School Conflict

School Conflict A few years ago I worked as a Support Teacher for our Special Education Program Office. My primary role was to work directly with Site SPED Departments to support the team in providing effective services as the district moved towards more inclusive practices. One of the sites I was assigned to had a very dysfunctional team dynamic amongst the department members as well as with the School Administrators. Looking back, I think the conflict was a combination of incompatible preferences and activities amongst themselves and with the School Administration. More specifically, because the district was moving towards inclusive practices (providing more push in services vs. pull out). Many veteran special education teachers were resistant to the change in philosophy. They were very upset with the School Administration reorganizing the master schedule for more co-taught classes/push in services. It also seemed like the resistant staff took things personally because it affected their daily schedule and routine and forced to collaborate with general education teachers. How did School Administrators respond and how was it resolved? When I met with the School Administrators to discuss the new changes, it was apparent they were well aware of the teachers that were resistant to the change. It was interesting to see the different leadership styles amongst the Administrators’. The Principal and a newer V.P. wanted to figure out a way to address the teachers concerns to get their buy in and support for the changes. The other V.P. had prior conflict with the same resistant staff for many years, felt that this was an inevitable change and trying to work with the staff was pointless. How I was personally affected? I felt like I was caught in between the School Administrators and the SPED department. It was a very uncomfortable situation. One of the V.P.’s would roll their eyes when I would mention the certain staff that were upset. I could tell there was a history of frustration that was much bigger than just the change for more inclusive practices. The Principal assigned the newer V.P. to oversee the SPED department and she came in with some great strategies to resolve some of the frustrations. Her first step was having the department meet with her and discuss their concerns. She then invited myself and some district SPED Administrators to come in and share the thought process about the new changes. How did staff members react? The resistant staff members still seemed frustrated but at the end of the meeting the team agreed to be respectful to each other and agreed upon a common goal for the students to be successful. It was a rough year for that team because conflict consistently surfaced amongst the staff members and Administrators.

Best Practice and Limited Time for Administrators

As a special education teacher, facilitating IEP meetings throughout the school year is one of the many responsibilities. I enjoy these meetings because we get to sit down as a team with the student, family/parent, Administrator, School Counselor, and teachers to discuss how best to provide supports and services for the student to improve. I am also a parent of a student with an IEP and was horrified to hear the Administrator, say at the start of my child’s meeting, that the IEP team has limited time (1 hour) because they scheduled back to back IEP meetings. My first thought was that she could have approached this in a more positive tone “I really want to focus on addressing your child’s needs and IEP program. We have scheduled 1 hour for today’s meeting so when it gets close to the end, let’s reassess and determine if we need to reconvene in order to ensure we addressed all areas of the IEP?” She really did not need to let me know that they scheduled back to back meetings. The meeting felt very rushed and I was not impressed with how they handled the limited time. I did not sign the IEP and asked to review all the changes discussed. The team was not willing to sit an additional 10-15 minutes to do this and that really made me more frustrated. They were literally trying to wrap things up ready so they could get ready for the following meeting. Walking away from this meeting, I felt the Administrator put her needs (time constraints for back to back meetings) above my child’s needs. As a future administrator, I know I will NEVER convey to my staff, parents, families, or community members that “I was too busy to call you back or to find time to address your concerns or needs”. To hear this from my child’s IEP team made me feel that my child’s needs were insignificant and not the priority. I will always ensure families feel their student is the priority, whether it is in an IEP meeting or just running into the parent at a school function. I will always make the effort make that parent feel that they are heard and if time is limited, I will offer to schedule a better time to meet free of distractions.

Incorporating New Technology as a Future Administrator

Always open to learning new software programs and utilizing it in the classroom, I have viewed myself as somewhat technology proficient. The technology component (earning tech badges) that the Brandman University Administrative program requires has really challenged my skill set as a future administrator. I have found myself intrigued by the options of technology use to incorporate as a future administrator for data(e-posters), presentations(Prezi), and promoting our school vision. At the same time, I have also found it overwhelming trying to learn the new software programs and creating quality assignments. I really enjoyed using the Prezi program to create my Clinical Practice 3 assignment. I will be honest though, it took longer than expected to create my presentation. As an avid PowerPoint user, I am able to create and format my presentations quickly. So, in trying to create a Prezi presentation, I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out how to format and make the presentation clear and concise. I know I still have a long way to go in learning about Prezi and all its functions. However, Prezi is definitely a program that I think I would want to use as a future administrator. Also, it made me realize the importance of promoting and providing the support of technology use for my future staff. I think it will be an important piece to emphasize in our efforts for school improvement. My current Principal is very good at “showcasing” some great technology in our staff meetings. He also offers additional support by providing online help/instructions/examples of how to incorporate into our teaching practice.