The tank can only take so much!
cc licensed flickr photo shared by futureatlas.com
I will admit it. I want everything to be the best it can be for our students. Our teachers work tremendously hard, and this year they have been doing some fantastic things with some new initiatives. We have all worked our butts off this year to improve our school and we are seeing some real growth.
Today, going through all of the work that we have done, and planning for a great teacher development plan that would encourage some fantastic teacher growth, I decided to postpone the plan. Although it accounted for teacher time during school and would have been fully supported, I decided to put it aside at least for the school year.
Like the curriculum for our students, most educators wish that we could lessen the amount of objectives in our curriculum so students can deeply learn a few. With that in mind, as administrators we have to know when to push and encourage our staff, while also knowing when to slow down. It is great when we have the time to do a few new things as best we can, until they just become part of practice. I will admit this is something that I am continuously working on as an administrator, and am still growing.
Although I knew that I could totally justify “why” this initiative would be beneficial to the growth of our school, I always need to do my best to think of the workload of our staff. Teaching is a hard job and as educators we need to continuously learn, we just don’t need to learn everything now.
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It's easy for administrators to become passionate about new ideas and initiatives because we know they're in the best interest of kids. I think sometimes we, myself definitely included, forget that this isn't a solitary journey. We need our teachers, students, and community to jump on board in order to make the most positive impacts on student learning.
Bill Ferriter reminded us of this on Twitter today: "Principals: Building support for new initiatives depends on your ability to answer three questions: Why this? Why Now? Why Bother? #cpchat"
Sounds like the "why now?" wasn't something you could justify at this time. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all… it's not as easy to slow down and examine how you got there in the first place, and how your next moves will get you where you want to go. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by gcouros, Lyn Hilt, Lyn Hilt, Pernille Ripp, Connected Principals and others. Connected Principals said: Principal of Change: Pulling Off The Gas http://bit.ly/fxTAbV #cpchat [...]
Another good post George. I think it is truly a difficult game to play in terms of knowing when to push and when to pull back. My principal has always said to me that change is good, too much change too fast is potentially dangerous…
George,
This is an excellent post. I am sure your teachers are thankful that you pulled back some.
I struggle with this as well, especially when I get impatient. I may have instituted too many changes this year. We have faced two failed school levels, facing $6 million in cuts district wide, I'm opening up an innovative three story annex to the high school, moving around departments to help with building traffic flow, and have now instituted a "no zero assigned until" rule. I've been bombarded with the ,"why this? Why now? Why bother?" questions and rightfully so.
One of the guidance counselors at my school says, "never let a good crisis go to waste." I took that literally…
Thanks again for the post.
Wish all school principals around the world thought along the same lines.
Thank you, George, for this great post and sharing your own ideas and experiences about running your school. We are all learning a great deal from it, and hope that others will as well.
Lots of good thoughts are being expressed here. Leaders have to remember that you can only lead so far if you go too fast. If you can't see the people behind you because you have moved ahead too fast then all your leadership skills may be wasted. This is especially the case with an experienced staff who have been through many "innovations". Therefore you may want to assume that most of them are from Missouri, and you will have to show them the value of the change and that often takes a longer time and more dialogue than your patience sometimes dictates. So slow down, take a few breaths, and reflect on how to get the majority of those being led (and especially some key people in the organization) to buy into the changes. You've got to watch the curves and not jump the track if you want to get to your destination.
Hey George,
Our thinking must be synched or something. Here's my post from today on the frustration teachers feel when principals don't take their feet off the gas:
http://bit.ly/h3N9d3
What is interesting to me is just how few principals would have made the same choice that you did. Why is that?
Are principals who push forward just reacting to pressure that they're feeling from the district level, essentially forced to implement initiatives dreamed up by leaders who are working beyond schools completely?
Is there a culture among principals that rewards or recognizes the principals who are "doing the most?" Are principals who are pushing forward set on trying to impress their professional peers?
Or is pushing forward a reaction to external accountability? Are principals who push forward trying to save their schools or control outcomes that they know they're going to be held accountable for?
Are you at the point in your professional career where you have a confidence and a comfort level that new principals may not have? Do you get leeway from your district leaders because they already believe in you? Are younger principals trying to prove themselves by pushing forward despite the costs?
Sorry to pepper you with questions, but honestly, I don't know many principals who would have made the choice that you did.
Why is that?
Bill
Thanks for the comment Bill.
I honestly can't say why some principals either push or pull of the gas. I know that I am young in my career and I truly do not have the external pressures that many may think. My school division is hands down one of the best. It is supportive, caring, and helpful. We are always supported.
For me, the need to do better comes within. With that, I do my best to push and encourage others to do their best and improve in their teaching. That being said, all teachers are different. There has to be a collaborative effort in changing or improving practice. Going in so many directions, we just have to sometimes say no.
As an administrator, confidence is needed not only when trying to push things forward, but also for taking things off the plate. It is not imperative that we do everything now and we have to really think through on what is important.
Thanks for your comments Bill. I think that your questions are something that you need to share in your own blog as all administrators should be reflecting on these things.
George, fantastic that you recognize that everyone needs times of rest and coasting. That is hard to do for those of us who are constantly striving to do better, but coasting is one of those things that allows us to do better without running the tank dry.