“You’re a sub. You won’t be here next year anyway. So, why are you so concerned?”
He said, “ Because the kids will be here.”
We were all blown away when he was introduced as our new principal for the coming year at the final faculty meeting. He spoke of all of his observations and touched on his experiences within the school over the past seven months. He talked about responsibility and accountability. I could see the jaws of members of the faculty hit the floor. I smiled and thought to myself, maybe a positive change has finally come.
If you have seen the movie Brubaker, this introduction hopefully reminds you of it. In the movie Brubaker (Robert Redford) infiltrates a corrupt southern jail facility as a prisoner and spends time experiencing and observing all that is wrong in the facility. It isn’t until after breaking up a confrontation involving an inmate (Morgan Freeman) that he tells the guard that he wants to see the warden. This is when it is revealed that he is the new warden of the prison. Because of his time experiencing the facilities from the inside Brubaker was able to institute real changes that would make real differences within the prison. He was able to get rid of the corruption because he knew exactly where it was. He had felt the atmosphere of the prison and knew how to implement the necessary changes from within while being on the outside.
After watching this one Saturday afternoon, I thought why can’t the school boards do something like his to replace principals and or faculty that aren’t doing anywhere near their part for students in schools. I was quick to come to my senses and realize that unions would never allow this to happen. But I thought of it anyway. How can an administrator truly be effective without some experience within the job in which he or she is working? I worked in a school where the administrating experience that the principal had was within an elementary school the previous year. You can’t tell me that you expect someone to go from directing 5-12 year olds to 14-18, 19, 20 year olds effectively using the same methods they employed in the primary school. I had high school students tell me of a teacher putting someone in “time out”. He was trying to employ what he knew worked for him the previous year in elementary school. He quickly lost credibility and the students never took him seriously after that. I thought of how the example of the film Brubaker could be used to bring the new principal or educator into the school. He or she could not tell anyone that they were the next administrator or teacher or they would forfeit the job. This would give the incoming person an opportunity to create a plan of action based on experience within the school instead of on numbers, a budget and some of those ridiculous grad school education courses. The administrator would also have a personal experience of how the school feels, sounds and moves. I believe that the experience of being in the thick of it is invaluable. Many of us have worked for that administrator who you never see during the school day. They never simply walk the halls during or between classes to have their presence recognized. I worked at one school where I saw the principal ask a girl to put away her cell phone and the girl turned around and asked, “ who is you?” and kept on walking! I’ve worked with very few high school administrators who can call more than five students (who aren’t athletes) by their names. But they’re administrators because “they love the kids”. I believe that future educators for a school could also benefit from spending time being a substitute in their new school or any school before taking over the following year. It would give them more insight on how to gear their lesson plans to the student’s ability so that they can more effectively teach and use their subject matter. It would also allow young teachers entering education an opportunity to develop themselves as an authority figure in different situations and different schools because they would more than likely be in more than one school, thus having a variety of experiences from which to draw. If I would have been able to come into the public school system as a substitute where I was teaching before I started after leaving a female private school, a lot of problems could have been avoided. I had to deal with a completely different set of conditions. It was a completely different economic and social culture. I couldn’t take for granted that my students knew basic information, that their parents would be involved enough to return a phone call, or that my administration was involved with making necessary changes within the school to improve it. I learned how to deal with all of this as I went along. So, when a new young teacher would come the following year (or in the middle of the year) I would take it upon myself to go and introduce myself, ask some questions and then sit and listen. And they’re all young because they’re hungry and need a job. Older educators, having heard the name of the school where they were being placed would respond, “Are you crazy? Teach where?” Let’s face it many of the bright-eyed in-coming educators are not prepared for some of the schools in which they accept positions. I know plenty of educators who struggle (unnecessarily) because they clash hard and often with their students due to a lack of information on the culture of their students, culture of the school, and the student’s ability. Especially when the situation is that of the teacher being from one cultural background and the students from the other. Unprepared by anyone for what he or she is about to face sometimes becomes a career-ending year. According to a post that I read on the Internet titled Pay Teachers More, October 21, 2008, 50% of new teachers leave the profession within five years. The more common factors are poor working conditions and low pay. I’ve heard far too many people say they’re leaving because they just didn’t realize what they were getting into and that the kids are just too much.
Not one single graduate school course (that I’ve taken) presents the realization that teaching in inner-city public schools differs from suburban public schools. They don’t prepare these young energetic people for the pitfalls that they may encounter. I was having a discussion with a friend that said that he didn’t believe that many of the education professors had ever taught in a high school let alone an inner-city high school. After a while in class, I stopped raising my hand to point out differences of scenarios because people would look at me like, can this brother give it a break? So, I would just look back at them like, yeah…okay, talk to me in three years after you’ve been run out. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from the profession. I’m only asking that you give them both sides of the educational reality. I feel that being placed in an inner-city school for at least part of your internship would benefit young educators greatly. They would learn how to diffuse issues, talk with confrontational students (and at times parents) and create order without an eruption. They would also be able to compare their experience within the suburban vs. inner-city public school and use both to become an educator who can balance teaching a class with controlling a class.
One day during one of my planning bells, Mr. Williams stopped by to talk.
“ Hi, Mr. Williams, how’s it goin’?” (We both chuckle because I call him Mr. now)
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
He closes the door and sits down.
“Stevens, why do you teach?”
“For me it truly was bestowed upon me at an early age. I’m the oldest of seven kids. I’ve been teaching and learning how to teach my whole life. I learned from my mother and was pretty much an extension of her with my siblings. I don’t like seeing people not be their best. I guess that’s also why I like coaching.”
“ It’s the same for me, I want to help people try to get the most out of their lives. And I have ways that I believe would work in helping that be. My time here as a long-term substitute helped me understand what needed to be done. But a lot of the time I don’t think that that’s what they want me to do. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get rid of a problem child who has exhibited that he/she does not want to be here or to get funding for something that would benefit those students who are achieving. If I mention getting rid of students, they hit with a speech about numbers. If I want to highlight those outstanding points of the school and use that to raise the bar of achievement, they talk to me about alienation, numbers and test scores. I’m beginning to believe that my appointment wasn’t ever about achievement but maintenance. Do a good enough job to improve our scores and status and then just maintain that.”
I looked at him while he spoke and noticed how defeated he looked. He has put himself into this job and this school has improved because of it. If you were here to learn and to teach, Williams had your back at any conference, any hearing or board meeting. We just received our state report card and we jumped to very good standing in the every subject. Williams’ no nonsense but fair approach was something that everyone was either waiting for or grew to appreciate because the atmosphere and culture of the school improved. When he finished speaking I responded,
“ I don’t understand why there is a problem. You’ve done so much for this place. Isn’t that why they hired you? I mean, why are they complaining?
“I don’t know. But I don’t know what’s going to happen. Whatever happens I want you know it was great working with you.”
The following year we had a new principal. No one knows why Williams didn’t return. Rumors are that he told the school board and the union about themselves and quit. Others say he was fired but they don’t know why. Either way, he’s doing well now. I recently read that he was making waves in the business world. Too bad he wasn’t allowed to create those waves within the lives of our students.
