The public is often eager to blame teachers when things go wrong in a school, but take it from me, the problem starts at the top. I feel that we have a crisis in leadership in education right now. I cannot say whether it is an issue of people are being promoted too fast, that they don't receive enough training and support or that too many just don't have the skills to be leaders. I have worked with plenty of administrators during the course of my 13 years in education, and sadly can count very few of them as effective. Most seem to forget what it is like to be a teacher in the classroom. Several are unapproachable and unwilling to take input from teachers. Staff development is decided by them and all teachers are treated alike. They ask us to differentiate in our own classrooms, but never give us the opportunity when it comes to professional development. They act as if they have all the answers and constantly remind us that they have control over our schedules. Any given year they could make you teach a new subject, regardless of whether that is in the best interest of the students.
I thought that maybe it was just my school experiencing this lack of leadership, but sadly I am hearing from many fellow teachers that their schools and districts have the same problems. What is the consequence of a lack of leadership at the top? Well, in my particular school, morale has declined as we have been made to feel that we are not doing as well as we think we are. Teachers feel as if they have to "battle" administration on everything from meeting times to schedules. With so much to focus on in our classrooms and with our curriculum, it seems to me that a positive working environment should be a priority for administration. I think about how good of a school we are already and how amazing we could be if we just felt more support from our leaders. I am inspired when someone gives me autonomy to be creative and work with colleagues to come up with solutions for the challenges that face my school and students. I don't feel inspired when I am told what to do and how to do it. I like to feel as if I have a voice in improving my school. I like to know that my unique talents and skills add value to the staff and are utilized. However, too often my requests to provide assistance have been overlooked. It makes me not even want to offer any more and leads to burn out. I know I am not alone.
Another problem is that in California, a person only needs three years of teaching experience to become an administrator. That is not nearly enough. It takes far more time to really become a master teacher. How can an administrator with only 3 years of classroom teaching experience possibly be an instructional leader for their staff members? Often times this person is responsible for evaluating a teacher with 20+ years of experience. This I believe is one of the problems with our educational system. Evaluation should be done through peer review and the instructional leaders on campus should be the master teachers.
If we want to improve education, we need to take back our schools and allow those who are in the trenches day in and day out to make the important decisions. We often times know a lot more than administrators give us credit for. We have good ideas and really do want to work to solve problems. Most of us care a great deal about our students and schools. If you would just ask us, you might be surprised at how much we could do to help improve our schools.
