If You Want the Truth, Just Ask...

When I think of gathering input for the sake of reflection, a certain movie comes to mind. There is a scene in "A Few Good Men," where Tom Cruise is grilling Jack Nicholson. Tom Cruise's character demands the truth. In response, Jack Nicholson's character shouts, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" There in lies the internal dilemma with staff climate surveys for administrators. We want to know how things are going. However, we are very nervous about what we might learn.

In reality, as administrators, we work hard to provide the best possible balance we can. We conduct walk throughs, monitor the halls, supervise the cafeteria, attend various meetings, and serve to provide the front line approach to public relations. That being said, do we really know what is going on in our building? Do we really understand the needs of our teachers? Are we really listening and responding?

I think the answer to these questions can be found through a staff climate survey. Is a survey the "end all, be all?" No, but you are only leading if others are following. A staff climate survey can easily point out a focus area for an administrator. I do not want to fool myself by thinking things are going great, if there are needs I'm unaware of. I do not feel the survey is the evaluation. Rather, it can provide an administrator with a direction for professional goal setting. Just as teachers set goals for their own professional growth, administrators must do so as well.

This week I have issued a staff climate survey. Yes, the anxiety is high - I just want to live up to their expectations. However, the reality is I'm not perfect. I have room to grow. So, when the results come in, I will review each item. I will celebrate my successes. Most importantly, I will reflect upon my weaknesses and work to develop a plan to address them. Like Tom Cruise's character, "I want the truth!" Additionally, I am ready to handle it. I owe it to my teachers and students.

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If I Don't Try, I Won't Fail

Last night, I had a very good conversation with a secondary level teacher and coach.  I love it when he stops by, because our conversations are always philosophical and engaging.  We frequently discuss sports and their connection to school and life.  I find this teacher/coach to be very passionate and connected to not only his students, but also their futures.  Yesterday,  our conversation eventually steered towards speculation as to why some people (students, children, and teachers) find it easy to walk away from challenge.  We settled on seven short, but very scary words: "If I don't try, I won't fail."

While stunning as this might be, there is a sense of comfort some students find with this statement.  Whether competing for a starting spot on the team, integrating technology in the classroom, working hard to earn an A+ in Biology, or decoding words in an elementary reading intervention group, students and teachers often find themselves at a crossroads.  Do they persevere, ask questions, seek help, or do they quit, shut down, drop out of school?  For some, fear of failure is debilitating.  So, giving up means he/she doesn't have to deal with insecurities or embarrassment. 

How do we respond to this?  Or, more importantly, how do we plan ahead to prevent this possibility from becoming a reality?  These are "million dollar questions" and I will remain broke, as I do not have the answers.  Rather than providing canned responses to answer these questions, I want to pose more questions for reflection.

In our practice as a teacher, coach, administrator, or parent, how do we talk about challenges?  Do we invite them as a chance to learn something new?  Do we discuss the endorphin rush we experience when we've accomplished something we've set goals for?  Do we set goals and talk about them with our students/children/colleagues?  

As stated before, I don't have the answers, just questions.  However, these questions have me motivated to be more active with regards to challenge.  As leaders, we can easily share stories of celebrities overcoming obstacles to find greatness, such as Michael Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team, the Wright Brothers and their efforts to fly, or Henry Ford and the Model T (models A-S weren't all that impressive).  However, the real power in helping our students, children, and teachers make connections to avoid the plague of quitting lies in our own actions.  It goes beyond the actions of doing.  It must be a dialogue we seek with others.  We must be willing to expose ourselves and model a sense of perseverance when faced with challenges, in order to shift towards a new statement:  "If I try, I will learn."