At each of our Union Administration Summit meetings since August we have been in discussions concerning “human capital” as defined in the book Professional Capital. To get a summary of the concepts, if you are interested you can read the June 6, 2012 Education Week article “Reviving Teaching with ‘Professional Capital’” by Fullan and Hargreaves. My ten second synopsis is that if employees are treated properly, trained well, empowered to be part of functioning teams then amazing things can happen as a result. All of our Summit members agree that the factory model of use and abuse of people until they are ready to quit is not sustainable or desirable in any setting, let alone schools.
I can imagine some of you smirking right now, aware of situations where it surely seems as colleagues have been treated poorly. I will tell you that I believe that the current administrators at the Board level are not intentionally out to wreck the careers of anyone, even though it seems like the reality at the building level can be quite different.
I was contemplating the whole “capital” discussion again this winter break as I attended the funeral for high school coaching legend Dick Mann. Dick was an amazing coach and teacher at Heights for 36 years. He came back to his alma mater after serving in the army in Korea and then teaching/coaching eight years in Cleveland. He loved Heights and made a huge impact coaching track and field for his entire time here. Dick was a gruff teddy bear, devoting himself to generations of students. As a colleague, he was the kind of guy who made eating in the teacher lunchroom like a trip to comedy central. Dick must have rubbed someone the wrong way because before he started his 45th year of teaching back in 1996, he was informed that he would not be coaching AND he would be teaching social studies instead of physical education. It is certainly administration’s right to decide they want a different coach - no one has an automatic right to the job. Although if administration was not pleased with the job he was doing, then they could have let Dick know so that he could either explain or change. It was not in the best interest of kids to assign Coach Mann to teach social studies, a subject he had not taught in over 40 years. We joked that the last time he taught a history class the books were a lot thinner. There was no negotiating, so Coach Mann left - forced out unceremoniously. He was immediately hired by John Carroll University, followed by St. Ed’s and finally Laurel School. He was coaching until he died - bellowing at kids from the track in his walker. That was Dick Mann.
When administration at that time decided to get rid of Dick Mann they could have done it differently. Why not have a huge gala event honoring 36 years of dedicated service to the school community? Bring in famous alums, raise money, have a roast, honor Coach Mann’s service, name something after him, and allow him to leave with dignity. He would not have been happy, but it could have been done respectfully.
We can talk about all other sorts of “capital”, but they are only great theories until they completely permeate our work. Every time a member is mistreated there is a negative impact on several other people. Folks end up thinking to themselves “why the heck am I working so hard?” Personally, I am hopeful that the discussions we are having at the Summit meetings will be the start to a change in culture in all of our schools. Some of this change could happen through contract language - perhaps some changes to how assignments are made and teams formed. I believe it is important work that can make a difference for our students, therefore, it is worth pursuing.
In Union,
Ari Klein
CHTU President