48. Back to School Series: Dealing With Administrators

Ellie 0:00

In today's episode, we're discussing a crucial but often challenging topic, navigating relationships with school administrators. Whether you're lucky enough to have supportive leaders, or are dealing with more difficult administrators, understanding how to communicate and collaborate effectively with your administrators can make a big difference in your teaching experience.

Ellie 0:21

Welcome to the Teaching Toolbox Podcast. I'm Ellie, and I'm here with Brittany.

Brittany 0:26

Hi,

Ellie 0:27

Stay tuned as we share some practical tips for working with an administration.

Brittany 0:32

Let's first take a look at an administration that is positive or supportive. Often a positive or supportive administration is one that has open communication. Administrators are willing to listen, take input, and make adjustments. In addition, although all entities must have policies, a positive administration is going to make sure their policies are fair, transparent, and consistently applied across all staff members.

Ellie 1:04

When something needs to be addressed, a positive administrator will handle things constructively, provide the necessary supplies, support, or training, and ensure the staff member succeeds. This also includes professional development to help teachers stay current with technology, best teaching practices, and the most efficient methods. A positive administrator is more likely to view evaluations or evaluation periods as a team aimed at making growth rather than as an 'I'm going to catch you period' or by saying things like 'we can only have 30% exceptional staff so the rest of you will all just have to be satisfactory'. That type of system sets people up for an antagonistic relationship, one of fear or one of failure, whereas positive administrations are all about getting the very best out of their people. Positive administrators, I think, also clearly understand who they've hired, and they let them do their job, giving autonomy to teachers, trusting them, and knowing that they know the job they've studied for and have been hired to do is important to teachers and a big positive step for administrators. And then allowing those educators to collaborate, team teach, meet, observe, and so on is very important to both their success and to the students.

Brittany 2:26

I think that's really important for teachers to have that autonomy and be trusted. Finally, I think a positive administrator creates a positive school atmosphere, where the staff and students enjoy being there. The environment should be one that is focused on work and learning, student success and progression, but also on enjoyment and wonder. There should be regular praise and rewards for jobs well done by both staff and students. There are ways to get on your administration's good side if you're coming into a new school or situation, not much on like getting to know new people. First of all, just dress accordingly dress professionally as they have asked or dictated. Make sure to keep up with that standard throughout the school year. Although some schools are okay with more casual dress like maybe jeans on Friday or jeans every day, others are not so be sure you keep up with the expectations. Always say hi, hello, or good morning, or good afternoon when making contact in the hallways. And then pay attention - during meetings in services, trainings, etc. pay attention and preferably take notes on paper or your laptop. Taking notes on your phone can look like you're playing on it.

Ellie 3:53

Agreed. It is definitely tough to pay attention sometimes. And I have to admit to being um I would never be looking at my phone but I would I would doodle in my notebook which you know, doesn't look like I was being disrespectful - I could have been taking notes, but I would be doodling. I've often heard it said teachers are the worst audience are the worst students. Have you heard that?

Brittany 4:15

Yes,

Ellie 4:15

But paying attention it can keep you on the good side of your administration.

Brittany 4:20

I did once play Yahtzee on a little Yahtzee electronic game during the first big meeting of the school year, and then I accidentally yelled Yahtzee

Ellie 4:32

Oh no!

Brittany 4:33

During the meeting.

Ellie 4:38

I'm sure that was much appreciated.

Brittany 4:40

Luckily, everybody laughed. When you're paying attention, be astute. Listen to what your administrators talk about. But also you want to pay attention to the small talk - kind of like eavesdropping. But let's not call it that. If like an administrator mentions at the beginning of a meeting that he or she stayed up late to watch a football game, then you know they like football. If you hear them talking about taking their daughter to like a Taylor Swift concert, then you may have an inroad there, if you also like T Swifty. Find common denominators, so that you have something to discuss, and get to know your administrator a little better. That's another way of kind of making the inroads smoother. And then lastly, when they ask for input or advice, and you feel like it's a positive administration, give it to them. Don't just complain about things, though, always have a suggestion that you can offer for resolution or fixing the issue and explain why it might work. It can also help to volunteer for things like clubs or after school sports and stuff, but I know we are all kind of at our wits end about volunteering for extra time.

Ellie 6:02

Alright, so those are some good things about administrators, let's kind of think about some of the negative aspects of administration. A negative administration is going to be the exact opposite of a positive one. Communication will be closed off, issues will not be dealt with fairly, transparently, or in the same way from person to person. Instead, there will be favorites who get preferential treatment, and those deemed less worthy will get drummed out at the smallest cause. Administrators in a negative setting are often abrasive, closed up in their offices, or off on meetings all the time, rarely available to their staff, and even less inclined to listen when they are present. When administrators asked for advice or problems with things, they usually just want to see who complains to know who to get rid of. Be careful when you're answering questions like this with this type of administration. Staff meetings can be terse and military like and commands and many checks and procedures are often put into place. Negative administrations are often only concerned with the standardized test numbers at the end of the year, they rarely care about gains in social emotional learning, gains of special education students, or gains in science and social studies. So the math and ELA teachers tend to get the majority of the scrutiny.

Brittany 7:20

What's worse than a negative administrator, are the conniving ones. Those that lie blatantly. Those who say one thing and do another, hoping to never get caught in such a way that they are shown to be liars or master manipulators. They usually have like a higher position in mind for themselves, or they want to become a superintendent or something like that. And so they don't really care about being a principal or a vice principal. Those administrators will most assuredly want you in one on one meetings with no representation or support, increasingly will tell you things to make you feel okay, or like they're going to help you. But then will look around and stab you in the back at the most opportune moment. In these situations, and with these types of people, once you recognize them and their tactics, if it's legal in your state, set your phone to record conversations before slipping it into your pocket. Not all states, is it legal to record a conversation - you have to know whether or not you can record a conversation when only one side of the conversation knows or if both sides of the conversation know. If you're going to do that, use your voice memo app, or call yourself and have it go to voicemail, do whatever you need to do to record the conversation. But in general, if you know your administrator might not have your best interests in mind, then just take someone with you to the meeting and don't let them you know, push that person out.

Ellie 9:02

If we had any kind of concern, like we did have union reps, and so it always be recommended like you take a union rep with you to your meeting. I know that's not possible everywhere.

Brittany 9:12

Yeah, some schools don't have unions or whatever.

Ellie 9:16

Maybe take a team teacher.

Brittany 9:18

Yeah, I took someone with me and then they turned sides and went on the other side. Yeah, it was fun.

Ellie 9:27

Okay, someone you can really, really trust.

Brittany 9:30

Yeah, I took the union rep and they they happen to be playing with the other team. So, once an administrator targets you, they will give you reprimands or demerits or whatever your school calls them for the smallest reason while they allow others to do the same thing or worse and get away with it. These administrators and their partners will also create new rules on the fly to catch you in situations that will get you in more trouble. It just creates a situation where you're constantly on edge and looking over your shoulder. The best thing you can do when you're in a negative situation is to just document everything - document every meeting with times, dates, participants, and then as many details as you can remember, document every email you send, use the bcc part of the email and send copies to yourself at home, not to a school email. Track times, dates, people involved in various situations. A well tracked and laid out paper trail will be far more believed than just the word of an administrator.

Absolutely. Ah, administration. If only they could all be positive.

Yes.

So in general, there are some tips for dealing with administration, regardless of whether the situation is positive or negative. One thing that is important is to maintain a distance between teachers and administration, teachers should not really attend drinking hours with administration and vice versa. And this is tough because it might be normal at your school. But situations like this could end up offending someone and turning what was a positive relationship into a negative one based on something that was not within the school context, but can have ramifications within the school context.

Yes,

Don't become too buddy buddy with an administrator, it can create a weird tense situation, especially if they have to end up talking to you about something serious or about job performance or complaints from parents or anything like that. Or if you need to quit and then move to another school. Dress professionally, as we talked about. Don't swear or talk about very personal things in front of your administrator even accidentally. Just always be aware of who may be around one administrator might seem okay with that, or might seem like a friend, they do wear a different hat in the school. They might misinterpret something you say casually, or something that you casually do in passing. And whenever you present information to administration, whether it be to resolve a situation, or implement something new, keep your information as factual as possible. If you're trying to resolve a situation with students, parents, colleagues, or even another administrator, provide all of your documentation, which you should keep for any parent or admin interactions, especially if they're less than positive. And if you want to convince admin to make a change in your school, whether it be curriculum related or team structure, do some research and present your thoughts backed by research. The cold hard facts can often convince admin to agree with you.

And administration can make or break a school. They can make or break your career. I actually received PTSD from an abusive administrator. So I know the very worst. And then I know the very best from an administrator who supported me and believed in me after that whole trauma. You have to believe in yourself and know that you are doing the right thing, the lawful thing, and what's right for kids. That's what's most important. You're the one who has to live with yourself afterwards.

Hopefully this has helped you gain some tools for your teaching toolbox when it comes to administrators and dealing with administrations and understanding that if you are having a negative experience, you're not alone. There are other teachers you can reach out to for help and support. Remember, always do what is right for your kids and what is right in general. Best wishes for a great year. We'll talk again next week.

Bye