Power Play

Bob is a physical education instructor in his first year of teaching.  He entered his current position with no previous teaching experience.  He teaches both physical education and health courses.  He began teaching right after college.

“Ever since I was in high school, I have always wanted to be a physical education teacher, but more importantly, I wanted to coach several sports at the high school level. I participated in just about every sport possible in high school, but considered wrestling to be my best.  I won several state competitions and coached several after-school programs for the local middle school. I mentored several freshman wrestlers at my high school and was treated like an adult—almost like an assistant coach, even though I was only a senior in high school. I was highly regarded by the other coaches as a role model for others. I received several scholarships to attend a university that specialized in physical education and coaching.”

During his senior year in college, Bob was actively completing many on-line high school application forms for a teaching position. Because of his stellar recommendations and previous background, he was invited to interview at several high schools. One high school in particular, where he ultimately was offered and accepted the position, had a very in-depth and thorough review process.  This school is a large, suburban high school known well for its highly successful, highly competitive athletics programs.

“I remembered how excited I was when I went for the third and final interview at Lincoln High School. It seemed like the entire coaching staff was there.  They asked me far more questions about various coaching positions but hardly anything at all about day to day physical education classes.  When I asked them about the health classes I was expected to teach, they told me not to worry about it as you can just have them read the book and answer questions at the end of the chapter. It was obvious that they were far more interested with filling coaching positions than how I would best handle the P.E. classes.”

Bob accepted the position knowing that he would be assigned a mentor.  He knew that he would have to coach sports during all three seasons. His favorite was, of course, wrestling. He felt that he could create an even more winning team based on his previous experiences; he put much time and effort into his coaching duties.  As far as his teaching, Bob’s physical education periods went well, but he was struggling with the health classes. He had over 30 students in a class and had a problem with discipline because he had very little experience with teaching in a classroom setting.

“I went to my mentor, whose roles and responsibilities for guiding me were never really defined. I didn’t know how much and how often we were to meet and how to approach him with questions. He was a nice guy but seemed a bit distant. When I asked for support and help with my health classes, I never really got a decent or helpful answer. In fact, I was starting to get some criticism with how I was directing the sophomore wrestling team.”

Bob soon realized that his mentor was more concerned about his coaching skills than with his classroom success. There appeared to be conflicting philosophies about how to coach the wrestling team, and other coaches had begun to question Bob’s methods.  This was strange because the athletes were winning more matches that the previous years.  Tensions started to build between Bob and the other coaches. Unfortunately, Bob’s mentor was running for the soon-to-be-vacant department chairperson position, which made things even more awkward.

“I felt that my mentor was actually ‘turning’ on me in order to show his version of leadership skills in order to impress the school administration. He really wanted to be department chair. He began verbally pushing me around and said he couldn't believe what a horrible job I was doing with coaching the wrestling team. I think he was trying to show what terrific leadership skills he had.  The opposite was happening.”

In April, Bob informed his mentor and department chair that he did not plan to coach wrestling the next year. He had a total philosophical difference with how to run the team. He was sure that he was doing his best. His already frosty relationship with his mentor became even worse. All of a sudden, all of the other physical education teachers were giving him the cold shoulder.

“I would walk into the coach’s offices and everyone turned away.  Guys who previously would say hello and ask how things were going stopped talking to me altogether.  It was horrible. What made it worse, my mentor said he was going to recommend that I not be hired next year and let me go in June. It became apparent to me that mentors, whom I thought were suppose to help and support me, had the power to get me fired. Even though he was considered a fellow teacher, this mentorship thing and his desire to be department chair went to his head. He told me how disappointed he was with me because I no longer wanted to coach wrestling. He then told me how many other people were up for the position, and that they gave the job to me because I showed the most promise. He told me how sorry the other coaches were; they felt that they should have hired one of the other candidates. I really wanted to come back again next year, but I was sure that my mentor was going to make sure that I got fired.”

Bob found himself in a very lonely place at school, and he had no idea that his mentor could terminate his teaching position. He thought the best thing to do was to start his job search for another school, but he wondered what kind of letters of recommendation he could possibly get from anyone at Lincoln High School.  Bob knew that he would soon be leaving on a very low note.

Questions

1. Is Bob’s story a fairly typical situation?  Are some people hired more for their coaching experience than for their teaching ability?
2. Can Bob’s mentor, who is classified as a regular classroom teacher, actually get him terminated from his teaching assignment at the school?  Explore the context at your school.
3. Would having clearly defined roles and duties for mentors have made Bob’s situation better?  Or is the situation independent from a strong mentoring program?
4. What are some of the misconceptions that Bob may have about the role of his mentor?
5. Was Bob’s mentor placing his own career advancements above mentoring Bob?

Another Look

Bob’s story brings an unfortunate trend to the forefront of the new teacher experience: hazing.  More and more new teachers report that other staff members in schools are making their first years of teaching miserable.

In 2006 a Superintendent in a Chicago-area school video taped new teachers’ interviews.  He then used their answers in a comedic video that he showed during the first days of school.  The superintendent would ask fake questions, but he would then edit in the new teachers’ answers to make their answers seem inappropriate or to make them appear incompetent and unintelligent.  This sparked debate in the educational community.  Some teachers felt that the incident was harmless fun while others, especially the new teachers, were appalled by the behavior of the administrator.

New teachers already have it extremely tough, and this incident is a reminder that some experienced teachers believe that hazing of new teachers is a right of passage.  Effective, compassionate mentors know better, though.  Bob’s situation is a vivid representation of an experienced teacher that abuses his power.   Bob’s mentor used his power to sway the opinions of the teachers around them and essentially isolate Bob.  Clearly, Bob was negatively affected by this treatment, and the mentor’s actions were intentional.

But what happens when the hazing is unintentional—or systemic

Patterson reflects, “When new teachers consistently experience poorer working conditions than their veteran colleagues, there's a word for that… Beginning teachers are often systematically hazed.”  She further notes “ that the new teachers who left the school I focused on almost never did so because of the challenges of teaching, the long hours, or the low pay. They left because they believed that they were in impossible situations in which they would never experience success or career satisfaction.”  Bob was set up for failure from the beginning. He was given a course load that he had virtually no experience in, and even though he had a mentor, there was not an effective program in place to help him as a new teacher.  The comments made by other teachers that Bob could “‘just have them read the book and answer questions at the end of the chapter’” is evidence of a throw-them-to-the-wolves” type of sentiment.  This apathy when it comes to new teacher induction is extremely harmful to the educator community.

Patterson makes these recommendations during the hiring process:
“New teachers need not be given easier or better assignments than their veteran peers—although there is reason to believe that this should be the case. But schools should make a concerted effort to make assignments more equitable. To this end, they should

• Avoid hiring new teachers at the last minute or after the school year has already begun.
• Create survivable schedules for new teachers by giving them one classroom, no more than two preps, and a mix of freshman and higher-level courses.
• Foster a supportive environment by locating new teachers' classrooms near those of helpful veteran teachers in their department.
• Provide new teachers with curriculum binders that hold sample lesson plans, quizzes, and homework assignments.
• Provide new teachers with adequate books and materials for their students.
• Give new teachers concrete information regarding departmental standards, expectations, and timelines.”  i

These suggestions, along with helpful, compassion mentors will keep new teachers confident and enthusiastic.  Here is the story of Harry McDonald, a 25-year teacher out of Kansas:
McDonald gave up his coveted last-period planning session so that a new teacher who coaches could have it. And he asked to mentor three new biology teachers.
As a result, McDonald reports, “Our whole department seems energized with a new spirit of sharing.” There has been a lot of talk lately about “healing the breach.”
Mr. McDonald is an excellent example of veteran teachers ensuring that new teachers have the best opportunity to succeed.  Chase puts it best by observing that “we would be wise to draw inspiration from Harry McDonald. For while new teachers have always felt overwhelmed, the problems they face today are exponentially greater than the-ones we veterans faced- 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. To succeed, this new generation of teachers requires greater support from our state and local Associations-as well as a willingness among ‘elder’ colleagues to share our professional expertise and privileges.” iii  Indeed, there is no room in the teacher community for extraneous pressures especially when the unnecessary pressure comes from veteran educators and mentors.