It's not a stretch; I am not comparing apples and oranges. Do not dismiss this out of hand.
Bullying and terrorism are related activities. They spring from the same motives and instill the same fears.
An act designed to frighten is an act that is designed to frighten. Whether the act is a beating at the edge of a demonstration in Iran or a suicide bombing at a mosque or the public pronouncement that "if you don't like it here, you can go somewhere else," the act is designed to frighten. When the new superintendent stands in front of all of the district employees and states that if you are an experienced teacher who is not interested in making the changes he is about to make, "you can go do something else," it is a threat. It is discrimination; it is based not on the capabilities of the individual but the assumed weaknesses of the group. It was interpreted as a threat by the district senior staff and when the bullying increased in our building after that remark, there was an identifiable link between the superintendent's words and our treatment.
So you come to work and the office manager refuses to speak to you, turns her back on you, looks at you as if you are an interuption to her day, refuses to perform the requested task except at HER convenience not yours, and insults you publicly in a faculty meeting (after which other teachers ask "if they can do that to you, what can they do to ME?"). This is a terrorist act. When you follow district procedures and ask for a meeting to clear the air, the principal joins the office manager in bullying you. This is a terrorist act. Continuing to follow district procedures, you notify HR requesting a meeting to air your greivances; they cancel the meeting the day before it is to occur to give a guided tour to a new HR employee and make no offer or attempt to reschedule. This is a terrorist act. Continuing to follow district procedures, you inform the assistant superintendent of your concerns and he asks the offending principal if he is bullying you, to which he replies-of course not. (If you asked a bank robber if he just robbed the bank, they would deny it, too. Somehow the police don't accept that answer but the assistant super does.) And the bullying increases in severity and frequency. This is also a terrorist act; your own personal terrorists have been given free reign by the authorities to treat you as badly as they can. The treatment starts coming from different people; this is called mobbing, also a terrorist act. Everybody who is inclined to treat you badly, because they want to or because they want to be on the principal's good side, joins in. Finally, you witness the principal and office manager bullying STUDENTS because no one has stopped them before and YOU are fired as a whistleblower, they FINALLY conduct an "investigation" but the room that witnesses are to report to is within sight of the principal's and office manager's desk (they can see who is complaining). This is also a terrorist act.
You are a Christian in Iraq and you receive a letter telling you to leave the country or be killed along with your family. This is a terrorist act. You are a teacher who is put on notice that you will be bullied at will. This is a personal terrorist act. The physiological and psychological effects on the victim are the same.
For school officials to allow, perhaps even approve or instigate this terrorism is appalling. Certificated personnel who engage in this behavior should be brought before an ethics board and have their certification revoked. Schools board members who allow this to go on should be recalled and removed from office.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Small Point of Light
Here is an intersting link: www.tri-cityherald.com/964/story/56372.html . This is written by a teacher in a small town county seat in eastern Washington. It really goes to the heart of what is true about teaching: most teachers are committed to their work and their students, but society does not value education enough to give them the tools and listen to their expertise in the classroom.
The point is well taken. After taking 4 years of college courses, receiving 20-30% less pay than you classmates who go into other fields, being forced to perform time consuming "mastery" tasks in your first two years of teaching that have little to do with the classroom, earning a masters degree during your "free" summers, taking extra classes in the summer or concurrently with your work day, going to in-house seminars on subjects ranging from motivation to accomodation, surviving the 50% burnout rate in the first 5 years of teaching, you are faced with "reformers" who have never spend an hour in a classroom doing the real work of teaching who tell you that you are not doing your job right and that you are the reason the system is "failing."
How demoralizing. How is this not a "slap in the face of teachers?"
I am pleased to see this viewpoint get an airing in the press. The prevailing reports on teaching are of the "it's-the-teachers'-fault" variety. Generality based on feelings and emotions, not facts.
I just hope that Mr. Brusberg doesn't become the target of bullying because of his observations.
The point is well taken. After taking 4 years of college courses, receiving 20-30% less pay than you classmates who go into other fields, being forced to perform time consuming "mastery" tasks in your first two years of teaching that have little to do with the classroom, earning a masters degree during your "free" summers, taking extra classes in the summer or concurrently with your work day, going to in-house seminars on subjects ranging from motivation to accomodation, surviving the 50% burnout rate in the first 5 years of teaching, you are faced with "reformers" who have never spend an hour in a classroom doing the real work of teaching who tell you that you are not doing your job right and that you are the reason the system is "failing."
How demoralizing. How is this not a "slap in the face of teachers?"
I am pleased to see this viewpoint get an airing in the press. The prevailing reports on teaching are of the "it's-the-teachers'-fault" variety. Generality based on feelings and emotions, not facts.
I just hope that Mr. Brusberg doesn't become the target of bullying because of his observations.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Deadwood Teachers Unite
We are a teaching couple who worked at the same school. We noticed something after No Child Left Behind was passed by Congress: there was an erroneous, automatic assumption on the part of many school administrators that "senior" teachers were standing in the way of the teaching and learning reforms that they wanted to impose. Our new superintendent told the assembled district employees that if you weren't going to engage in the new process, "you should go do something else." Our principal told staff on multiple occasions, "If you don't like it here, go somewhere else." The expression "get rid of the 'deadwood' " was frequently used. "Deadwood?"
Generally, "deadwood" teachers are assumed to be those over a certain age or experience level and are all stereotypically RIP (retired in place) or incompetent. This seems to be a fairly obvious case of age discrimination, but this is not a movie that will be wrapped up in 100 minutes in sweetness and light. It didn't seem to matter whether the teacher was a good one or not. The operating philosophy seemed to be "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." In our building, that meant that "senior" staff were targeted for removal by the principal (aided by the office manager) by the use of bullying. This was, for us, a three year journey; it continued after we left two years ago. Our union was of little assistance in the matter.
This blog has been started for the purpose of identifying and tracking the use of bullying to force (generally) experienced teachers to leave the building, district, or profession. It is designed to inform victims of what happened to them, if they haven't figured it out yet. We hope to alert targets and witnesses to the tactics used by administrators to bully teachers. It is also intended to track efforts in a variety of States to pass laws banning adult bullying in the schoolhouse. The blog might also serve as a place to describe and discuss best practices that we, as professionals, have utilized as well as observed.
Adult bullies don't threaten to take your lunch money, they threaten to take your career. Since most teachers feel they are called to teaching and have a good deal of their "self" invested, the loss of that identity is often economically and psychologically devastating. Adult bullies take your identity as does someone who steals your credit card.
You are encouraged to comment, cite your experiences, encourage others who have stories to tell, and join together to stop this mean-spirited and destructive practice. If you have seen students negatively affected by adult-on-adult bullying, share that as well. No names are needed; we understand your need for privacy. While we are interested in all stories, those from the State of Washington are of particular interest as we are working to pass legislation here to protect teachers from adult bullies.
Generally, "deadwood" teachers are assumed to be those over a certain age or experience level and are all stereotypically RIP (retired in place) or incompetent. This seems to be a fairly obvious case of age discrimination, but this is not a movie that will be wrapped up in 100 minutes in sweetness and light. It didn't seem to matter whether the teacher was a good one or not. The operating philosophy seemed to be "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." In our building, that meant that "senior" staff were targeted for removal by the principal (aided by the office manager) by the use of bullying. This was, for us, a three year journey; it continued after we left two years ago. Our union was of little assistance in the matter.
This blog has been started for the purpose of identifying and tracking the use of bullying to force (generally) experienced teachers to leave the building, district, or profession. It is designed to inform victims of what happened to them, if they haven't figured it out yet. We hope to alert targets and witnesses to the tactics used by administrators to bully teachers. It is also intended to track efforts in a variety of States to pass laws banning adult bullying in the schoolhouse. The blog might also serve as a place to describe and discuss best practices that we, as professionals, have utilized as well as observed.
Adult bullies don't threaten to take your lunch money, they threaten to take your career. Since most teachers feel they are called to teaching and have a good deal of their "self" invested, the loss of that identity is often economically and psychologically devastating. Adult bullies take your identity as does someone who steals your credit card.
You are encouraged to comment, cite your experiences, encourage others who have stories to tell, and join together to stop this mean-spirited and destructive practice. If you have seen students negatively affected by adult-on-adult bullying, share that as well. No names are needed; we understand your need for privacy. While we are interested in all stories, those from the State of Washington are of particular interest as we are working to pass legislation here to protect teachers from adult bullies.
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