Full Description
Relationships are everything in successful systems, and connections are cultivated by our actions and our words. Within our words, we contain the power to build relationships or bury them. Those who look for opportunities to converse on significant issues sustain and prosper. However, often times these conversations are cut short by our inability to discover the hidden meanings behind our chosen responses.
In today's school systems, educational clichés are ending essential dialogue when they should begin and maintain it. Messages like "That's why you make the big bucks" or "It is what it is" hinder our capacity to construct critical connections with each other. The focus of Clichés, Conversations and Culture: Cultivating Relations Between Teachers and Administrators is to unveil these clichés and explore alternatives that will foster connectedness. By improving our dialogue, we will be able to nurture a more viable culture for our building and bridge the gap that historically exists between administrators and teachers.
Contents
Disclaimer
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Setting the Stage
PART I: What Teachers Say About Administrators
Chapter 1 - Joining the Dark Side
Chapter 2 - That's Why You Make the Big Bucks
Chapter 3 - They're Incompetent
Chapter 4: They've Forgotten Where They Are From - One More Thing
Chapter 5: What Do They Do Up There All Day
Chapter 6: Let's Make A Deal - The PrinciPAL
Chapter 7: She Has Her Favorites
Chapter 8: This Too Shall Pass
PART: II What Administrators Say About Teachers
Chapter 9: It's Good for Kids
Chapter 10: She Beats the Kids to the Buses
Chapter 11: Getting the Buy In - Drinking the Cool Aide
Chapter 12: You Work For a District, Not a School
Chapter 13: She Has No Walls
Chapter 14: The Buck Stops Here - No Surprises
PART: III: Clichés We All Use
Chapter 15: Thrown Under the Bus
Chapter 16: I Do It for the Kids
Chapter 17: It Is What It Is
Chapter 18: All I Do For This Place
Chapter 19: The Dance of the Lemons
PART: IV: Practical Approaches
Chapter 20: Culture Builders
For Teachers
·Be Where You Are Supposed to Be When You Are Supposed to Be
·Find the Facts; Limit the Whisper
·Propose Possible Solutions
·When You Are Sick, Call Early
·Remember Your Primary Function
For Administrators
·Know the Staff
·Build the Dimmer Switch
·Be a Straight Shooter
·Limit the Jokes
·Be Visible
Chapter 21: Culture Busters
For Teachers
·Promoting Conspiracy
·Public Ridicule
·Grading Papers During Meetings
·Say You Can When You Cannot
·Not Seeing the Gray
For Administrators
·Making Promises to Appease Conflict
·Giving a General Warning
·Ducking the Difficult Conversations
·Going to Committee When the Decision is Already Made
·Instituting the After-Conference Initiative
Chapter 22: Case Studies
PART: V: Questions from the Field
Chapter 23: From Teachers
·The Transfer
·Inappropriate Remarks
·No Emotion
·Leadership
·Taxing the Busy
·Feedback
·Delayed Schedule
·Expectations in Meetings
Chapter 24: From Administrators
·Union Dilemma
·Social Events
·My Family Needs
·Give Me Five
·My Boss is a Micro-Manager
·Live in District
·Previous Principal is in Central Now
·Teacher Now Principal
PART VI: Looking Forward
Chapter 25: The Burden of Hope
PART: VII: SUMMATION
Bibliography
