Communication and Support....
The first chapter on communication is in my opinion one of the most important to build leadership connections between staff and administration. Teachers need to hear praise about positive things they are doing in the classroom to help encourage them to keep working hard. It cannot always be generic praise like “the schools scores are going up because of your teaching” (addressed to the whole faculty) or “this department is working hard building this [insert strategy]” (addressed to a whole department). Individual teachers need specific praise as well as general praise to feel like their person instruction is being noticed and not always lumped together with all the other teachers. This emotional support is necessary for teachers to have assurance that they are valued members of the school and that the hard effort each teacher puts into their lessons is not undervalued.
It is equally important for leaders to listen and understand what someone is telling or asking them. My current department head is very bad on actually listening to what her teachers have to say. Many times I ask questions to clarify a situation of what is asked of me because I am confused about what is expected and she interprets that as threatening her authority or not respecting her opinion as a veteran teacher. She also has very poor body language when she is unhappy with a conversation taking place during a department meeting she will cut off all conversations and usually ignore the teacher she feels is responsible for the disarray of said conversation.
Getting personalized feedback is important! I appreciate specific personal comments far more than generalized ones to the whole staff. Those comments go a long way to building a sense of value among staff meetings!
ReplyDeleteIt’s amazing how something so little as giving someone “praise” can make a big difference. I agree that teachers need to hear praise and appreciation about the positive things they are doing in the classrooms. Many teachers spend extra hours before and after s school and it’s nice to hear that all the hard work and long hours are appreciated.
ReplyDeleteBody language really tells the truth! There are so many times leaders say one thing but their body language contradicts them. And unfortunately they are in the position of power and the staff often fears confrontling the descrepancy in what they are saying and what they are actually doing!! Good grief leaders! Look in the mirror before you speak!
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