Collaboration and Trust
I am disturbed by something I read this week. On NMSA’s MiddleTalk List serve – an online community of middle level practitioners who share their questions, concerns, and comments with one another – there was a discussion on the use of on-line gradebooks. I was brought up short with the comment by one responder: “One concern in our building when we first went to online grade books was that the principal would have access. He is not supposed to, but has been caught a few times with information that he should not have. The company can give him a code that gives him temporary access.” A former principal responded, “This is interesting to me. Why would the principal not be allowed access to grades?” The “conversation” continued among members with several sharing stories of principals changing grades, sharing inaccurate grades with students, and the concern over problems caused by grades being so closely monitored.
I admit these incidents were reported without a context so there may be a “rest of the story”, but I am still bothered by the lack of trust between teachers and administrators that this example illustrates. Breaking Ranks in the Middle calls for collaborative leadership, This We Believe (NMSA) calls it courageous, collaborative leadership, and Turning Points 2000 speaks of democratic governance. In each publication, the message is loud and clear – if we want to improve the education of young adolescents then we have to work together in order for it to happen!
How do we as school leaders move the school beyond an “us and them” mentality? How do we instill a culture of professionalism within the school environment? How do we establish collaboration as the operational norm in the school? Tough questions with no easy answers -- but the key word is together. And yes, it takes energy and effort from all school personnel to make it work. And yes, there are poor administrators just as there are poor teachers who just don't "get it" -- but there are no excuses; as school leaders, we are ultimately the one held accountable for the quality of the school. So the question bears asking, “What are you doing to build trust among your staff, break down any barriers that may be impeding school improvement efforts, and institutionalize collaboration as the standard way of doing business at your school?”
