I am going to share a story with you that happened multiple times when I was a high school principal. One part of the job that I loved as a principal was going into classrooms. Whether it was for a formal observation of a teacher, observing a student, or just to go in and watch learning happen, I loved the time in the classroom.
I noticed that being in classrooms opened opportunities for me to talk with teachers about their practice, their thoughts on education, and life in general. Every once in a while, the teacher and I would start talking about a student. Oftentimes these talks were about a student who was not performing well.
One day, as I was talking to a teacher about a student who was failing their class, the teacher said something that really stuck with me. It more than stuck with me, actually; it kind of pissed me off.
I asked the teacher why this particular student was failing. Specifically, I asked them if the student was having a hard time passing the exams.
“No, they do great on the exams.” the teacher answered.
“Then why are they failing?” I asked with a bewildered look on my face.
“Oh, they don’t do their homework.” the teacher responded.
“Hmm..” I began my reply. “So, the student is showing you they know the material by passing the test, but you have structured your class in such a way that homework grades are more important than an exam that actually shows what they know. Is this correct?”
In a somewhat annoyed manner, the teacher replied, ” WELL (and they said “well” like it was in caps), I am teaching them responsibility. If you don’t do your homework, then you are not showing responsibility, which is what they need in life!”
I do have to say at this point in the conversation, the teacher was showing signs of smugness.
I started my reply in a slow, serious manner. “Ok, so you are teaching responsibility. I have two questions. First, when I look through your lesson plans, I am sure I will see lessons where you taught responsibility. Second, I thought your class was called “math,” not “responsibility.”
As you might imagine, the conversation deteriorated from that point.
Here is how that conversation changed my thinking about school leadership.
We have to be very careful when we talk about the word “responsibility.”
Using the word responsibility is like throwing a boomerang…it is going to come back at you in some form or fashion.
Responsibility is most effective when it is collective. It occurs when we all realize that we all have a part in everyone’s life in school. Unlike the teacher in my example, who thought responsibility was something they could just assign to a student, real responsibility is a radically collective concept.
Points to Ponder
1. Think about collective responsibility when a principal reviews test scores.
2. Think about collective responsibility when analyzing “interventions” for special education students.
3. Think of collective responsibility when a principal or superintendent complains about the lack of teaching skills and caring of their staff
In all of the examples above, when someone points the “responsibility finger” at someone, someone else can point it right back at them.
Just something to think about…
