My Capstone, Terry F Erickson [classic novels .txt] 📗

of formal and informal leadership roles at all levels. They were, or currently are, members of various committees, including curriculum, strategic planning, assessment, sabbatical, CEU, principal search, and principal and student advisory. They serve or have served on task forces, site councils, union boards, National Urban Alliance cohorts, and outside professional organizations. They held or hold positions such as lead and supervising teacher, TOSA, mentor, team/area leader, staff development coordinator, spelling and geography bees coordinator, PTO liaison, trainer, and two of the teachers are National Board certified.
These teachers have held some type of leadership role since the beginning of their teaching careers. Enthusiasm for their work has not diminished, despite several of them being near retirement age. During our conversations, it became quickly evident that all of the teachers have a very strong work ethic and seem to thrive when they are involved in some type of decision-making capacity. They were also very passionate about their involvement, having filtered out, by this time in their careers, the positions or work that no longer hold their interest.
I’ve done a gazillion things for the district. I will always serve on a committee so I know what’s going on and what decisions are being made, and I make sure I’m a part of them. I find myself joining something when I think I’ve been complaining too much.---Audrey
I have done about everything. I do have a tendency to sort of take the motto from the Korean war … If not now, when? If not you, who? I’m a real sucker if somebody puts out a request that something needs to be done. I have to work really, really hard to say ‘no.’ If somebody comes and personally asks me, I’m dead meat.---Eli
I have never been isolated in my classroom. I have been on the language arts committee forever. In the building, I’m the old lady on the staff. I’m a provoker. I like just being engaged and attending meetings. I go. I do. It is a personal style to be engaged and involved and I have always been driven to be a professional educator in that sense. Part of it may be my family role; I’m number five of seven and I have all that psyche stuff going! In that sense, I have a real sense of personal ethics.---Katherine
Some of the teachers are involved in leadership positions outside of school, such as religious, civic, and recreational groups. This doesn’t surprise me because I believe teachers make natural leaders and would most likely be valuable to any organization that depends on volunteers to carry out its work.
Elizabeth is involved with a project that is an extension of a trip she made recently to a foreign country.
I must be hyperactive or at least something … I’m nuts! I really am involved in an awful lot of things. I’m passionately involved in these other things. I’m involved in a project to raise money to replace a bridge and finish a sculpture in a park.---Elizabeth
Max is extensively involved in organizations outside of school. However, the work of these organizations directly benefits the program Max can offer his students.
It’s the kind of leadership that comes from running a major program. Just the management of a big program is leadership in itself. I’ve been involved in state-level things. Some of my leadership activities have been involved in other organizations that have a broader umbrella than just our district.---Max
I don’t believe there exists a leadership role in my district that has not been held by at least one of the nine teachers I interviewed. It amazes me how much of the work in the district is done by volunteers, rather than administrators.
Motivation
Surprisingly, I found the primary motivator to hold leadership positions is a sense of duty or responsibility to do one’s share of the work. The teachers feel that everyone has a moral and ethical obligation to volunteer time so that the burden of the work does not fall upon the few. It is amazing to me how you can motivate people to this degree just by stressing a sense of obligation. These teachers didn’t just volunteer for something once and call it a day; they kept volunteering, over and over again. It also amazed me that this sense of duty is self-imposed. No teacher stated that administrators or colleagues “tripped” him or her into leadership roles---they did it to themselves.
Audrey spoke of her upbringing as a source for her sense of obligation. I think this would probably be true of all the teachers I talked with, if I had asked them. A sense of obligation or philanthropy is not innate to human beings; it must be taught and modeled.
I have a strong sense of obligation; I don’t know if it is professionalism as much as obligation. Probably my upbringing. So, if someone is asking me to do something, my first response is always ‘yes.’ It is more of a sense of responsibility. As you know, nothing comes with a stipend, or a pat on the back even. It is more of a sense of responsibility.---Audrey
Max thoughtfully qualified his readiness to assist by stating that he didn’t always have the skills or experience to best serve a group or committee. His may be wise words, because I have served on committees and had no idea of what I was doing or what help I could offer.
Some of it is a sense of duty. You know that there are a fair number of committees and they need people. I really don’t hesitate to volunteer if I can bring the right assets. - Max
Katherine feels that there has been a lot of give-and-take in her experience with district administration. Both she and the district have benefited from their symbiotic relationship. She feels that she has proven herself many times over and has a lot of capital to spend by being involved in leadership roles.
I have a sense of responsibility because the district has invested in me just as much as I’ve invested in them. I have the moral responsibility or the ethical responsibility to give back to the profession.---Katherine
Elizabeth definitely felt that she needed to pay back those from she benefited, even though it may not have been the same group of people who helped her. This is what often motivates teachers to accept a student teacher. If a teacher had not given them the opportunity, they would not have become a teacher. You cannot directly pay back your supervisory teacher for this good turn, so you do the next best thing and give the same opportunity to someone else.
I became a member of the sabbatical screening committee because it was kind of a payback. I had a wonderful experience on my sabbatical.---Elizabeth
John shared a little about his growing up in a small town and how there was “nowhere to hide” from others if you didn’t help with the work. This small town comparison applies to our individual school buildings as well, because everyone knows who does a fair share of the work and who doesn’t.
It is kind of like the church basement ladies; everyone needs to take a turn to make the hot dish for the next funeral…in other words, everyone must do their share of the work. Although not everyone wants to be a leader, I think you can still volunteer to help with the work and not necessarily be a leader. I almost feel guilty if I’m not doing something to help out.---John
Who knew that I would find guilt, pressure, shame, and embarrassment to be so useful?
This group of teachers also has very high standards for themselves and their colleagues. They see themselves as working harder and putting more time on the job than some of their colleagues. The teachers weren’t resentful or bitter about their colleagues’ lack of commitment, but seemed more disappointed in their lack of professionalism.
Audrey is living proof of this sense of duty. She reluctantly remained in a leadership position because no one else would step forward. It was not a paid position nor was it part of her assigned duties, yet she could not just walk away and leave the position unfilled.
That does irritate me the most about teachers, as well as myself. Like when the last round came, I had already served on the language arts committee so I said I’ve done my deal, someone else needs to be part of this because we all teach it (pause) nothing but a flat line. So what do you do? I’m not even Catholic, but I felt like I should do it. It was obvious I needed to resume my position...no one else is capable, I guess. I don’t think it should be a choice and I think it should be in our job description. It should be rotated.---Audrey
Katherine would rely on friends to tell her if she was being too forceful or assertive when speaking to her colleagues. Her zeal for teaching and learning sometimes blinded her from noticing when she went too far or made others uncomfortable with her educational evangelism. She even asked a parent what year she thought it was when the parent made a remark that seemed to be a viewpoint from an earlier era!
I have a real sense of professional ethics. What is interesting is what hinders me sometimes is when I have to work with people not as passionate or who don’t work as hard. That is more of a discouragement than the district putting the kibosh on something. They aren’t inspired. I almost take it as a personal insult that I can’t light their fire.---Katherine
Edward thought that older teachers should take more responsibility since younger teachers need to spend more time preparing to teach.
I feel like it is a professional responsibility to take some leadership roles. I feel like everyone has a duty to take on the responsibility for leadership roles, not just a few.---Edward
A second motivation for teachers to hold leadership positions was the desire to see the “big picture,” or knowing what is going on in the district, not just their own classroom, department, or school.
Scarlet lamented the loss of contact time with teachers from other buildings. She claimed that teachers knew each other better in the “old days,” and often formed personal, not just working, relationships. Could this be a consequence of teachers having too much involvement in decision-making through leadership roles and not having time for collegiality?
I think when you are in your own little world…you don’t realize the wonderful things that are going on out there. You can really get tunnel vision.---Scarlet
Loretta thought it was important to be aware of the entire scope and sequence of the curriculum, not just her own grade level. Understanding what to teach her students now was dependent on what the students were taught in the past and will be taught in the future.
Like the district assessment committee---I kind of like being on that because there are high school people, some principals are on it, so you get a different perspective on how things are being looked