How do administrators deal with teachers who want to run the show?
What do they do with educators who work around the clock to serve students well in their own way?
What is positive about this, and what is not so positive?
Many, many years ago when I embarked on my first year of teaching, I had a lot of ideas for the principal. You can imagine his reaction when a first year teacher started teaching with so many ideas for betterment and so many needs to better her own craft too. That principal took a more fatherly approach of listening and guiding. Yet, there were moments of frustration too--moments when I was put in my place with strength. During this tenure, I was criticized by another supervisor for delivering a list of needed improvements that colleagues and I wrote. Yet, after being chastised, that administrator did provide all the improvements we asked for, improvements related to our move to full inclusion at the school. And so began my career, a career marked by the conflict of servitude vs leadership.
The next principal took a more organized approach to my will to innovate and make change as she wanted to innovate and make change too. I was mostly busy working with the school's improvement plan. There were some tense moments mostly related to some of my specific needs for improvement, but overall, it was a great time of teaching change, growth, and betterment.
In years ahead, my great energy for innovation did not dwindle, but the support for that innovation did diminish. Many of my ideas were used, but I was never given credit--I was left in the shadow. That didn't feel good. I was blocked time and again from developing my craft with support while others seemed to have that opportunity. It didn't feel like a fair playing ground in those years as it seemed like favoritism, cronyism, and back-door politics reigned rather than worthy, respectful leadership marked by good, inclusive, communication and distributive leadership.
Then I moved to an arena of greater growth and innovation again. Fueled by the modeling and mentoring of many awesome educators in real time and online, there was opportunity to push new ideas ahead. There was lots of good information to support that movement. I reached out and people in multiple places online and offline reached back to support my movement to better teaching and learning. This truly empowered what I could do for children in numerous ways and left me with a strong foundation for teaching well. Yet the servitude vs leadership conflict continued as mandates, expectations, and directives continue, some which I agree with wholeheartedly and others that don't match my philosophy of education or what I believe to be good teaching and service to students and families. Thus the need to continually speak up, advocate, and work for change.
Every year I have students in the classroom who are just like me--students who want to tell me how to teach. Generally I give those students areas of leadership in the classroom and let them teach and lead often. I know that they have good energy for this and they do good work. There are times though when I have to make the decision, and I know that those that manage me feel the same way. Yet when I do have to take the reigns, I typically provide the rationale which usually has to do with numbers, timing, or the general needs of the class--providing rationale always helps a child to understand why he or she can't make the decision at that moment. Rationale helps me to understand leadership decisions too. Lead time helps too--when mandates are shared in good time with good rationale, it's much easier to support those mandates or to challenge those mandates with respect and care.
Sometimes I hear educators lament what they might refer to as "know it all" students--students who have big ideas and students who challenge them. I too have had that situation, and typically the struggle is time and numbers. For example, a child wanted to tell me how to teach math this year. His ideas were solid, but what he didn't realize is that, for a number of children, there needed to be a different approach. In time, I was able to relay this to him and use some of his ideas in future lessons, but I couldn't relay this at the very moment he wanted to tell me what to do. It was frustrating for both of us. This is probably how leadership feels about me when I see room for change right away with urgency.
In general, teachers who want to run the show are typically invested and knowledgeable, but often don't understand the underpinnings of decisions with good lead time. Communication of new ideas that include rationale and lead time can help leadership work with teachers like this in ways that maximize their good work and effort while also mitigating the frustrations that can occur in scenarios like this.
No one wants to be a challenge in the work place, but no one also wants their good work to be compromised. In the end, the more we can understand one another, the collective mission, and how we can best work together, the better off we'll be when it comes to serving students and families well. Onward.