WE WILL SURVIVE THOSE PESKY ADMINISTRATORS

By Roberta Mark Engel


Do you recognize me? I was your union representative and perhaps I was your colleague. I was successful at protecting my constituents and educating our youth. I also maintained a professional relationship with administrators and support staff.

Idealistic or not, this guidance worked until my final year of teaching before my principal decided to become vengeful. Maybe this information can be helpful. Just remember…

Morale-sappers take the form of freshman administrators, who may be intent on immediately showing everyone who is boss. Dealing with a lemon principal can be one of the most draining aspects of our job. These administrators also seem to rise to the top just like hot air. Are you a veteran, a novice, or a mid-career teacher? Hopefully, my advice will help ease your frustration level. These are some of the strategies I’ve developed during my thirty-one year teaching and leadership careers.

• Remember, administrators are to support teachers with our arduous task of teaching and discipline.
• Keep in mind, in some cases, these supervisors were only in the classroom for a few years, so their expertise is limited. We need to encourage them to understand our positions.
• Document, document, document (keep a log of incidents; write memos to anyone who is overstepping his or her bounds).
• Attend meetings at school and read any newsletter, magazine or newspaper articles relating to teaching. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
• We cannot show fear. Most administrators feed on this, so please don’t cry. Don’t show intimidation. When I was a novice teacher, I cried in front of a supervisor. I didn't like the results. I felt ashamed of my actions and became timid with the students. I did vow after I recovered from this that I would be strict in the classroom so there will never be a misinterpretation as to who is in charge.
• Counselors, deans, coordinators are teachers too; therefore there are not our supervisors, they are our colleagues. Their schedules are different from ours, but they are our equals and are supposed to be a support system for us.
• Be professional even if others are not. Remind administrators that we are the key players in the equation because we are the experts in the teaching field, not them.
• If we are called into a meeting with an administrator and we fear that it is disciplinary, we will bring a witness (someone trust worthy), hopefully your union rep. Take notes. Don’t close the door without your witness in the room.
• If we receive memos, we respond to each point. Enlist assistance from our union representative. It appears that new administrators love to write memos.
• Teaching is the toughest profession I know. Those individuals who are not in the classroom with a room full of students do not and cannot perceive the difficulty of the task at hand. We must be commended with the daily attempts to instill knowledge.
• When an administrator directs us to do something, we need to follow his or her request, otherwise it is insubordination and could result in “an unsatisfactory act”, but we need to document and take care of it at a later date with our union leader.
And
• Most importantly, we are the professional experts and must be considered as essential, not disposable.

Therefore, I dedicate this article to those of us who survived morale-sappers. If you are still in the field of education, I am sure that you have met one of these individuals. Don’t give up! You will endure!