The politics of high school

No, this isn't an expose of how kids treat each other, although I guess it could be. However, I have been really slow to understand that high schools, students, and teachers are used as high-priced, valuable pawns in a political game. See, it starts out with the position of principal. In my former position as high school librarian where I was for five years, I was so concentrated on what I considered my job that I completely missed the whole political thing. Here's what I am noticing: 

The Principal of the high school belongs to the Superintendent.

This middle manager, no matter what, knows that he must please the Superintendent. I have been at three high schools-- at the first one, the principal had never moved from his building! He began his professional life as a teacher of English at the same school at which he presided as principal. How's that for continuity?  One doesn't see that in business much. He wasn't bad, wasn't great, but was completely blind to the needs of students and staff. Why? I think it was because he was so complacent and didn't feel the need to work any harder to understand anything. Weird. He saw the kids who were going to our school from other cities (read: Detroit) as a threat and kicked them out. Today we would call that "school of choice." the rubber hit the road with the assistant principals, who get the heavy lifting done. The principal strong arms the staff, or doesn't, according to what he's told to do. At least this guy was a teacher. How people get to be principals without being teachers is beyond me.

Let's look next at the next assignment. This principal said it was not (Real name)  High School, it was "(Insert principal's name here) high school." Amazing, the arrogance. Although he had much to add and was instrumental in my understanding of the population and the students, he had favorites on the staff (known as the harem),  favorites in the student population, and was uneven in his discipline. Unbelievable. When we got a new Superintendent, the principal tried to poison the guy against the high school staff, saying that most of the problems that the school had, probably up to and including the leaky roof, were our fault.  Personally, he tried to tell the students that I was being punished by having to open the middle school library. "I'm going to change her schedule." As though I were a recalcitrant student. But look in my record! Nothing but stellar recommendations and rave reviews from teachers, administration, and staff. Heck I even got the former superintendent to write me a letter of recommendation for graduate school! So I know I did a job that was done right and needed to be done. He just didn't like that I didn't put a new teacher in her place and tell her that she couldn't use the library the first week of school as had been the custom. Why this made him angry with me (and therefore forever on his sh**list), I don't know. At the end of the school year he left without saying goodbye. That's not a very good way to go.

In my next assignment, the population was a totally different demographic and definitely different problems.

The School Board need to be aware of what's going on in schools today.

Those people who want to be on school boards, for whatever their reasons, need to know that they have one of the most important jobs out there today. Schools get to be on the bleeding edge of creative economics, because they are constantly having to do more and more with less and less. 

High Schools are political footballs.

High Schools are not just the "9-12" of k-12 learning. for some reason, they seem to mean more to people than just schools. People play politics with students' lives. Witness the MEAP that has morphed into the MME. Someone said that Jennifer Granholm needs to get into schools and out of her office once in awhile, and I agree. we aren't ever going to be a "white coat" state. There are lots of us folks who believe that working with our hands is an honest way to make a living. After all, someone's gotta cut hair, build my house, make my window frames, and god forbid build my car! We in Michigan have a special respect for blue-collar work. Walter Reuther made his greatest contributions here, remember? It's a shame and a travesty that we no longer respect these types of jobs, and denigrate those who make a living with their hands, backs, and hammers. High School seems to be a lightning rod for the crazies when it comes to trying out new things, never once checking to see whether they work, and then leave the programs and the students high and dry when we are finished.

I just see this happening over and over. Yes, the principal of the school answers to the superintendent. I get that. But what about the good of the kids? Who is their guardian? Who will speak for those who have no voice?

How I am now

As I was checking my email, I realized how much it reflects my professional self. I keep tabs on a lot of websites for YA books, instructional strategies, blogs about education, and technology support information, mostly so my teachers do not have to do this. There are lots of helpful sites out there for teachers, and lots of tutorials for them to create and share their thoughts and ideas. Now that my administration has said that there's no need for my position, I've been wondering how my staff are going to have the kind of service that they have had in the past. I am no longer the teacher librarian for my school district. But here's the thing: I can't stop thinking in that way. In other words, if I see a cool way to make a web page (flavors.me) or tutorials for everybody (http://www.khanacademy.org/) I want to share it with them. It's summer. I'm not on the clock. I would do this job free. I DO do this job free. I see the need for information-seeking support almost every day. This job has given me the greatest satisfaction that I help people. Period. I won't have this job come Fall, when the kids go back to school and teachers are back in the classroom. But I will always be an information seeker, an information sharer, and learning scientist. I will always be a librarian.

Life lessons

I have been living apart from my husband for almost a year. It doesn't seem possible. Nor does it seem doable, or that I would be the one to try to do it. There are times when I feel that homesick "omygodican'tdothisonemoreday" claustrophobic feeling. There are other times when I think I will be ok. At least my husband makes me know that he misses me, too, and that his job is fulfilling and satisfying. That goes a long way toward making this worth it.

My situation would have been a lot different had I known that I would be staying behind here in Detroit for (practically) the entire school year. And it might be the entire year (sheesh). I would have kept furniture here; I would have rented an apartment, I would have spent more time there last summer. But the thing is that I didn't know. What I thought would happen: I was told by my major adviser that I could take a semester at Wayne and that I could go to Houston in January. She didn't tell me that I had to be here for a residency requirement that forced me to take another class that I don't need and that is irritating more than it is enlightening. So. I didn't want to have to move a lot of stuff. My old college buddy let me live in his basement for the first semester, which is nowhere near as bad as it sounds. They have a walkout and his wife cooks like it's 1999. But I digress. I moved in with a work colleague and this has worked out well, but it's hard to rent a room from someone else. I don't care how much of a gypsy you think you are.

There are days when I wonder if all of this was worth it. Who knows? I just hate that I have lost a year of time with my husband. I don't regret the friendships I have made that would never have happened if he hadn't had to go. I was pretty damn happy back then! Even though he was laid off and my job permanence was suspect, at least we were together. That is a huge part of my life, gone poof! I am just so grateful it's not permanent. Yet I think about the fact that we aren't going to live forever, and I wonder if I will find a job at my age. By the way, I found out that there's a name for what I am: I'm a trailing spouse. Sounds like a houseplant. I hope I can grow roots in Houston soon, I am becoming pot-bound here in Michigan.

Check out my new reviews!

I joined Good Reads a couple days ago. I seems that you can review books and copy the review to your blog. This is such a great feature! Just copy/paste the html code into your blog editor and Voilà! Your review is posted, complete with a jpg of the cover! This is lots of fun and I will be using it regularly to post about books I have read. Enjoy!

No, he's outside, looking in...

Since my husband has moved to Houston, I have been having a recurring experience. He seems to have been affected by it, too, because, as he says, he feels like he is watching himself within his life from above-- like there's a disconnect between his personal consciousness and reality. It is happening to me as well.

I feel as though I am a visitor in the human zoo lately. I see strangers and find myself analyzing their behavior much as an anthropologist would. It's a weird feeling, and I can only attribute it to our situation-- married but not living together. I don't know what else it would be. I feel so disconnected from reality at times. It's uncomfortable and disconcerting to be sure. I wonder in a casual, detached way why, for instance, that particular person bought those particular shoes? Or, what caused them to come here, now? Or who they are buying things for? It's just weird, and I don't like it. I'll check in with more of this strange situation soon.

Up the..?

Education is a process, not a product. The word "educate" is a verb, an action word, not a state of being, not a noun. I hate to tell people that I am an educator. Why? Because of all the poor choices and squabbling that goes on over our heads, as though we are the youngest child of a poor marriage. Instead of honoring the time I have spent with young people, the wisdom I have to share, and the important information that would help drive the success of the school's goals, no one has asked me lately (and I have lots of insights!) about what is best for kids. I have taught in alternative and regular education, and have been in the classroom as well as the library. There is a lot I could contribute, but my insights are not valued.

I have been disenchanted with k-12 education for a while now. I keep thinking that I will find a "better way" somewhere, and so far, in every place I have worked, the school has been a cult of personality. It seems to me, however, that the focus on "what the principal wants" is outdated. These thoughts were prompted by Eisner's essay, "What does it mean to say a school is doing well." There are ideas here that I am total agreement with. Eisner has said that there are essentially two curricula in schools. The first is the explicit curriculum, those "state-mandated" standards of which we hear so much. Eisner is also aware of a second, less structured curriculum that he calls the "implicit curriculum." It's easy to call this the school climate, but it is more than that. It's what gets taught in spite of the standards and tests. It's the way the school is kept,whether there are enough seats on the bus, and even whether there are enough buses! It's deciding to run those buses on gasoline, rather than diesel, because it's healthier for more of the population. It's the ability of teachers to communicate with students outside of class (whether on Twitter or Facebook, or at the local coffeeshop or skatepark, or some other social network) to discuss with them ideas that interest them and current events about which they have questions. It's the fact that the place gets cleaned on a regular basis. It's the support that teachers get when they need it. These form the implicit curriculum. This is the area in which most schools fail. Why? They forget that everything we do in schools matters. Students are constantly taking their cues from their surroundings. In cognitive load theory, in which all the inputs of learning are taken into account, there's even a name for it: extrinsic load. This is the part of the teaching and learning system where students' attention is blocked by something other than instruction and learning. It's the stinky smell in the hallway. It's the menacing presence of an administrator. It takes away from the task of learning and teaching, and it happens way too much in k12 education.

Creating a life

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd is an amazing read. This book, set in 1981 Ireland, tells the story of Fergus McCann and his family at the point at which he is studying for his A-levels to see whether he will be allowed to go to study in England. His uncle and he are packing up peat for black-market sale when suddenly the bog reveals a body. Scared and startled, Fergus tells his uncle to get help so that the body can be salvaged. Is it a murder? Is it a payback for political gain? More is revealed about the time and circumstances of this individual's death, and the story incorporates many details of the so-called Troubles in the political atmosphere of 1980's Ireland. Fergus is a young man torn between worlds and ideologies, and at the same time a kid, fresh and full of enthusiasm for life.

The story pointed up the fact that we are the product of our choices. We create the situations and circumstances in which we find the space (or not) to be able to deal with life as it happens to find us. This book is appropriate for ages 15 up. I recommend Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd.