For this week's class, we had a lot of time to independently look through the materials and really get a chance to gather our own opinions of various items related to leadership. This week's focus---dealing with adversaries and enemies while on the leadership path.
For me, this was something that struck close to home. I am currently in my second school; I worked at my first school until it closed, and I was a teacher there for 10 years. Much of what the book talked about were things that I witnessed firsthand as a new teacher. I saw many power struggles between staff and administration, and I dealt with constant change, as my school seemingly changed principals every 2-3 years. Our school was full of issues; the atmosphere in my school is one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone as one to benefit from. Depending on the administrator, the levels of support or criticism changed severely. Throughout all of this, our performances continued to flounder. Too much individual agendas being presented led to our school's ultimate downfall. I look back, and I'm not sure what I could do to improve that. I taught my tail off, because I felt it was best for the kids. I was afraid to sometimes share my opinion; I didn't want to be written off as the new "know-it-all" teacher. As now all I can do is look back and simply wonder what could have been different.
Fast forward to now. I'm at a school that has a strong reputation and a lot of consistency. However, I see some trends that I dealt with for 10 years at school #1. I've actually started to speak up, as I've been dragged through the mud as a school, and I have no desire to do that again. Am I reaching through? Not sure. I certainly hope so, but I'm finding myself starting to look at these situations as a veteran teacher, not a new teacher. I was struck a lot by how to deal with the conflicts that exist at a school. That struck a chord with me. As the Instructional Technology Leader, I get that tone from some, who still look at my position as the guy to come in and teach computers. I took some of the suggestions and strategies to heart; I think that they might be of great benefit if I don't want history to repeat itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Glad you liked the time to reflect. You have an interesting situation. I think you are very perceptive and a leader. My suggestion, share your expertise. Just pick you battles and focus. I learned from a great principal that you "save your voice" for the critical issues.
Good luck
cj
It's good that you are able to reflect on previous experiences and use them to keep history from repeating itself. Attitudes are everything and can mean the difference between success and failure. It's sad when those attitudes can bring down something as big as a school. Stay strong-if anyone can bring the nay sayers around, it's you!
Post a Comment