Klarinet Archive - Posting 001214.txt from 1997/10

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: what I have to teach
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:07:11 -0500

On Sun, 26 Oct 1997, Roger Garrett wrote:

> ....go over the administrator's head.....I did it when I had to.....at
> both the Middle School level and, most recently, at the college level.

I would like to give a word of warning to all young people who may be
about to begin a career in teaching: There are certainly an abundance of
incompetent administrators out there, and often they control our lives to
an inordinate degree. However, I would recommend being very cautious
about choosing this course of action. You might or might not solve a
problem by adopting this method, but you might also find yourself without
a job very soon. So, the bottom line is, you would need to decide whether
you can do the most for yourself and your students while teaching in a
situation which is unsatisfactory in some way or ways, or not teaching at
all.

A good rule from the world of business is, "Find out who your boss is, and
make him look good." If you didn't hire the administrator, you aren't in
a position to fire him, either.

As an alternative, I recommend that whenever possible, you try NOT to set
up an adversarial relationship with your administrators. Rather, attempt
to have as good a working relationship as possible with everyone with whom
you work, be firm and insistent in standing up for your students and your
beliefs, but if you do not prevail on a particular issue, don't take that
too personally. Do the best job you can with the resources available to
you. This does not constitute "giving in," it is simply being smart.

I taught in the public schools for six years (two different jobs), and
never had an administrator that I thought was worth one tenth of what the
better teachers was paid. I found it very frustrating to have to try to
do such a hard job as teaching music in a school setting with no support
from administrators who knew nothing about what I was trying to teach and
cared even less. However, I now believe I would have been more successful
at dealing with this situation if someone had given me the advice I
advocate above.

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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