A few weeks ago I made a presentation to the staff at the high school that I work at. The topic of the presentation was Web 2.0 Tools. It was a short, and casual presentation with the main focus on what things are out there right now. It was a prelude to offering some hour long, one-subject workshops. While we had some really great reactions from some of the teachers I was so disappointed when I found out about what the reaction was in what we call our Faculty Council. The Faculty Council is a a group that meets once per month with the Principal to discuss important issues in the school. They are a group that can create change.
At the Faculy Council meeting following my presentation the topic of technology came up and the reaction was very depressing to me. A few people in the group started discussing how I had wasted their time during a faculty meeting on tools that were worthless to them and that they had no time or desire to use them. That part wasn't very surprising, but what was surprising was that the Principal, the person who asked me to make the presentation, did not address the issue. Instead she listened and nodded her head while they made excuse after excuse of why they shouldn't be held accountable for knowing and using current technology in their classrooms.
I had felt so great about my presentation. It was fun and light and very informative (not just according to me). So I will say again, I can work night and day to educate the staff here about great ways to incorporate technology tools in their curriculum, but until I have like minded administrators, nothing will change. Sniff, sniff.
Friday, February 8, 2008
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20 comments:
You have my sympathies! I've now given a number of sessions highlighting the tools and why they are important... like you, I get very good feedback from those who attend... and then nothing seems to happen...
On the plus side, I also have a number of new entrants to the profession who aren't scared of blogging and facebook and wikis who have approached me on the quiet to find out more and to try some things... Soon they'll be the norm, and that's when the change will happen... I hope!
You will never get 100 percent of the people on board, the fact that you keep trying is what matters. Before your presentation there were a few trying, after your presentation there are a few more. That is all we can hope for. Forward movement, in small steps, is happening. It is not two steps back, but rather one baby step forward.
We often hope change can happen over night, unfortuntely, it doesn't happen that way most of the time.
I agree administration needs to be behind the initiative. I think they are, but they are not pulling the wagon, instead they are still outside the wagon. Keep your head up. You are amazing. Also, how the heck did you get your twitter to show up on the blog, so cool!!!
Thanks Danielle (ORMS Literacy Integration Team). I needed that. I hope you are right about administration, and I hope they can soon support us with their words, actions and policy making!
Your administrator cut you off at the knees. She essentially set you up. NOT cool. Does she do this to others or is it just you? Either way, it should be a huge warning sign that you're not going to get the kind of support you need. I suggest you either call her on it (and judge her reply very critically) and/or start looking for another building. As an educational leadership professor, I say be very, very wary of a leader who breaks trust with you like this.
Thanks for the very honest post. You are not alone. I guess it is fairly healthy that your presentation was discussed at all: basically I have never heard anything negative in an open forum in my school directed at the work of other teachers.
However, as Scott M. said, I wonder what your principal thought she was getting paid to do in that meeting when she, after requesting the introductory training, allowed such negativity to go unchallenged.
Finally, I would love to have anti-web 2.0 people clarify for me what exactly they think their place in the organization is. Teachers are absolutely amazing to me much of the time. There is no other line of work in which employees are allowed to out and out reject the wishes of the higher ups.
You will always get staff that will be negative towards this sort of thing, and you can generally pick them out beforehand. The fact that your Principal had asked you to give this demonstration, but then didn't stand up for you shows a great lack of decency on her part.
I'd talk to her about it, and ask why. She left you to cop it sweet, when she had asked for your presentation. Did she lead you, like a lamb to slaughter, on purpose?
In all honesty keep up the fight though. What you are trying to do is important, and it will eventually catch on. Don't loose sight of the goal you were trying to portray to others.
The hard part of informing your school about using web 2.0 technologies is that they have heard it all before. To them, it's the same old talk that is always given at a professional development outing. They go into hibernating mode when they go to a training. It is unfortunate that you were trying to get some on board and they decided to hear you, but not listen.
I have been thinking of ways all year to approach my staff. The school I am in is filled with robotic, worksheet giving teachers that are on the verge of retiring... wish me luck :)
I have gotten so much great input on this topic and I really appreciate it. It seems to me that I have at least made some headway and if I want to continue I will need to discuss the issue with my principal. But now my dealings with her will be with my eyes opened!
This is the comment I left on Scott's blog:
First, I don't think it's the administrator's job to "support" by rejecting negative feedback. If you don't want to really know what teachers think, then don't ask them.
Second, Before I'd condemn the teachers out of hand, I'd like to know what tools she discussed. Did she have prior conversations with teachers to find out what kind of tools might be considered useful to them right now. Very nice to tell people about tools that they may investigate at some point.. much better to look at what they're doing and seek out tools that might be used with what they're doing today. Be relevant and responsive if you want good results.
Third, Remember that different teachers are at different places with technology... Your teacher who can't seem to figure out how to use a pull down menu doesn't need to hear about wikis or secondlife or tagging or technorati or ripping a youtube video to their flash drive. Remember to differentiate for teachers just like you do for students... give levels of utility so that people can buy in where they are.
Lastly, when was the presentation? Was it after a long day of teaching and a long meeting of reminders and details? Did it come right at the end of the marking period which is not the best time to use up teacher time? It's pleasant when a presentation is upbeat, but was it long winded? Teachers who've been dealing with kids (and parents, schedules, administrators, broken xeroxes, end of the marking period dramas) want short and to the point... usable right now and demonstrations of accountability upward as well as downward.
Instead of being all upset because they didn't love her.. or thinking it must be those mean teachers and that unsupportive administrator... Id' ask: what could she do differently, what did she not take into consideration?
Thanks for your comments Audrey. Good thoughts, and things I have considered. I’m not going to defend myself to you, but I will say that I teach all day and deal with parents and kids just as much as the other teachers. I was asked to put something together and I did so in a thoughtful way. I am not just crying about having my feelings hurt, I am upset to have an administrator give mixed signals to me and the other teachers. It is about education not about me. And if the administrator felt that it was important for me to present these things then she could have , at least, told the group that she was the one who asked for the presentation to be given when they came to attack the message. Instead she gave those teachers more reason to believe it is ok to reject anything new presented to them.
While I totally sympathized with you and abhor the behavior of your leaders and colleagues, I will say that after years of staff development and training, I'm convinced that we spend too much time on the "how" part and not enough on the "why". Those who either understand the why immediately or are just naturally early adopters, create an atmosphere of excitement but we know that most teachers need way more time exploring why we would ever want to use these powerful tools.
You might not feel like it's your job and perhaps it isn't but I'd suggest focusing on exploring why we need to change much more than how.
If you're looking for some starting places, use videos like Michael Wesch's stuff, or one of a zillion blog posts out there that capture the why question.
It's about the why way more than the how.
I'm sorry.. my tone was off there. I didn't mean to imply that you needed them to love you. I was actually identifying with the disappointment that that comes when we are unappreciated (or even slammed) for our hard efforts. I've been there and I'll be there again. And I was talking to myself as much as to you. (reminding myself to get a skin, already)
There's all sorts of positive, supportive people on the internet who cheerlead from a safe distance, but I always think it's good to reflect on the complex interactions that are at work, especially before going in guns blazing demanding better support. I don't know your situation.. maybe you do need to blaze away, but maybe not.
I remember a few years back spending a summer learning how to use Flash to create websites. I worked hard to create a website that had a homework page, a calendar page with notes and lots of additional resources that could be put in with very simple xml scripts that I thought I would teach in a workshop. (This was before we had a school site). And I came in thinking I was going to copy the site and adapt it for every cluster so that everyone could have a useful site that would highlight us well. I thought I was giving them a present they didn't have to work that hard for. I came in and presented it, and my union went ballistic.
As it turned out, behind the scenes, my principal had demanded that teachers make websites if they wanted to get a single computer in their rooms. (at the time, not everyone had one) And also, my union felt that demanding that teachers post homework put the onus on us rather than on the students to write down the homework... not to mention the competition that might occur across clusters. So it was a big mess... Meanwhile, no one was telling me to my face and it wasn't until I was in the mess that I got the scoop.
Eventually I realized that my good ideas really didn't mean anything if I wasn't paying attention to the needs and attitudes of the different players. It became a mirror for me about leadership, persuasion and perspective.
From that vantage point, not only is it's absolutely okay for a teacher to say what they really think about an idea, it's essential. For one thing, you may learn something you didn't really account for. But, even if that doesn't happen... better the negative feedback than a polite stonewalling.
It sounds like you presented basically the same thing I'm doing on Friday. I've been pretty excited about this class, until reading your blog. Now, I've got some reservations.
I think Dean may have the answer here. It is about the why, not the how. However, having said that, I know that a fair amount of my staff who will be in class Friday, don't know the how. So for them, there has to be both.
How do we balance that?
Pam,
Although not being backed by your principal is not an easy pill to swallow, I hope the support you're receiving from these comments are helping you feel better.
Please keep us updated on what happened after your meeting with your principal.
Keep in mind that there are two problems here:
1) Seems like the principal didn't support you. The principal might have a hard time standing up to the faculty council, might have been in a hurry to get out of there, etc etc, but it's still a cold thing to do if that's what was done.
2) The Faculty Council thought your presentation was a waste of time. This is scarier, since the way you describe the situation implies that the Faculty Council has power or influence. If a teacher doesn't want to use certain tools to teach, I honestly think that's fine. I do think it's important that all teachers have as many tools available as possible and that they have some fundamental understanding of what's available. It sounds like the Faculty Council doesn't recognize that teachers teach differently, and that different methods and tools have strengths. Even if it's as simple a situation as them dismissing all recent technology, it's still appalling.
The tough part is that the only way it's worthwhile to approach the principal is if you're pretty close friends, and there's no way a group like the Faculty Council will acknowledge the fundamental error in their thinking.
Best of luck, and know that you're not alone in experiencing situations like these.
Pam, I feel for you in getting hung out to try like that. There's no question it can be demoralizing but you can turn it to your advantage.
Identify teachers who recognize the potential benefits to themselves and their students and dedicate your energies to them. Do not waste time on staff members who are not willing to learn and grow. Those who identify reasons to not do something before looking at the reasons to try are energy drains on the entire process. Unlike the students they are responsible for, these are professionals who have an obligation to their roles to become better and stronger as educators as time progresses. You cannot force someone to develop as a professional and it is a waste of valuable energy to do so.
As I said, focus on those who show the interest and the passion and you can respond to the others who come to you later complaining, "Why don't you teach us any of these things?" with a warm heartfelt smile and a knowing "I told you so" look.
Great post, Art. I like the idea of focusing on the good side. : )
I find that high school teachers are the hardest nuts to crack, and my heart goes out to you. Somehow the negative voices often are the ones that are most vocal. Good luck with your meeting with the principal!
Principals frequently use staff to backfill faculty meeting time.Are we surprised by this? Those that have sat through one in the last month aren't.(January we had three-lucky us!)I agree with Dean, but I also feel like we are missing some of the story. I have sat through all kinds of 'enlightening talks presented by my colleagues' but at 5 pm I am ready to go home. Districts are embracing this kind of professional development as new requirements for certification change around the country. Just remember-if it was a lesson and your students were less than enthused-you would rethink it, redesign it and not blame the students for their lack of enthusiasm. Give the 'teacher-learners' the same courtesy and not blame them for their honest feedback.
I look forward to collaborating with you!
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