Altering the School Day Schedule

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-PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR

-ALTERING THE SCHOOL DAY SCHEDULE

-LOOPING

Over the years, people in professional fields often have become lax in their professional behaviors. In this paper, I would like to consider specifically the professional behaviors of teachers and how they have changed. People have become more casual and do not take their responsibilities as rigidly as they did in “the olden days.” This is a sentiment that I’m sure has been repeated for hundreds of years. However, in this year of 2009, it also bears some thought.

How teachers act and present themselves in different situations affects how they are perceived. When they act in a role, such as a teacher role, people may stereotype their views of that group (teachers) based on their limited interactions of those teachers with whom they have had contact. OhioUniversity recognizes the importance of professional behaviors in teachers to the degree that it has developed a course about the conduct of teachers. They explain, “Appropriate behavior by educators ensures that students have a safe, supportive, and positive school experience. An educator’s conduct is paramount in maintaining the confidence and trust of students, parents, colleagues, and the public.” (OhioUniversity, 2009).

While many teachers may be brilliant, highly qualified, and hard working, by not presenting themselves in a professional manner, they can(right or wrong) distort someone’s view of that profession. Teachers often complain that they aren’t respected as the professionals they are. They’ve put in many years of work, have many degrees, and feel they deserve respect. Unfortunately, they don’t always realize that their professional behavior does not reflect this.

Let’s look at several areas where attitudes have relaxed and changed over the years. “Teachers, like other professionals, gain respect from their constituents partially through their appearance.” (IowaStateUniversity, 2009).

To begin, teachers, as a whole, do not dress in suits and ties for work anymore. Clothes tend to be more relaxed and comfortable. Teachers sometimes allow parents to call them by their first names. The teachers address their administrators by their first names as well. Many teachers bring in coffee and breakfast food and eat, while they are teaching in the morning. One can often see teachers talking on cell phones while in the school buildings, even though other phones are readily available. Teachers attend professional conferences and workshops and talk incessantly, while the speaker is presenting. A recent common occurrence is if a teacher’s own child is ill at school and the school nurse calls, the teacher feels it is his right to leave the building immediately without thought to his class of 25 students, that the administration should be responsible. Teachers required to attend professional development watch the clock, and at the gong of the hour, jump up and walk out, even if the speaker is in midsentence.

TEACHER LENS

Things have changed and teachers have earned the right to dress and act how they want to as long as they are doing their jobs. Teachers are working with kids all day long on their feet giving at least five presentations a day. Then they are meeting individually with students. They need to feel comfortable in their clothing. Teachers sit on the floor, deal with glue, crayons, paint, and bodily fluids, etc. Children need to see them as approachable and not stiff.

When teachers allow parents to call them by their first names, they feel theyhave a better rapport with them. Parents feel more comfortable with the teachers and that the teachers act more like a team, not like a dictatorship. The students see teachers and parents are all working together and the teachers are able to get more out of the students. Likewise, teachers are a team with their administrators, so they call them by their first names to make a more comfortable working relationship. It feels like administrators are more approachable that way as well.

Lives are more hectic than they were forty years ago. Teachers are working parents now. In the “olden days,” teachers stayed home and raised their children, then wentback to teach. Now, with the economy the way it is, people have to realize that the teachers are also working and raising their own families. So, if they don’t have time to eat their breakfasts and eat while they are teaching, they aren’t taking time away from their students. Teachers are able to multitask. That is what this generation is all about. Teachers also need to be able to be in contact with their ownfamilies in case of emergency, so they need to be able to have their cell phones. After all, it is 2009. After 9/11, everyone saw how important it is to be able to have immediate access to one’s own family. Teachers don’t talk on the phone while they are teaching. One of their most important jobs as teachers is that they are role models for students. It is valuable to students to see the importance of setting priorities. One of the most important priorities in life should be that one’s familycomes first. When students see a teacher leave to take care of their own sick children because they see the importance of parents being with their children, they are teaching values. Students should know that a teacher’s own children come first. They recognize that teachers have personal lives too.

Conferences are a time when teachers need to be able to converse and discuss what the speaker is presenting. Often the speaker doesn’t allow time for discussion, so teacher need to talk while it is being presented. This way teachers can share ideas and see what other districts are doing and compare notes. As for leaving at the gong of the hour, that is when teachers are forced to go to staff development that they have not chosen. They have to go for a certain amount of time and when that time is up, teachers should not give up any more of their personal time, taking away from their family time for that which they don’t feel is valuable. It is being forced on them by contractual regulations.

STUDENT LENS

When student see their teacher sitting on the floor with them at carpet time, or reading one on one with them, it makes them feel safe and that they feel someone cares for them. They feelwhen they do have questions, their teacher wants to hear from them and is not pushing them away.

Students get nervous when their teacher talks with their parents. If their teacher calls their parents by their first names, it is like they are friends with them. Sometimes that can be good, but other times, students may feel like it’s the adults against them and that they team up against them instead of for them. That’s kind of scary. Students want our parents to be on their side all the time. Students may not be sure what a friendship with a teacher may be.

The teacher brings in breakfast often. It is hard for students to understand why they can’t eat their breakfast in school. They have to plan their mornings to eat breakfast at home, why can’t their teacher finish breakfast at home? They may sometimes feel like their class day doesn’t really start until her yogurt and coffee are done. Sometimes, if she’s drinking coffee, they won’t want to go up to her desk because she might not want to hear from them because she is relaxing. It doesn’t feel like serious work time to them when she is eating or they are eating.

Cell phones aren’t allowed in school. If students need to call home or their parents have to call them, it has to go through the office. Class time is for the class, not personal time. So it is hard to understand why teachers don’t apply that rule to themselves. The office would contact them in an emergency. It doesn’t seem fair. It is even scary to students when the teacher’s phone goes off during class.

Even at the graduate level, teacher professional behavior is important. “Although a high standard of knowledge is vital, humanistic and professional characteristics are reported by trainees as important in role models.” (Ainsworth, et.al., 2003, p. 1)

PARENT/TAXPAYER LENS

Teachers don’t act the same as when the parents grew up. Children sat in rows and weren’t allowed to talk unless asked a question. Teachers were at the front of the room, not around the room. It was not comfortable to ask questions. So some of the changes are good, but some are still questionable.

It is comfortable talking to teachers and calling them by their first names. When there is a bad situation, it makes it easier to contact them if there isn’t so much formality. It makes it feel like they are really working for their child’s best interests, not just being in school. Also, teachers dressing comfortably is fine. However, there is a degree where sometimes it is too comfortable and not professional. The children have to know there is an authority figure. However, in the long run, children may be less afraid and have more positive memories of their teachers when they reach adulthood.

The issues of eating in the classroom and talking on cell phones are troublesome. This is where it seems that it is crossing the line of professionalism. As taxpayers, parents should expect that teachers take care of their meals on their own time, their calls on their own time, and that the five or six hours that they are with their children, that time is totally dedicated to serving the children’s needs, not the teachers.

ADMINISTRATIVE LENS

Administrators want to work as a team with their teachers. A collaborative environment is certainly the most conducive working environment to be in. However, there are times when things have to be directed from top down because the administrator needs to set a tone for the atmosphere of the school.It is important to define the professional role of a teacher. Behaviors often do the defining. “Teachers are held to high standards. Our contact with children as their models and our public scrutiny make it imperative that teachers demonstrate professional, ethical, and moral standards that exemplify and will perpetuate the goals of society and will ensure that the next generations see and understand the standard we emulate.” (MillersvilleUniversity Professional Education Unit, 2009).

Teachers dressing comfortably makes sense. They are working with children, often on the floor, often moving all over constantly. However, sometimes the line gets crossed. Casual workclothes are fine, but wearing jeans and t-shirts really does not convey an attitude of importance of the task at hand. It sends a message that when one goes out to the world to present himself, putting his best foot forward is not important. That is not a message that teachers should be modeling for children. Teachers above all else are always role models and must remember this in all they do.

It is a concern when parents are calling teachers by their first names. While administrators may understand the thinking behind this practice, it is dangerous. It sets a precedent. When there is a serious situation, it makes it very uncomfortable because now the relationship is too cozy. Resentments can form between parent and teacher as well as parent-to-parent. It is better to leave the distance of formality for the parent-teacher relationship. Conversely, when teachers call their immediate administrators by first name, that is a building tone that the administrator sets. It helps the collaborative working relationship. Every employee in the building has a role, administrator, teacher, secretary, and custodian. Without any one of those, the structure wouldn’t work as well. By being on a first name basis, people recognize the importance of all of the roles and the approachability of everyone. When situations arise, it is easier to address in the less formal role.

Eating in the classroom also sets a tone of relaxation, rather than the seriousness of the task at hand. Students need to be taught time management. If they see the teacher never has time for breakfast, what does that say to the student? The teacher didn’t time his schedule properly. If the teacher can’t schedule properly, then why should the students? Cell phone use in the classroom is an outrage. There are phones in the school and in case of emergencies, the office would contact the teacher. When the teacher’s cell phone goes off, his caller never knows what is happening in the class, that could ruin a great moment during a lesson at best. At worst, what if there were a family crisis, death, etc.? If the teacher heard that news in front of a class full of students, that would be disastrous for the teacher and the students. If there was an emergency like that, an administrator should be able to take the teacher out and tell him personally, as well as having provisions for the class.

Teachers talking during conferences and staff development is a constant amazement. This is behavior that they would never tolerate in their own classrooms. Why is it acceptable for them to do it? It is rampant in our profession. It almost is like an air of arrogance that educators know so much, no one else could possibly teach them anymore because they are an elite group of experts. The message they send to the speakers is that what they have to say is not important. It doesn’t make sense. Staff development, in particular, is really problematic. Even if the speaker or workshop is dynamic, it seems it is a constant uphill battle to get teachers to listen to it. It seems they have to be “sold” on an idea, topic, etc. This shouldn’t be. It is for their professional growth. Despite it being contractual, as a learning community, they should want to hear what a speaker says and not act resentful while they are there. Behavior in these circumstances really separates those considered “professional” with those who do not seem professional.

Over all, change is good. It keeps people fresh. However, changing our attitudes in terms of presenting to others, sometimes going to the extreme of comfort and informality can be a concern when we are in relationships of nonfamiliarity with people and need to be seen as professional. It bears some thought when teachers are creating their “teacher persona.”

The notion that children develop at different rates, at different ages is not a new concept. Children need sleep, but more or less depending on their age. Teenagers need a great deal of sleep. “Most adolescents need slightly more than 9 hours of sleep each night. Most adolescents become tired and go to bed at 11 p.m. or later. Because most adolescents must rise between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. to prepare for school, they are getting approximately 7 hours of sleep on school nights.” (Dake, May 2009, p. 225). If this is the case, why are they going to school at the earliest time in the school district and the elementary school is going at a later time? That is the general schedule of most school districts. Should all students be going to school at the same scheduled time for the same amount of time? There are pros and cons to the different possibilities, but certainly repercussions among various constituent groups no matter what system is set in place. What would happen if a district tried to develop a schedule based on students’ physical development and their best working schedule? For example, what would happen if a district changed the schedule so the elementary schools started at 7:30; the middle school started at 8:15; and the high school started at 9:00?Adolescents not having enough sleep has been associated with poorer academic performance, unintentional injuries and obesity. (Dake, May 2009, p. 224). Altering adolescents’ school schedules may be one solution to these problems. Delaying high school start times was done successfully in the MinneapolisPublicSchool district. (Date, May 2009, p. 224).

ADMINISTRATIVE LENS

Certainly administrators want students to be at their best peak performance level. However, reality sets in and there are many variables that would have to be addressed. Each change would have a domino effect.

Let’s begin at the elementary level. You may be able to wake up younger children and get them into school earlier. However, most music programs(i.e., band, chorus, and orchestra) are done before school right now. If that changed, it would have to be done after school. Elementary students getting out of school at 1:30 would wreak havoc on parents. Who would be home to meet them? If the music program wasn’t in the morning, it would now be in the afternoon after school. How would parents be able to pick them up from that? Some latchkey program would have to be created, which of course would require more money. More elementary children would probably be missing breakfast, so there would be a need for another snack time built in. How would that affect the cafeteria? Certainly, they wouldn’t be eating lunch at 9:30. Would they be serving a breakfast like meal?