Who’s responsible for school morale?

School morale - the ambiance and atmosphere that permeates a building when you enter. It’s reflected in the way the students greet one another and how teachers interact with the students, teachers and parents. It’s part of how visitors feel when they enter the building and staff feel when they exit on Friday afternoon. It consists of thousands of interactions and reactions between individuals as they spend their days together. It’s elusive but tangible. You know when the morale in a building is good and when it isn’t.

It’s been my pleasure to work in a number of schools with great morale. They were places where, no matter what was happening or what was coming at the teachers, they looked to the positive, and to each other, to work towards creating a great school. It was our desire to do the best we could for our students, working and sharing our school lives, that helped us to live, love and laugh. Each of these staffs suffered through tragedies but we supported and helped one another.

At present, as an educational leader, I can see that the school where I am is not what it could be. There is a tenseness in the air - a sense of foreboding, almost like people are giving in to the pressures that surround them. It was brought to me that, ultimately, the morale of the school is my responsibility (and fault if it is negative). Now, as educational leader, I see that I have a part in creating the atmosphere in the school but am I solely responsible? If so, what are ways of looking to improve the morale of the people in the building? If not, what suggestions do you have for looking at the problem and coming up with a solution? Any feedback is very welcome.

In school outside the tech bubble

School is a multi-dimensional place where the lives of students and adults mix and mingle in a very loosely defined thing we call education. Because I am an administrator and know that some of the students in the school do, on occasion, access this blog, I am in a position that talking about anything remotely specific to my school would be rather stupid. Now, this doesn’t mean that I don’t address issues that impact the school, but I tend to focus on those that are more generic or deal with the management side of school. I purposely do not discuss incidents with students as this is a confidentiality issue. In discussing any situation that involves students or teachers, using X or Y in place of a name doesn’t really cut it because if someone who knows the situation reads it, they won’t need the name and you’re opening a whole can of snakes by doing so.

This discussion regarding classroom management is the kind of thing I’m talking about. Discussing management is, in and of itself, okay. But when it strays to individual situations or personal debates over what one person does, well, the line gets a bit blurry. As an administrator, the classroom management thing is an interesting combination of so many things from teacher personality to class dynamics to school composition to the school-wide environment and expectations. I could begin discussing what worked for me as a middle years homeroom teacher but it won’t work for everyone. As an administrator, I’ve made many mistakes in school-wide management that have taught me some valuable lessons about interpersonal interactions and people’s assumptions about what will work and what won’t. I’ve heard many different versions about the whole idea of respect and what it means to different people. In the end, what works for some students won’t work with others because they’re individuals and what works for one teacher won’t for another.

Are there “absolutes” that will work?

Some people want a list of “top 5 management strategies for classroom management”. I figure as an administrator I’d have found those “5″ . I haven’t. I cannot give 5 strategies that will work in all classrooms because all classrooms are unique. I use to think the respect path was pretty much a sure fire method of working but people have a different idea of what respect means. Some kids can still respect you even when they react in a way that most people would say is disrespectful while others will use respect to mean that “I should get my own way. When I don’t, you’re disrespectful.” Some problems stem from the misunderstanding of individual “rights” without understanding that there are “responsibilities” that go along with those rights.

Consistency

One of the things I see as being crucial to management is being consistent in what you do and what you expect. Students like to know what to expect when they enter a classroom. When a teacher is consistent in what they expect regarding behaviour, homework, work in class and interactions within the classroom they will act according to those expectations. When they are unsure what to expect, problems arise. Whatever the expectations are that are outlined by the teacher, these need to be upheld as consistently as possible. This builds the foundation for the interactions and actions that take place in the classroom and how students interact with the teacher and other students. Some subjects, like math or science, are more structured in their makeup while art, social and language classes have less structure and may require a different approach to what teachers do. Whatever the class, being consistent is a key ingredient to how a class functions.

Interventions

Interventions are those actions that a teachers uses when something is happening that is outside the expectations of the class. Being consistent in using interventions is important but the type of intervention can impact what happens. Proximity to a student and removing them from the situation can be effective interventions if used judiciously as can calling parents, keeping a student to work on homework or school-wide  interventions that uphold the school-wide expectations of students. Whatever the intervention, it needs to be done in a manner that addresses the behaviour.

My experience has brought me to the conclusion that outside influences on students are at the heart of many of the management difficulties that teachers face. Some of these are related to socio-economic situations, home relationships, peer relationships and student understanding. Teachers, who are always strapped for time, sometimes need to take the time to identify where the management issue lies. Sometimes this is not possible and intervention needs to be immediate. However, at other times, teachers would find it to their advantage to determine if there is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed while still maintaining that what took place is unacceptable. Students are individuals who need to be validated and positive validation, acknowledging that the situation might be more than just what happened in class, can be effective in addressing some management issues.

Culture of Teaching

Teachers, by and large, are individual in nature. The advice dealt out to young teachers, don’t smile until February, don’t help young teachers in developing classroom management. This is where we need to work in a more collaborative manner in addressing issues. I suggest that teachers work in teams to discuss and address classroom issues, helping one another in what works and what doesn’t. Not smiling until February may be a common tidbit of advice we doll out, but it doesn’t help young teachers in developing their classroom management style. Feedback and reflection are important keys to helping young teachers. Being less “I do this and I don’t have any problems” and more open to dialogue about classroom management practices will elp young teachers as they establish the structure they need.

Being a Reflective Practioner

Reflecting on situations helps us to discern what went well in any given situation and what didn’t. To do this, teachers need to learn to be unbiased recorders of what took place. This can be difficult when a teacher is involved in a management situation but is crucial to helping one grow in whatever they are doing. Working to develop a more neuteral view of one’s teaching can help a teacher to establish what is working well and what isn’t. By working with other teachers, a teacher may be able to discern areas where things went well and then use this information when reflecting about a situation that didnt go well.

Classroom management is key link to helping students to developing themselves. By establishing a norm and developing a consistent set of expectations can go a long way in helping a young teacher with their management skills. When there is a problem, working with an administrator to come to a solution that is workable is usually more productive than shipping the student off to the office. Generally, once something comes to my office, it now becomes my problem and how I deal with things are now within my realm of influence. Teachers don’t have to agree with what I do but there by discussing the situation with the administrator, it becomes easier to identify where there may need to be some assistance.

Many young teachers look for a “quick fix” to the problem. This may help in the present but it doesn’t address what needs to be done in order to things to be less volitile and roller-coaster like. Experience in dealing with students is something that cannot be described or passed out like fun-tac and textbooks. Examining one’s response and the resulting actions is a powerful way for younger teachers to develop classroom management that is effective, most of the time.

No prescribed cure

There is no one prescribed way of classroom management that will work with all teachers. Establishing a consistent approach to this is one key ingredient to the overall question of classroom management. The rest is a developmental process that is influenced by the dynamics of the individuals in the class at a particular time and how the teacher interacts with those dynamics.

There is so much more to school than just the technology discussion that takes place but coming to a consensus on management techniques that are “foolproof” is not very different to how teachers and schools look at technology integration. Each case needs to be examined in light of the individuals involved.

Why are we only partly done our year?

Tomorrow morning life will once again begin that familiar cadence as school begins for 2008. We’re almost half-way through the year but 2008 is just beginning and with it all the expectations of a new year. It seems kind of funny to be starting a new year in the middle of a school year. I mean, all the rest of the world works on the calendar year, beginning in January and ending in December, kinda. Why is education so different? Why do we begin our year in August/September and end it in June? Why couldn’t we transform our school year to begin in January and end in December? Would it be impossible? What is keeping education from doing this?

The new year will start whether we are ready for it or not. Instead of waiting until June to finish our schooling, why can’t we finish it in December - have exams and begin our new year in January? What is keeping education from joining the rest of the world and following a yearly schedule that is more closely aligned to the calendar. We’d get rid of all the problems with birthdays - born in X year, you begin school instead of having a cutoff of, like, September for students.

I’ve thought about this for quite awhile, ever since I began having to deal with budgets that would begin in August and end in June but really didn’t happen that way since they ended with the Dec cycle. So, as I prepare to go back to school, knowing that I have about 3 weeks to finish my course and then exams begin, I really wonder if this is the best for students. Why can’t  we finish everything up, write exams and be done with the year like everyone else? January would see us beginning another year, students would be moving on to a new grade in time with a new year. We might even be able to do some moving of holiday time so that there is a bit more time off now or at other times of the year instead of the huge break in July and August when students lose so much. We are no longer an agrarian society yet our school system is still being run like we were.

Would changing the way our system was organized allow us to break the mold in other areas? Would we be able to redesign how things work and take into consideration what works best in each area? I mean, what works well in cities might not work as well in the rural areas. Do we all have to be cookie-cutter replicas? Education the world over looks very similar, from what I’ve seen. Why is that? Why is it we seem to have only one formula for schooling?

Tomorrow, ready or not, school will begin for many educators and students. Life will once again fall into a familiar pattern as education moves forward to the end of yet another year - in June. Maybe we need to disrupt that pattern. I mean, for the first time in history, there will be more people living in urban areas than in rural which could give way to a whole group of new developments and changes. Could 2008 be the year of the great educational reform?

Blogged with Flock

Tags: schoolyear, school, learning, timeframe, reform

Why do we have school?

Years back, when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I decided that I needed some money to pay for bills, food and rent because I didn’t want to move home and live with my parents. I was 18 you know and that would have been a real blow to my independence and self-esteem if I had had to move back home. After doing a few odd things, I happened upon someone who needed some painting. The rest, as they say, is history. I liked the job and, after a few summer working for someone else, I decided to work for myself. With a partner, a company was born that proved to be quite successful, employing 20 odd university students during its peak operations. I was also attending university and this “summer” job provided me with the opportunity to  earn enough money to put myself through school plus pay the bills. At one point, I decided that I should really take this a bit more seriously and took some classes in the craft moving toward my journeyman status.

I’ve been reflecting on this over the past few weeks. I’ve been finding it rather difficult to write these past few weeks because of a ho-hum that has settled in. Now this could partly be due to the fact that my candle has finally reached the point where two ends cannot burn at once. Another important impact is that I’m neck deep in various projects that are requiring my time. A third possible reason for my lack of ideas is that I’m not really sure where I’m going right now. That whole “being adrift” feeling and not having a focus. I’m lacking enthusiasm right now and I really don’t know why.

However, while cruising through some posts the other day, I watched a video Digital Students @ Analog Schools. As I listened to the students speak, I was reminded of the movie Teachers with good ol’ Nick Nolty.

The issues that are raised in that movie regarding teacher/student relations, the incredible tensions teachers find themselves under and the ways they deal with that stress, are similar to those we are still facing today. The schools didn’t work for those students, or the teachers for that matter,  why should we expect them to work now? I mean, the best teacher is an escapee from a mental institute who makes history come alive for the students. Students are depicted as entering and exiting a world of ditto worksheets and any teacher who is reaching out to students and using whatever technological methods available is still an outsider. Now there is more going on in the movie than this but the whole idea that the schools weren’t working.

As for what students are saying in the video about what they expect when going to school, I’d venture to guess that it was no different than some previous generations. I mean, my university experience didn’t prepare me a lick for what I do today. In fact, other than the skills of reading, writing and math, I really question all the other things that were covered in my schooling. Very little, if any, gave me the skills that I needed when I entered the work force, started a company, did a variety of other things and then entered my present profession.  Not to mention the skills I have found that I need as a parent and a community member. Holly macaroni! Where was I during those classes? No amount of “real world” experience or problem solving could have prepared me for that.

However, I didn’t have the means to express that frustration or angst that today’s youth are being provided and it has given them a voice unlike any voice they have had in the past. As I’ve discussed with students a few times, having a voice is one thing but expecting that you will get what you want is another. As I watch the different presentations about schools and read the discussions, I wonder if there is any way we can bring the two sides together? Can schools ever hope to provide what the youth want when it comes to education? Did schools ever really provide students with skills for society? Or do we just pay homage to a system by saying “it worked for past students but wont’ for these students.” when in fact it didn’t work and, from my brief survey of people around me, didn’t really prepare them for the lives they are living. Could it be the whole idea of “preparing the youth future society” won’t really take place at school? Instead, it will take place like it did for many, during the day-to-day of actually living and dealing with what is taking place at that time.

As I ponder what people say about schools, students, technology and the future,  I wonder if we are any different from what has taken place before? Sure there is greater access to global partnerships but we still need to take care of what is happening in our own backyard. Sure we can communicate with people all over the world via a multitude of methods but it’s the daily face-to-face encounters that move us and affect us far greater. Yes we can work and collaborate in incredible ways but the sharing of duties within a house still impacts people in deeply rooted ways.

I don’t think we stop using and working with the technologies and helping students to use them to broaden their learning and sort through their  understandings. Technologies do give us access to things we didn’t have before in a number of areas. But, when we really get down to it, did schools really prepare students for the future? Or does school play another role in our societal design besides the preparation for the future? Should we be looking at things from a different perspective?  I’m not sure. But as I work through quite a few different “real world” problems with students, parents, teachers and staff, I wonder if we need to reconsider how we label the role schools have in our society.

Sifting

Douglas B. Reeves in his book The Learning Leader discusses The Law of Initiative Fatigue.

The Law of Initiative Fatigue is my adaptation from the term originally used in the Harvard Business Review. The law states - When resources of time, money and emotional energy are held constant while the number of old, continuing and new initiatives rises, organizational implosion is inevitable.

Reeve goes on to state that:

When leaders cling to previous initiatives while attempting to add new ones, they can experience some apparent early success. … [but] enthusiasm gives way to organizational overload, which is precipitously followed by burnout. Not only will the new initiatives fail under such circumstances, but the energy and resources available to old and continuing initiatives are dangerously compromised as well.

Reeve gives some great examples of ways that schools can reclaim time within the building. What struck me about this whole part was that, as leaders, we sometimes fail to see that we are living examples of this law in action. For me, I have noticed that I have taken on many new initiatives without taking time to reassess what I am doing, parring back and deciding what is vitally important and what can be 1) eliminated 2) given to others to do 3) rolled into a new initiative so no new workload is added.

I don’t know about anyone else but, as a leader, I sometimes become so enthused about new initiatives and ideas and add them to what I already doing because I see the potential they will have for the students. In particular, I have noticed that in the last six months or so, I have added many new technology tools and strategies to my repertoire but have not taken the time to fully incorporate them in my teaching and so I was trying to do more in the same amount of time. I have added new methods of supervision but I have not taken the time to completely incorporate a new method of reporting back and talking with teachers. I have taken on new roles within the school division without fully reflecting on what each role will mean to my time commitments. I have begun new projects with the School Community Council without, again, reflecting on what they add to my time commitments. There are a number of books that I want to read and articles that have peeked my interest that I have yet to get to even though summer is here. I have joined a number of networks (Ning, Facebook, MySpace) that all take time. Besides these, the school division is focusing on a number of initiatives that require my being a leader for my staff in a number of areas. None of this includes the extra-curricular that I coach or time with my family. By the end of school, I was feeling extremely drained. However it was not until I did a principal evaluation with my staff at the end of the year, did I see, through a few comments from teachers in my building (who are very perceptive) that I was taking on too much. Each of the things I was doing seemed to be important and, when I looked at my calendar, were doable.

As I’ve been working through the first two weeks and reflecting on what Reeves is saying, I’ve realized that the Law of Initiative Fatigue is, in fact, very real and has affected my ability to be an effective leader. This means that in order to reduce the number of demands on my time and focus on the areas that will bring the greatest development, I will have to sort through what I “NEED” to do and what, although it might be important, can be delegated to someone else or needs to eliminated. So how do I go about this?

I’ve decided that I needed to choose areas that will reduce my time and prepare to focus on key areas.

Area 1 - School division focus

The school division has chosen to focus on reading and math curricula and PLC’s for staff development. As I have mentioned, I have a number of areas that I have been focusing upon but I have decided that these three educational areas will be where I concentrate and focus my energy. That will entail me helping teachers to make sense of the data when it arrives, working to identify key areas of concentration, comparing it to our last set of data and celebrating what we have been able to do well. I will continue to build my understanding of PLC’s as they relate to our school and look for ways to involve community in building links to what we are doing within the school.

Area 2 - Professional Development

The first thing that I am going to do is work on a daily journal. This way I will track what exactly I am doing. This will allow me to see where my time and energy is going and will help me to focus on the areas that I have identified. It will also give me a chance to reflect on how I spend my time each day. Not that every moment needs to be full and accounted but to ensure that I’m remaining focused. I do have a tendency to become “focused” on one thing at the expense of others. This, I believe, will help me to manage my precious time.

I will continue to blog and discuss what I am doing and what I see as being important in education. I find that the feedback and discussion that takes place is incredibly helpful and challenges me to “stay the course”. Besides that, the ideas and insights that I come across help me to grow and learn which is essential to me being an effective leader.

Reading - I have decided that, although there are hundreds of great books that I could read, I don’t have the time. I will focus my reading on leadership growth and development, PLC’s and staff development in the areas of reading and math. As the educational leader, I want to be a help to my staff and assist them in their growth and development and focus on improving the learning in the school.

Conferences - I’m not sure what I will do here but I know that I will again focus on the areas of learning that are central to the division initiatives.

Mentoring - I have been working with my Superintendent, using my Administrator’s evaluation, to key in on particular areas that were identified by the staff. Reeves points out that:

Leaders need not, indeed they cannot, be every dimension themselves, but they can and must ensure that every leadership dimension is provided by some member of the leadership team. [these dimensions are described later in the chapter]

At present I am the official leadership team but I know that there are particular people within my school whom will be able to fill various dimensions within the context of the school community. That is why I chose to have the Admin evaluation completed by my staff. They are the people who will be able to give me the clearest picture of where I have strengths and where I need to grow and look for others who have that strength.

I am mentoring our Teacher Association President this year. Being vice-president, I will be able to assist her and offer her some insights from my tenure in various local and provincial positions. My goal here is to assist her to become the leader she can be and be able to look for people who will be able to fill the roles that she needs.

There you have the first two areas I will be concentrating on this year. My next post will look at the areas of School, School Community Council, Teaching (my own) and Supervision. As I have done here, I will outline what I plan to do to bring focus for myself this year in these areas. If you have any comments, feedback or ideas, feel free to drop them off. I’m open to suggestions or critiques (as long as they are progressive with a focus on growth!)