An Interesting Thing Happened the Other Day...
So we had a staff meeting last Friday and it was a staff
meeting like no other I have ever been to.
The staff got yelled at! Sounds
horrible, I know. But it was well
deserved.
Let me explain...
Our climate in the school building has been horrible. The list of reasons is endless: constant new administration (I have had a new
principal once every couple of years - I think I am on principal #5 in 14
years), new mandates from above (i.e. GRIT program, PBIS, CHAMPS, etc.), NWEA
MAP testing and comparing grade levels, common assessment development, new
textbook adoption, 1:1 technology, etc.
I could go on, but there is really no need. Our leadership through all of this has been
weak to say the least. In many instances
the leadership has been spearheaded of the programs and rammed them down the
throats of people who were already choking.
Enter another new principal.
She's young. (Most have been
young. When your reaching 50, everyone
starts to look younger than you!) And
her assistant principal is young too.
Wow! He looks like I just had
him as a student only a few short years ago.
This new principal was hired knowing we were having building morale
issues. My school is a strong one - no
matter what happened with administration, we always made it through. We are a tight-knit group! But we wanted strong leadership. We needed it.
She heard. On one of our first
institute days she said how her goal was to have a positive year and for us to
also.
Well, as far as I know, most of the staff has been very
happy with her. But on Friday I found
out she is not so happy with her staff.
At our staff meeting she told us that there were too many people who did
not talk nicely to each other. She
understood people were stressed, but that speaking to fellow colleagues in a
negative way was unacceptable.
WHAT?!? I was shocked. She wanted us to reflect on the last 5
conversations we had with another staff member and decide if it was a positive
or negative interaction. Good strategy I
thought.
I was proud of her for standing up and saying, "Stop
it!" Of course, I had no idea what
she was talking about, but it was a good message for all to hear because our
staff morale needs to turn around and she was letting us know that. She has tried so hard to make everything
positive (communications, her attitude, etc.) that I think she wanted those
people who are attempting to derail the happy train to knock it off.
When walking back to my room, a fellow staff member made a
comment that made me pause. He said that
the new principal just didn't understand all that has been piled upon us. Humph...maybe he was right. I think the only way the principal could have
bettered her already awesome speech would be to have acknowledged all (and name
them specifically) that we have been through.
But then immediately afterwards tell us to "Stop" our
negativity and board the happy train. My principal is a leader that I want to follow - finally. Toot! Toot!
Thank you for inspiring me to be reflective. The fact that your new principal was strong enough to confront the staff about the negativity shows her positive leadership skills. Administration has such an impact on the school. Teacher leaders can begin to change that impact as we see that principals come and go. It is important to have "tight-knit" groups as long as they are positive and open to letting others in. I too am experiencing leadership that is positive and it has changed my perspective about how important good leadership is.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great Principal. Its nice to hear that she really cares about her staff and her identifying that positive relationships are important in a school environment among faculty members. It takes courage for a leader to put oneself out on the ledge like that, as you described some faculty may not respect or understand the message that she sent. Its all about communication, sending and receiving messages. Sometimes we need a to do a better job at communicating with our administration, and vise versa. I would love to be in that type of tight-knit type of setting were its o.k to talk about these things and not just data analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think it's always hard for people to deal with a new boss. There is always that thought of "he/she doesn't get what goes on" or "he/she is too young and doesn't have enough experience to really get it." That can be frustrating. Here's what I know... my principal wants to celebrate everything that we do. She acknowledges that things are rough and that all the stuff that is expected is not easy, but that if we want to make our school better for our students then we need to push through and persevere. It is easy to think that our principal doesn't know because they aren't in the classroom, but it's also easy for us to forget that they have just as much on them just in different ways. I'm glad you found a principal that you feel you can follow and that wants to turn the building around. The positive energy can only enhance the experience that you and the students are getting!
ReplyDeleteThis was a good example of a leader stepping up and as you wrote, saying, "stop it." Education is a profession and sometimes when we become very familiar with our colleagues or context, we can forget the importance of professionalism, especially in our communication. And though I can see your colleague's point about a lot on the "plate," is that an excuse for unprofessional communication?
ReplyDelete