Thick Skin and a Backbone …. blatently cut and pasted!!
Do take the time to read the comments at the bottom of this post - just about as interesting!
Last week in his post, Dr. McLeod shared information about less-than-stellar candidates who enter the colleges of education and eventually the ranks of teachers. If Entrance Exams are to be held credible, and if the statistics are to be believed, then we have a situation of weaker candidates entering teacher preparation programs and the most capable teachers leaving the classroom after only a couple of years. These trends will clearly have an impact on student outcomes. If this trend continues, Dr. McLeod poses the question, “Now what?”
I would begin my answer with a rhetorical question: “Who ultimately controls the quality of the teaching that occurs on our campuses each day?”
If you do not agree that it is the Principal, quit reading now.
If the Principal is properly fulfilling their primary responsibilities of supervision and leader of instruction, then anything less than exemplary teaching is their fault. Forget the consultants, the department heads, the personnel office, or even the superintendent. The ONE person who should KNOW what is happening day-in and day-out on the campus is the principal. And if a teacher doesn’t know their subject, isn’t planning effectively, can’t maintain discipline, and doesn’t relate to kids…in short, they just cannot teach, the principal should know it and should get rid of that teacher.
Maybe I cannot control many of the factors which cause weaker candidates to apply for entry into college education programs. And maybe I cannot prevent the best from leaving for better pay elsewhere. But I can control the quality of applicant I will interview and the quality of teaching I will allow to remain on my campus.
Without apologies, I will maintain that if a school has less than effective teaching, it has a less than effective principal. And if the less than effective principal is allowed to stay, then the district has a less than effective superintendent. Read the blogs. Read the ASCD publications. Read the literature out there. There is nothing new. We KNOW what we should be doing.
Whether it is firing teachers, assigning them to areas where their strengths can best be applied, hiring alternatively certified staff, or watching the data to insure that each teacher is a value added to the process…The biggest problem we face in education today…the single largest obstacle to improving the quality of teaching is that we have way too many principals who - for whatever reason - are frozen in their tracks.
That’s right…I said it…We have way too many principals who talk the talk, can quote the research, can write erudite blogs, but who can’t lead a group of teachers in a straight line down a hallway. Maybe I’m just tired and worn a little thin here at the end of the year. But I’m tired of hearing my colleagues gnash their teeth, whine, and complain about issues which are screaming for action - and all of which are under their control.
As a principal, I am the first to admit that maybe the best thing I can do sometimes is to shut up and take action.
Stop making excuses. If you have bad teachers, get rid of them. Quit taking the path of least resistance. Grow some thick skin and a backbone and start documenting your weak staff. Have courageous conversations with you mediocre teachers.
One of the greatest ad slogans of all time truly applies here:
Just Do It!
Quite a challenge here….. this blog is written by school administrators in the ‘States. One I will be adding to my Bloglines based on this post!
Learning and Teaching, School Vision, opinion, political, professional learning | admin | 13 May 2008 |
