I feel like there is a great divide here. On one hand we have teachers like those teachers mentioned above. On the other hand we have a group of unconventional teachers, new teachers and some that meet the standards without going above. Most of our teachers are great at what they do but have formed unofficial alliances with each other.
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I guess I am wondering, how do I intervene as an administrator, or do I need to? Teachers often work together in order to make decisions and I haven't noticed anything that impacts the school directly. If teachers have personal differences but it hasn't trickled over into professional problems I guess I should let it go.
On another note, I am wondering how to control for culture when I am in charge of hiring decisions. I know its good to have a diversity of teachers but how do you predict how well teachers will get along and work together? Last semester in The Principal, the unit on human resources discussed panel interviews and having multiple people in charge of hiring. I think implementing that here would require us to change how we do things but would ultimately maintain the school culture.
School culture is a tough issue. Like you, we have basically two very different groups at school. We have the teachers on board with the movement we are trying to make and we have those who are quietly working against the current whether through passive aggressive ignorance or outright complaining and rebelling.
ReplyDeleteI am working with those on the outside to "sell" the changes and bring buy-in. I believe you can't change what a person believes, but you can provide them with experiences that challenge what they believe and ultimately changes their beliefs.
You have a lot in that post! I will focus on the importance of hiring the right people. One challenge is that committees often try to hire people that think the same as them. That can eventually lead to a lack of diversity in ideas and thought.
ReplyDeleteI admire the adversity of your staff. I think people tend to find commonalities within others and thus build bonds. This may not be intentionally done, however, it is human nature. Marginalized groups often times exhibit this behavior. I think if it is not impacting professional circumstances, dont worry about it. Contrary to that, I also think working relationships should be authentic and not because I am a professional and have to cooperate and coincide with one another.
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand how you feel. We have the a conquer and divide type of culture as well. We have those who can and are willing to accept change, and then we have those that buck the system no matter what. Often times, and I can admit to this, when interviewing, we sometimes get caught up with just filling the position for the sake of complete teams. We have learned from our mistake, and we are dedicated to being more selective in choice to ensure that we are finding someone that will fit in.
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