are losing the game. Instead, in light of being behind on the score, the rules of the game ought be given greater attention. It’s going back to the basics approach. But here lies the problem, the basics are deemed too simplistic. Simple systems require few oversights—less goes wrong or breaks. More complexity, more oversight. More expertise necessary, more to make people feel inadequate about. More programs, more money to spend, more excuses not to focus on basics concerns.

The Teacher

What are the rules of the education game being played at Jordan? Teachers should, at some point , be so good at what they do that the best administrators can do is stay out of their way. The less the administrator gets in the way of such a teacher, the more this type of teacher excels in their teaching. This is the mentor teacher that should be used to help new teachers learn the ropes (what happened to this proven model?)

Until then, it’s good for teachers to feel the pressure of their colleagues first and then the administrator that will STULL them. This kind of pressure that produces constructive recommendations is healthy. At best, this system should help teachers fine-tune their professional skills. At worse, it produces useless feedback and extends teachers no real support.

The Administrator

What makes administrators accountable? Who applies the right kind of pressure and feedback so they can modify their approach? One would expect their superiors to provide this for them. But is this sufficient? No. As teachers we are obligated to provide constructive feedback to our administrators. They in turn should not hesitate to use this information and make modifications to their style. This type of feedback should be viewed as positive and, in fact, invited. At Jordan, most teachers don’t feel they can safely, much less bluntly, provide this kind of feedback. The contrary is more accurate, they are shy in doing so for they sense it is genuinely not welcomed. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it is discouraged. This is not good for an educational environment. Notice the lack of dialogue during faculty meetings? Teachers vocal for years are silent. Is this a mere happenstance? I don’t think so. It is a symptom screaming for a remedy.

Information is the currency of democracy —

Thomas Jefferson