Blog 7.1 Response to Rob (Conflict and Cooperation)
Rob, thanks for sharing about your current school. This school sounds similar in ways to a Christian school I taught at for three years in Toronto which was also a “missional school founded and run by a single church.” Unlike your school, my old school required that 75% of the student population come from a Charismatic background. Teachers came from mostly Pentecostal and Baptist churches but they were all believers. At a local Christian school that I taught at briefly, they also had certain stipulations about what percent of students had to come from a Christian home and what percent could be unchurched but at least open to learning more about Christianity. The same is the case for my daughter’s present Christian private school however, they also seek to have a certain percent of the student body from a charismatic church background.
“Most of the student population is from non-Christian families. There are Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, and Atheist families sending their children to our school.” I wonder how open these students and parents are to Christianity? What seems to be the appeal for them to send their children to your Christian school when there are other Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist schools in Richmond?
“The development of the positive attitude of the staff came through prioritizing staff prayer times, staff worship times, and through modelling servant leadership on the part of the administration.” I have also experienced this at my old school in Toronto. It was back then in 2001-2004 when I was first exposed to transformational servant leadership. My principal at the time, Mr. B, walked very close with the Lord. In fact the entire staff seemed to minister to me in such a powerful way. As a young Christian I learned much about the gifts of the HS, speaking in tongues etc… It was common to be walking down the hall and teachers or admin might be praying over someone in the halls.
Furthermore, being intentional is key whether praying with staff or worshiping. Smith (2016) posits “recognizing worship as the heart of discipleship doesn’t mean sequestering discipleship to Sunday; it means expanding worship to become a way of life” (p.113). For both you and your colleagues as well as my old school in Toronto, worshiping God through prayer and worship service built a strong community and was very powerful.
“The administration strives for these principles modelling them to the staff, who in turn model them to the students. In all areas of communication the administration and staff members are transparent about their concerns and their desire to fulfill God’s plan for our school. This is the foundation of our staff interactions, in all things we work for Christ.” All that you write here Rob is very similar to my old experiences. You are very blessed to be able to work and teach in such a healthy environment.
“In previous schools and organizations there has always been an underlying culture of gossip and grumbling. Teachers and administrators back-stab one another, complain about one another, and disrespect one another.” I have seen these extremes as well, but I might add that I have seen great differences between two completely different Christian schools where in one atmosphere it was overflowing with love and the interactions of the Holy Spirit, unlike the other where the atmosphere was cold and seemed to be not as on fire as the other school. I often attributed that to the denomination of the school and perhaps there is great truth to this point of view because my daughter’s school is very similar to my old school in Toronto, although it is much larger in size.
Since I have worked for the public system, I have noticed a bad culture of gossip, grumbling and backstabbing all in the name of trying to climb the ladder. It was quite eye-opening when I first did my practicum in the public system. My Profs. At TWU encouraged us to do our main practicum in the public system and from the start of the program I spoke strongly for only wanting to teach in the Christian system. After much prayer, God orchestrated everything to work out in such a positive way. My main School Advisor was himself a Christian and not just a Christian, but a transformational servant leader Christian. I attribute my sticking with the public system to him and his mentorship. My other School Advisor was also a Christian and happened to be the sponsor teacher for a Christian club at the school. I then started to see the possibilities of being a light in a dark place. Currently, at my school all the TWU alumni stick together and take on the TWU student teachers. We are a small group of teachers with a similar worldview which is comforting to know that I am not all alone.
Have you ever begun a conflict resolution meeting with prayer? Do you feel that it makes a noticeable difference to the tone of the meeting?
Not conflict resolution however, I am sure my old school used this approach for such meetings, if they existed! At my old school in Toronto we had prayer devotions for 30 minutes before school started every single day. Teachers would take turns leading and this would rotate throughout the entire staff. I remember being a fairly new Christian and feeling a bit anxious about having to prepare something and teach the others who all seemed to have been walking with the Lord for a much longer time than myself. That prayer time was the highlight of my every day. We really bonded as a staff; praying for each other, our personal issues as well as for our students and the families of the school and the pastoral team. Praying in unison with others who were my brothers and sisters in Christ was pretty amazing. I have never worked in such an environment since even though I taught at another Christian school, they did not do staff devotions on a regular basis.
I have worked at many schools that struggle with an attitude of gossip and grumbling? What actions or traits do you think prevent that attitude from arising at my current school? Are there any tangible tools one could take from this example into another situation to dissolve an existing negative school culture or environment?
Just today I attended a Health & Safety Meeting and when I arrived two of my colleagues were grumbling about the new VP and shortly thereafter, it went into a complaint against our principal. I thought to myself how dangerous these executive meetings can be and how quickly they can turn into gossip sessions which only tear down instead of building up. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Nevertheless, the situation made me put my headlights on and realize these people cannot be trusted. I will be very careful from now on about what I share with them. Wolters (2005) reminds us that the world we currently inhabit is a perverted creation; the poisonous effects of the fall have fouled every aspect of creation” (p.63).
“Should a situation arise in the future where a staff member were to take advantage of the current school environment that I work in, what strategies would you employ in creating an attitude of collaboration? For a hypothetical example: a new staff member joins the team. They bring with them an attitude of negativity, a desire to only do required tasks, and teach the curriculum that they want to teach. How would you bring them into the collective vision.”
This is a good question to ponder Rob. Hughes, Beatty and Dinwoodie (2014) talk about “strategic thinking and how it should be part of a collective process” (p.56). They go on to mention Steve Jobs who made a note to “involve multiple people in the company’s strategic thinking” (p.57). How would you turn this person’s mindset around by listening to him/her while making them feel they have some say in the matter?
References
Holy Bible: New International Version. (2001). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Hughes, R., Beatty, K. & Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization’s enduring success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Smith, J. K. (2016). You are what you love the spiritual power of habit. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.
Wolters, A. M., & Goheen, M. W. (2005). Creation regained biblical basics for a reformational worldview (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.