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Understanding the Past, Creating the Present, Imagining the Future
Understanding the Past, Creating the Present, Imagining the Future
I walked into the meeting five minutes early. A few teachers were talking and sharing stories about their school day. It was my first year at the school, and this was our first staff meeting. It included every teacher and counselor from kindergarten to twelfth-grade.
The atmosphere was different. Everyone was very kind and respected one another; I didn’t see the usual “clique” I saw at other schools. Most importantly, I didn’t see the awkward atmosphere often felt when teachers and administrators are present in the same room.
What was different about this school was that the administrators were also teachers. They taught a class, in addition to their administrative duties.
They were above us in the technical sense of being an administrator, but they were one of us at least for a period throughout the day. That made all the difference.
At Academy of the Renaissance, everyone teaches.
I believe that one of the most common backgrounds among excellent administrators is their years of experience as a teacher. Administrators who were well-respected by teachers had more than eight years of teaching experience before they became administrators. Regardless of the number of years as an administrator, years of teaching experience contributed more to their success with staff and students.
This makes sense because administrators who have had over five years of teaching experience know what it takes to be a successful teacher. They know what expectations are realistic. They understand what teachers need (professionally, materially, and emotionally) to be successful with their students. In other words, their decisions are often made based on their experience of having “walked in their teaching staffs’ shoes.”
Academy of the Renaissance will require that all administrators and counselors teach one class.
When an administrator is also a teacher, they will have to be held accountable to same policies, expectations, and changes they make. This will alleviate the unrealistic expectations administrators often place on teaching staff.
The idea that “everyone teaches” is aligned to one of our six pillars: intergenerational teaching and learning.
When we introduced this pillar, we mentioned that students at higher grade levels will help to teach and mentor students at the lower grade level.
Likewise, successful veteran teachers, who are ready to be administrators, should model, inspire, and lead younger teachers so that they too can be successful teachers.
Academy of the Renaissance is a place to teach and learn. Therefore, teaching is as much of a focus as learning. It is only through successful teaching that you will have successful learning.
