My Leadership Project

Here is my Leadership Project dealing with the topic of Classroom Management:

Leadership Project

The Problem:

1. “You have noticed (or it has been brought to your attention) that one of your teachers is having class management problems.”

Case Study

Within my English Department, Miss New, an LTO teacher who joined our team in September, has been having significant problem with her ENG 1P class. The problem lies in classroom management – the students have been increasingly disrespectful and defiant to Miss New, and she has regularly sent several of her students down to the office within the first 20 minutes of class. The other teacher administering ENG 1P is a Mr. Oldson, who is frustrated that Miss New is falling behind in her curriculum expectations due to the problem. Colleagues say the class is simply toxic; other teachers in my department are blaming the inexperience of Miss New as the root. The principal, the parents, and some of the other non-defiant students in the class are all complaining, and action must be taken to get this situation under control.

Context

To tackle this problem, one must look at some research from the provincial, board and school level. These documents all feed into one another, and provide some guidelines to handling the specific problem of classroom management.

Miss New’s biggest problems in her classroom is enforcing and maintaining the rules, and knowing how to handle all types of conflicts. Her reliance on the office as a safety net is proving to be counter-productive; students are being sent there for small infractions that should be dealt with by the teacher, like homework being incomplete, or persistent talking during a lesson. Students who are being willfully defiant, swearing, physically attacking other students in the guise of “play,” and being generally disrespectful, are being treated the same way as students who are late. The rules are not routinely enforced by Miss New, some rules are ignored, and others enforced without considering the situation.

The Ontario Code of Conduct is a provincial document that outlines certain policies that are province wide for school and classroom discipline.

The Code discusses classroom management clearly:

• All members of the school community are to be treated with respect and dignity, especially persons in positions of authority.”
• Members of the school community are expected to use non-violent means to resolve conflict. Physically aggressive behaviour is not a responsible way to interact with others.
• Insults, disrespect, and other hurtful acts disrupt learning and teaching in a school community. Members of the school community have a responsibility to maintain an environment where conflict and difference can be addressed in a manner characterized by respect and civility.
• Teachers and school staff, under the leadership of their principals, maintain order in the school and are expected to hold everyone to the highest standard of respectful and responsible behaviour; [Teachers] must maintain consistent standards of behaviour for all students

This clearly outlines that the problems within the classroom are first the responsibility of the teacher; the office is the next step if the established rules are not followed.

The Niagara Catholic District School Board has a Code of Conduct and it includes the Safe School Policies, which also can shed some light on how to approach Miss New’s problems – enforcing the rules, and maintaining a logical step progression for offences committed inside her classroom:

“The Niagara Catholic District School Board endorses the principle of progressive discipline in support of a safe learning and teaching environment in which every student can reach his or her full potential. Appropriate action must consistently be taken by school personnel to address behaviours that are contrary to Provincial and Board Codes of Conduct.” - Niagara Catholic District School Board, PROGRESSIVE STUDENT DISCIPLINE POLICY, Policy No. 302.6.9, Safe Schools.

The Council of Ontario Directors of Education (CODE) - Principals: Developing a Comprehensive Plan for Support could also be consulted form an administrative standpoint, since the principal should also be aware an involved in this process. As a leader, it offers some good tips such as 1) pair the teacher with a colleague who can share successful classroom management strategies and 2) Consider having a follow up visit from the “mentor” teacher into the classroom of the teacher who wishes to improve as an opportunity for further support and dialogue

The Student Handbook for our school contains some of these mentioned standards, and also mentions that students sent to the office are done so after a serious offence, and after teacher discipline has also been administered first.

The last couple of documents I would address in regards to Miss New deals with her instruction: since the class is a Grade 9 Applied, and she has students who have difficulty reading and writing, and perhaps with behavioral issues as well. She should seek out two sources:

· Student IEP’s or IPRC’s, which is her responsibility as a teacher, as well as OSR’s to gain a more cohesive idea of what type of learner’s she may be dealing with in her class, and any prior problem other teachers may have experienced

· The Think Literacy Document, put out by the Ministry of Education, so she can vary her approaches, which may engage students who act out or ignore traditional methods of instruction.

Leadership

In my approach to Miss New’s plan, I would draw on the ideas and philosophies researched in the last project. Some key ideas I would use to implement a plan would be stemming from “The New Face of Leadership: Implications for Higher Education”

from the website “The Art and Science of Leadership.” It suggests that influence is the key to good leadership, not authority. This influence must be coercive and stem in many different directions to be successful.

I would also include the Office, my department as a whole and the parents as well, since leaders and followers are doing leadership. Equality is in the approach; this is a school and department problem, and should not be simply “pinned” on Miss New solely.

My plan will include steps that I take as a Program Chair, but the solution will also stem form the Department and school working as a team, trying to successfully implement real, workable changes, and collaborate for this common goal. The changes must reflect the desires of both the leader and the follower – I do not want my department to suffer, but to reinforce cooperation and morale, I include the whole system.

Some ideas form “School Leadership: A Profile Document” discuss the concept that a common thread among professional growth, encouragement and collaboration with staff, and maintaining and sharing a vision for all aspects of a leader’s career that is established with a number of resources and professional input. I myself must enforce and oversee the change and steps, but I will implement these through meetings, teamwork and influence. The changes must be organic, and not “cleaning up another teacher’s mess.” Miss New’s integrity should be maintained, and her colleagues should treat this as a teachable moment for a new teacher, and not a sign of weakness, poor training, or incompetence.

Plan

After doing research into leadership and the different approaches and philosophies that make effective tams or schools in tandem with the leader, I would use several approaches to solve Miss New’s problem:

1) Department Meeting: I would include the whole department, since effective leadership is about persuading and involving the entire team.

- We could sit down, and I would address the problem as one that “the school” has been experiencing with some students and classes, to avoid Miss New being singled out.

- We could anecdotally share “horror stories” and the positive steps we have taken in the past to address these concerns.

- As a team, we could do a Placemat activity, where we each fill in a square with an effective classroom management technique, then take turns discussing it with our partner.

- I would also ask them to brainstorm a step-progression chart that we could use as a Department, the included what was outlined in the Handbook, but more specific to an English classroom. We could agree on First Offense is a warning, Second a teacher-assigned detention, administered by the teacher, with a phone call home, and the Third is an office visit, with a detailed note in the Handbook for the VP. This provides consistency and teamwork, and Miss New feels as though she is not the only one who has faced these problems.

2) Teacher Mentoring: I would address the problem of Mr. Oldson by asking him privately to act as a mentor for Miss New. I would assign him to be the Course Leader, and persuade him to meet with Miss New every so often to touch base on the academic concerns and what approaches they could use together to teach the class. I would emphasize that his course knowledge and superior classroom management would help Miss New overcome her problems. This can make him feel as though I have addressed his concerns, without excusing Miss New or ignoring him. He also feels empowered and more in control, a part of the solution.

3) Set up a conference with the Resource and PASS teachers. This provides anecdotal background information on the students who have been the most problematic, and perhaps Miss New can hear what past elementary teachers have experienced and dealt with. A call to the past teachers could also be recommended.

4) A “Discipline” Sheet – a creation that allows teachers in my department to keep track of student’s poor behavior, indicating the measures taken, and how successful these measures were. I would require the teacher keep their copies and give me a copy also, and I would keep them in a binder for my Department’s reference. This allows Miss New to reference and read what others so on any given day, and could provide valuable feedback for future teachers as well as the Administration in the office.

5) All Teachers try one “Think Literacy” technique. This allows the whole department to grow and become more diverse in their teaching practices, and fosters the idea that collaboration and trying new ideas to professionally develop can create new opportunities to strengthen our department. I would ask that each teacher try one activity before the next English meeting, and we would share out results then – this also expands Miss News portfolio of classroom techniques, and allows her to break out of her shell and try new ideas the students may respond too.

6) Miss New’s “Classroom Management Plan” - Now that we’ve offered several strategies to help her, I would ask Miss New to come up with her new Plan for Classroom Management. These should reflect the workable changes we’ve offered, and I would review it myself and guide her in its completion. This should be administered to her students, their parents, and signed and returned. This should also be shown to the Principal during her TPA (Teacher Performance Appraisal), which I would stress is key to her success in the school and in the future. This would also include the Administration in solving this problem, without the principal or VP needing to intervene directly.

7) Encourage PD workshops. As a leader, anytime I am given PD information for colleagues, I will ask Miss New to attend as a “department liason” to help her own growth, but also to report back to the department for the team.

Overall the problem is one that started with one teacher hitting a roadblock, but the whole team coming to her aid. She maintains a sense of professional responsibility, and knows I still consider her a colleague. I solve the problem through collaboration and influence, and help to strengthen the English department and teacher camaraderie as a whole.