4 Types of Teachers
Recently, I participated in a book study at our
school with a group of teacher leaders who were interested in creating a positive
school culture. We read an interesting book entitled, Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division by
Anthony Muhammad. In this book, Muhammad shares a few interesting points in
which I would like to disclose. Muhammad believes educators are classified into
following four categories: Tweeners, Believers, Survivors or Fundamentalists.
First,
Tweeners are who we may consider our “new teachers on the block.” As you
probably have observed, these teachers typically starts out with enthusiasm and
usually comply with administrators’ requests. These teachers can be very
vulnerable and easily persuaded. They are trying out new things all the time to
see what works best for them.
Next,
Believers are the teachers who embrace change. They have high expectations for
student learning and behavior. They place student learning first and do what they
feel is best for children. Believers are intrinsically motivated and build
great rapport with all stakeholders. They hold the academic, social and
emotional success of all students as their most important goal. Believers are
not afraid of confrontations.
Also,
Survivors are teachers who are “on their last legs.” Needless to say, these
teachers have become ineffective in their craft due to stress, negative attitude
etc. Survivors are barely holding on. They are literally counting the days and look
forward to breaks and holidays.
Finally,
Fundamentalists are teachers who have been “around the block” a few times. They
are concerned with maintaining status quo. These teachers are resistant to all
change and believe that some students can achieve academic success whereas
others cannot. They feel they are more realistic than Believers.
In reading this book, I was able to pick out teachers who fit the descriptions described by Muhammad. I was forced to take a critical look at my school and ponder the following questions: Are teachers more concerned with student achievement or more concerned with maintaining status quo?, Do we spend our time complaining or coming up with solutions?, and What habits are we teaching new teachers? As a leader, I believe it is essential to seek ways to improve teacher relationships in an effort to develop positive school culture.
I really like the four categories and descriptions, and I can see where they're applicable to almost any school. I think that, as leaders, it's important to understand and be able to recognize the four types so we can focus our efforts on supporting our current "Believers" and transforming those certain other individuals into Believers also...or dismiss them from their teaching duties.
ReplyDeleteI completed my Specialist degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development. One of the things I've notice is professional development does not take place the way Shirley Horde and Stephanie Hirsh designed. T0 implement the change process leaders should be providing the support that facilitates change such as conducting professional development that is reviewing data, discussing staff strengths and weaknesses, setting goals and coming back to confirm progress with goals.
ReplyDeleteI believe that while working in schools sometimes we go from crisis to crisis and facilitating change can be very difficult. I guess each year we have to try.