In this chapter, Whitaker emphasizes the important of "saying what you mean and meaning what you say." As an example, het tells a story about a football coach who did not follow through on threats he made to this players. Think about a time when a supervisor you worked for (or currently work for) verbally stressed the importance of some rule, procedure, policy, or expectation regarding employee performance but never really followed through or help underperforming employees accountable. Was this supervisor respected? Did all employees consistently adhere to the verbal admonishments over time? Did employee performance and morale improve or decline as a result of these idle threats? How would you have handled that particular situation differently? In what ways does it apply to your classroom and what you say to your students?
I worked for a supervisor that did not know anything, and would shout directives at us all the time. he was not respected, and we did not follow directions the majority of the time, but rather did our jobs, and if we had issues we bypassed him and went to his supervisor for clarification instead. It was so bad, even his supervisor understood what we were dealing with, and finally they were able to move him to another area. As I promoted, I never forgot him, and did my best to not become like he was. I gave minimal direction unless it was absolutely needed, and allowed my staff to do their assigned jobs. When I did give direction, my staff understood that it was important, and I would also explain the reason why, rather than just giving the direction. In the classroom, it is the same with scholars. Simply giving directions for them to follow without reasoning makes no sense, and is more likely to not be followed. If you give directions and explain why, then there is a connection to it, so they will more often follow what is directed. Example- if you tell a classroom to sit in the corner and don't talk, they will go to the corner, but will also talk. If you tell them that the school is on lock-down, everyone needs to leave their phones at their desk, sit in the corner and be quiet to ensure their safety, they will comply as they will understand the reason for the drill or actual event.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say about giving reasons behind the direction. Scholars seems to accept this.
DeleteOne supervisor I had did not follow through with what he said because he had his favorites. He also, did not believe me in what I told him. Over time, the disrespect grew. When employees were in his presence, they would promptly agree, but behind the scenes the people would voice angry sentiment. Morale definitely deteriorated through out the year. There was a considerable amount of favoritism, therefore if I were in that role I would, hopefully, think about how to separate fact from feeling. This applies to my classroom by treating my scholars with honesty and follow-up with what is stated.
ReplyDeleteFavoritism is something I have seen in my previous career as well. I also try my hardest to treat everyone the same, so no one feels left out or isolated. Sometimes though, I find that some scholars just don't want to engage at all. Those are the ones I work a little more with individually, as they may not feel comfortable in front of others.
DeleteThe scholars who don't want to engage are my biggest challenge, because they do not want help and it is a struggle to work with them because of this. I end up spending much more time with students who engage because we are actually getting somewhere, which lets the stragglers fall behind.
DeleteYes, I love what you said about follow-up and honesty. I don't want to be that teacher who holds my students mistakes or past behaviors against them. I want to be transparent and honest and HELP them to overcome a behavior not punish them for it.
DeleteI can't think of a specific time when there were threats/expectations in behavior that had a set follow up that didn't occur. My biggest issue in the past with other jobs has been lack of clear goals and expectations. I like to know exactly what I need to be doing and how to do it because otherwise I either fail to do so or waste my time figuring it out slowly. I can say though that employees never appreciate supervisors who have certain unspoken expectations don't recognize the needs and realities of work - such as the requirement for some rest time instead of FINDING something to do, which simply makes people more tired and isn't necessarily useful. Thinking back it emphasizes the need for very clear expectations and ways to complete the required tasks, which I aim for but certainly could always improve in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I see this with our students as well. Sometimes, they just need a break after putting in so much work each day or they sit next to someone they would just love to chat with. I've seen my students waiting to share things until later because they know I will give them the time if they give me their time.
DeleteAnd I think we all could work on clear expectations. I have stared writing the steps that need to be completed on the board because no matter how clearly I say it or how quiet they were during the instructions, they still ask me a million questions about what they need to do...
When I was in college, I worked at a Pizza restaurant. The owner was well known to be a cool person but also randomly strict. There was a rule that you couldn't be on your phones at work. When I first started I followed ALL the rules to a T. But as time went on, I realized that I was the only one not on my phone at work! Even the managers were texting while working in the kitchen. So I began to get more lax with the rules until one day I found myself in trouble for being on my phone. I was called out in front of everyone and told that I was being lazy. I got in trouble for "breaking a rule" that no one followed. It's hard to respect someone who says there are rules but doesn't actually follow through with them.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have looked around and realized that I the procedures needed to be reestablished for everyone and handled it in an employee meeting. Not by calling out one persons behavior, but by reinstating the policy for all. It could have been really beneficial to be told something about how our bosses respected us and expected more from us because we were valuable and capable. I want my students to know that I respect them and how I see that they are capable of anything they set their minds too. It's also a great reminder that students hate being called out in front of their peers for mistakes just as much as we do. Communication is key as well. I want to make sure I bring a feeling of respect and understanding that mistakes are human instead of a feeling of penalizing and judgement.
It is very important to establish mutual respect between the teacher and the students when there is a problem with behavior. First we have to establish the rules from the beginning so that the students know the expectations that they have to follow during the classes. The teacher has to give the students options If students do not follow the rules of the class they will have consequences. If they continue to have behavior problems, then someone else will be called to handle the situation. If there is no answer to the problem of behavior, I will have to talk to a colleague in order to apply a different strategy to be able to help them to fix that behavior problem. As a last resort, parents will have to be told about their children's behavior and in this way to be able to work together to solve the problem of their children's bad behavior.
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