This morning while shopping for groceries I met one of our former school district superintendents.
That immediately started the way back machine.
When I was a child in that rickety old one room country school, there was a school inspector who visited about once a year. The inspector was feared by teacher and students because he had power and tended to be miserable. They would drill us on arithmetic and listen to us read and if we made errors they shouted at us. It was also rumored that they strapped kids. It was not a pleasant or positive situation.
So you know that I started teaching before my 19th birthday. At teacher's college we were given more scary stories about the superintendent.
So I merrily started teaching in September and told myself the superintendent wouldn't visit for a while. One fine September day about half an hour before school ended I heard a car come on the school yard. No worries. Parents came to pick up their kids. All of a sudden I noticed a well dressed man looking in the back door of the classroom. I had no idea who he was. He looked around and beckoned for me to come out of the classroom. He was the superintendent. We went outside and sat on the steps. He wanted to know how things were going and he went over some administrative business to help me. I remember it as a very pleasant visit on a beautiful fall day. I remember how supportive this visit was. He visited two more times with more encouragement and assistance.
Fast forward a bit to the end of my career. We didn't get superintendent's reports anymore but we had many classroom visits. I was a department head and had to visit department teachers twice a year. I took duplicate notes and gave the teacher a copy before I left the classroom. The principal and vice principal visited each classroom at least once a year. Each teacher had to find a teacher in another school that they could observe for one period. This program was to keep teachers constantly upgrading and learning knew skills. The system was based on supportive and positive relationships.
So over my career there was a major change in educational supervision for the better.
I will always remember my first superintendent, Harry Smith, and how he encouraged me.
I will always remember Dave who had a vision for the school district and ably lead us to achieve those goals.
I think it would be quite hard to be a teacher in these days. Parents are trying to run the classrooms, books being banned, standardized testing which takes up weeks are used to judge the teachers' effectiveness. Often kid's do not respect authority. (In our grade school for instance, a child cannot be punished for swearing. It is understood that the child has picked this up at home and to tell the child they cannot talk like that is seen as putting the parents in a bad light.)
ReplyDeleteIt's a changed world. Your days in the classroom sound almost idyllic.
DeleteDebbie, you can really sum things up. As I said I went to the way back machine. Kids are much different today and it's much more challenging to teach. Our parents do not have as much hands on influence as yours do.
Sounds like and good and positive superintendents. It really makes such a difference when the supervisor knows how to be encouraging and thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteYou work much harder with positive support.
DeleteI really like the supportive nature of these visits. I wasn't and still isn't so in some cases now. Teacher support has been replaced by more demands for teachers to do more, better, faster, smarter.
ReplyDeletethere have been changes since I retired. I went to the way back machine.
DeleteAs you may know I worked for years as a Support Worker in a school for children with special needs. In the UK we have the dreaded Ofsted inspection with a small team of inspectors hanging around for a couple of days - nobody looks forward to it. One afternoon an inspector decided to join our "inclusion group", where some of our students joined a local secondary school for an art class. The children got to know each other well over several weeks and tended to drift about the room chatting to each other. Laughter was always present and a good deal of water and paint got spilled without much art being achieved. This particular afternoon turned out to be particularly riotous and the more we tried to maintain some sort of order the noisier it became. On the way back to our school the inspector travelled with our rather nervous teacher - "That was one of the best inclusion classes I've ever seen!" the inspector said. You just never knew how these things would go.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a special and well trained person to work with special needs kids. Some of the best workshops a teacher could go to would be workshops for special needs.
DeleteYou've been a good man! I'm sure many teachers and kids appreciated your approach. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThankyou. It was the district that prompted a positive system.
DeleteThere is always a positive way to do things.
ReplyDeleteWe have problems here with school inspections and one bad mark can send a school tumbling from outstanding to the bottom rung...and there have been teacher suicides....
That program has always been lurking in the background here.
DeleteI could not teach at that level.
ReplyDeleteTeaching already at 19! A wonderful achievement! Glad you had support...
ReplyDeletehugs
Donna
So we had a one year program after high school that gave you a temporary certificate. I often look back and think about the ability of a 19 year old. However, it was that or nothing.
DeleteGood leadership is so important! It helps if you have it during a teaching career.
ReplyDeleteI always felt that I was supported.
DeleteIn England in the mid-1990's The Conservative Party spawned something called OFSTED. Their inspectors were strangers and they came along to criticise and judge before leaving. There was no sense of encouragement or support. Earlier this year, in a very newsworthy case, the headteacher of a primary school committed suicide because of a negative OFSTED report. She was called Ruth Perry.
ReplyDeletethat kind of evaluation does nothing. The main idea should be to improve instruction. I don't think teachers do well under such a system.
DeleteIt sounds like you had superintendents that cared and wanted everyone to do well. Positive encouragement goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteWe were very fortunate to have what you say.
DeleteThat was a positive experience for you as a young teacher. I never got inspected much throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteInspection for evaluation was a waste of time. the emphasis should mainly be on improvement of instruction.
DeleteThe first story of the superintendent reminded me of the visits from the bank auditors when I worked for one of our large five institutions. There were always 4-5 of them, and they'd appear in their suits and carrying their briefcases. It was always a bit nervewracking as they counted cash (in the tills and in the safe), pored over filed paperwork, and asked questions of the staff for the next few days. I don't recall ever having a really horrible report, at least in my area, though I do know there were some issues noted in others.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as if your career got off to a good start, and you ended it on a positive note too.
I suppose every area of work has to have supervision unless you're the owner.
DeleteI never had a super visit me! The principal would visit a lesson and script everything one said. Just ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteSound like your super was a good one!
Yes there was a form of supervision where everything was written down. We had a mixture of things but the idea was to improve instruction.
DeleteWhat a great idea for teachers to observe how other teachers do it. A great positive learning experience. Hope they still do it!
ReplyDeleteSad to say that I don't think this is done anymore. You need positive leadership from the top for this kind of activity.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know no one ever visited a classroom while I attended school. Not that it couldn't have been done...our Superintendent was a real grump. I had several teachers who should not have been teaching...one just talked sports and another gave me the creepy crawlies because he just liked to look down girls blouses...and another PE teacher was a real piece of work.
ReplyDeletefascinating story dear Red which reminds me many things from my school days . superintendent visit to our schools were noticeable by children because of some special additions in routine . unlike your times superintendent would not sit on steps but specially arranged table and chair .
ReplyDeletehow nice you were encouraged and liked even at first visit of superintendent :)
I'm so glad you had such positive experiences in education, Red. I can just imagine what a great teacher and administrator you were. But wow! You started teaching at 19! That's so amazing to me. You were and are such an adventurer.
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