It was a passing comment made in the context of a longer conversation, a surprising idiomatic expression that I heard from a school principal earlier this afternoon. It would be easier than taking candy from a baby.
The context? A check-in conversation to get the principal’s impressions of the progress that one of my teachers has been making and the teacher’s responsiveness to the principal’s most recent instructional prescriptions. We discussed a recent visit the principal made to the teacher’s classroom, clarified some points from the evaluation document, and were constructively charting next steps and focus areas. By all accounts, this is a situation where most everything– from administrator support to teacher responsiveness, ownership and progress with suggestions– is moving along quite well. A developing success story, in most respects.
But that comment though? A light-hearted phrase intended to contrast with the approach that this particular administrator is taking in this process. (This is an individual, by the way, who I believe is a well-intentioned instructional leader. From what I’ve observed, this individual deserves full props for collegiality, a down-to-earth attitude and a particular focus on student learning–ideal, in regards to the responsibility of working with teachers in a professional and direct manner).
The conversation went something like this:
“I’m not one of those principals who gives 40 or more prescriptions and then changes them up every time he or she does a new observation,” the principal told me. “I’m not trying to get rid of [the teacher] in that way. It would be easier than taking candy from a baby, though…”
A bittersweet moment, for certain. It’s something I’m still thinking about five hours later. It brings up issues of the worst ways in which teacher evaluation can be conducted and the tenuous balance between the responsibility of conducting teacher evaluation and the necessity of giving teachers adequate, professional support. There’s such a wide range of interpretation (or execution) that one can’t help but question the objectivity of much of the current teacher evaluation process. Clearly, there are some (like this principal, I believe) who are doing it right–using the evaluation process in the building with the ultimate intention of improving learning for students in their classes…and in this way, also holding teachers accountable if their practice is not up-to-par. Others, though?
I worry about that baby…
Easier Than Taking Candy From a Baby…
It was a passing comment made in the context of a longer conversation, a surprising idiomatic expression that I heard from a school principal earlier this afternoon. It would be easier than taking candy from a baby.
The context? A check-in conversation to get the principal’s impressions of the progress that one of my teachers has been making and the teacher’s responsiveness to the principal’s most recent instructional prescriptions. We discussed a recent visit the principal made to the teacher’s classroom, clarified some points from the evaluation document, and were constructively charting next steps and focus areas. By all accounts, this is a situation where most everything– from administrator support to teacher responsiveness, ownership and progress with suggestions– is moving along quite well. A developing success story, in most respects.
But that comment though? A light-hearted phrase intended to contrast with the approach that this particular administrator is taking in this process. (This is an individual, by the way, who I believe is a well-intentioned instructional leader. From what I’ve observed, this individual deserves full props for collegiality, a down-to-earth attitude and a particular focus on student learning–ideal, in regards to the responsibility of working with teachers in a professional and direct manner).
The conversation went something like this:
“I’m not one of those principals who gives 40 or more prescriptions and then changes them up every time he or she does a new observation,” the principal told me. “I’m not trying to get rid of [the teacher] in that way. It would be easier than taking candy from a baby, though…”
A bittersweet moment, for certain. It’s something I’m still thinking about five hours later. It brings up issues of the worst ways in which teacher evaluation can be conducted and the tenuous balance between the responsibility of conducting teacher evaluation and the necessity of giving teachers adequate, professional support. There’s such a wide range of interpretation (or execution) that one can’t help but question the objectivity of much of the current teacher evaluation process. Clearly, there are some (like this principal, I believe) who are doing it right–using the evaluation process in the building with the ultimate intention of improving learning for students in their classes…and in this way, also holding teachers accountable if their practice is not up-to-par. Others, though?
I worry about that baby…