Teaching Tip #175

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #175

Core value #4 - Integrity communications.

I take this one to mean a no gossip policy.  How do we communicate with each other without stabbing each other in the back?

How do we communicate without calling each other out and hurting feelings?

I certainly don’t have the answers to this one, but I do know it when I see it and I know it when it doesn’t happen.  I like this idea: criticize (or question) in private and praise in public.  That doesn’t mean you can’t have hard conversations or bang up against each other or even hurt feelings.  If we are all passionate about this profession, then those things are bound to happen, but how we handle those things is the key to everything.

I recall once many years ago a colleague questioned our former administration about a policy that, quite frankly didn’t make a lot of sense to the staff.  The admin insulted the teacher for even asking the question and brushed it aside.  That was not integrity communication at all.  That one act did severely damaged the culture of our building at the time.  And it spoke volumes of our culture (read – our lack of culture) in those dark old days.