Teaching Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | Jun 11, 2010
Switching grades: teacher needs vs. school needs
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Switching grades: teacher needs vs. school needs
By Angela Watson
8 little words can invoke panic in the heart of almost any teacher: “You’re moving to a different grade next year.”
Changing grade levels is a big topic of conversation in June. In some schools, nothing’s been decided yet, so the rumors are flying and everyone’s unsettled. Other principals have already dropped the bomb: I’ve heard of one school in which a kindergarten teacher is being moved to 7th grade, which means the 7th grade teacher is being moved to 4th, so that teacher’s moving to 2nd, and the 2nd grade teacher’s going down to kindergarten.
Why the huge shuffle? Because one teacher is the weakest link, and the principal’s playing a game to make sure he inflicts the least amount of damage on students.
Situations like that infuriate me. It’s one thing when a drastic move is necessitated by budgetary reasons; for example, when a position must be cut due to decreased enrollment or funding. I can also understand moving a teacher into his of her field of expertise or preference. However, causing a chain reaction of switches for no reason other than to shuffle an incompetent teacher is a tragedy.
I’m amazed at how often this happens. Sometimes the principal is trying to run the teacher off or force early retirement (and it often works). But many times it’s a matter of placing ineffective educators in non-standardized-testing grades, as if children who don’t get scored by the state one particular year are of any less value or don’t deserve a top-quality education.
Another grade-switch reasoning that bothers me: This teacher’s been in the same grade for too long. He’s getting stale and stuck in a rut. I’ll move him up two grade levels and he’ll have no choice but to change with the times!
Wrong, wrong, wrong. He DOES have a choice: to get really angry, shut down, and try even less. He has the choice to take his frustration out on the kids and everyone around him. And chances are, if he’s the kind of teacher who refused to try new things in his former position, he’s not going to be too excited about learning to work a SmartBoard now that he has a whole new curriculum to figure out.
I’m not excusing the laziness and incompetence of certain teachers. I’m ascertaining that moving ineffective teachers to another grade level doesn’t fix the problem by itself, and it can make things worse for everyone else affected.
Most teachers have an increasingly limited amount of autonomy in their jobs, and I believe that choosing the age level or subject area they’d like to devote their career to teaching is a reasonable expectation. An unhappy teacher is never going to be as effective as a happy one, so shouldn’t a principal honor a teacher’s wishes whenever possible?
Not everyone agrees with me on this, I know. Whether you do depends on your feelings about a few fundamental questions:
- What is a legitimate reason for forcing a teacher to switch grade levels?
- Are administrators obligated to make any switch that will benefit the maximum number of students? If so, how can those potential benefits truly be gauged in advance?
- Is it worth making a few teachers unhappy if it’s advantageous to the school as a whole? And when we refer to the benefit of the ‘school’, do we really mean the faculty, the students, or the test scores?
We can all agree that the purpose of school should be to meet the needs of children, but teaching is a professional career choice. I don’t think anyone should be stuck teaching something they’re not passionate about.
So what’s more important in your perspective, the good of the ‘school’ or the good of the teacher?
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Discussion
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Happy teachers make for happy students. Therefore, keep the teachers happy and they will intern make the students happy to learn. The school climate will be an enjoyable place to work and learn.
When administration disregards the needs of the teachers under the guise of “it’s better for the students” everyone loses. As stated in your article, unhappy teachers take it out on the kids some intentionally and some inadvertently. The staff becomes disenfranchised and negative. Thus creating a toxic atmosphere for teachers, aides and students.
There is a trickle down effect.
I am experiencing a situation at my school where I have been teaching Kindergarten for over 10 years with passion and dedication at a variety of schools. My current school enrolment in our school went up in 2 years ago and a new teacher was hired with little to no previous Kindergarten experience. The school year was successful for both of us. I shared my resources, collaborated well and things we going really well until we were told that our enrollment in K has declined and the following year will consist of a k and a k/1. Ms. L (the new teacher) felt that she was entitled to remain in a kindergarten class because she was philosophically opposed to a k/1 and felt that she wanted more consistent years in Kindergarten to “master” it . I on the other hand was contemplating the thousands of dollars and hours of work to build up my program and resources, and the over 10 years that it took me to get to where I want to be in my career. I have taught almost every grade level between k and grade 6 in the past in short or temporary contract and have found my niche and passion in K. My experience in k/1 is very limited and I have young children plus ailing parents whom I am caring for. As it turned out, Mrs. L (single and lives alone) reluctantly agreed to teach the k/1 class but said that she didn’t want to be “pigeon holed” as a k/1 teacher and wanted to alternate every second year that a k/1 came up. While in theory, this may seem like a fair solution, it is not the norm in our school or in our school district. The trend has been that if a job is no longer available due to declining enrolment then someone (usually the last hired at that grade level) is surplussed and they can either take another job at the school if available or apply to another school. Mrs. L did not wish to apply to another school to avoid teaching k/1 and is insisting that she should be able to stay and alternate the K job with me. I have had situations in my 18 years with the district where enrollment decreased and I “lost” my grade level at my school and had to change schools, that is common practice and no one has ever received any special treatment because of it. Why should I how have to accomodate Mrs. L when no accomodations were made to me or any other teacher who has been in this situation? I have asked my admin if she thought that Mrs. L was a better teacher and better suited for K and she replied that she considered us as equal. (a total blow since I have substantially more experience). This has been a very toxic experience for our school and no one is happy! Do you have any advice that I could give to my admin if she tries to force us to alternate? This, to me is worth staying and fighting for. It is wrong on so many levels and while it is causing me great stress and frustration, walking away from it all will only leave me feeling powerless and defeated. I feel that there are several reasons why alternating each year is not in the best interest of the students and our school community not to mention ridiculouslly unfair to teachers. Any thoughts as to why you would recommend or not recommend alternating each year would help me in discussing this issue with my principal. Thank you in advance for helping!
Hi, there, I’m sorry to hear you’ve been put in this position! I would not like the idea of alternating K and K/1 each year, either. That’s a tremendous amount of work for both teachers to switch grades every year. I think at this point in the school year, though, it’s better to just focus on enjoying your kinders and doing a fantastic job with them. Don’t stress out about this and ruin your year teaching what you want to teach because you’re worried about what will happen next year. In the spring, you can approach your principal about staying in K, and present a list of reasons why you believe you are a better asset to the school just teaching K. Does that make sense?
I think is best for a teacher to teach a grade and subject that they are most effective and have a love for. It will benefit the teacher and the students. The teacher will mostly enjoy their job and the students will enjoy being in their class. Passion, love, and dedication to something make it a success and teaching a certain grade or subject needs those three things. I do not think a teacher should be made to teach a subject because their good and the school needs them to. Good teachers are moved around all the time for the good of the school. It is almost like being punished for being a good teacher and wanting the best from your students. I think it is very wrong. I got moved around because they need me here and there. We are getting evaluated and held responsible for being in grade levels that do not suit us because the school needs us to help test scores. It all boils down to scores and indiscipline. If you are good in those two areas you will be moved for the good of the school. I really and truly believe it hurts student. You take an excellent fifth grade teacher and move them to seventh, which is not their first choice. The fifth graders could have had an excellent teacher, but the seventh graders get a teacher just trying to make it to the next school year to teach another grade of their choice. Who wins in the end?
I agree, Anonymous. Teachers should teach what they’re most passionate about whenever possible.
I am so disgusted with my new move. iihave teaching for 19 years, the last 6 as a 5th grade resource Room teacher. I was told today that I am moving to a 6th grade RR in January! The teacher is retiring and the person they hired to take him place doesn’t have the correct certification. So, the new hire will take my students. I feel so bad for my kids. Their needs are not taken into consideration. There will be other Special Ed moves to other positions because my district won’t hire people to take the retiree’s place. I feel like I have been stabbed in the back!
I’m sorry to hear that. How frustrating for you. 🙁
Well.I am being moved again! This time, I am going to the middle school for 7th grade self-contained, with no experience in either. Because of the changes in SpEd certs, K-12 certs are no longer issued. So, old timers like me are being moved to the middle and high school because of retirements. I practically begged them not to move me because my husband is in Afghanistan and the earlier hours are a problem. I was basically told oh well! I am trying to be positive about this change but it is hard to leave from a place where you have been for 13 years and the staff is one big family.
I have taught kindergarten for more than 19 years. It is my passion. I was told two days
before Christmas break that when I return, I would be moved to a first grade classroom
(all due to low enrollment, etc.) Whatever the reason, I didn’t think changes would be
made this late in the year. I am definitely going throught the stages of grief. I wasn’t
ready to leave my class. I’m going from being someone who knew what they were doing, to someone who will have to wing it. I don’t even have a class list or a key to the room ! Somehow I’ll get through this, but it I am devastated that this has happened.
Oh My Gosh!!! It was difficult enough for me to have to switch at the beginning of the following year two yeas ago, but at least I was able to start from the beginning of the school year. It took me half the summer to prepare for the switch. What about the students? We as adults are better able to handle change due to experience, but children have a much harder time adapting. Both the teadcher and students are going to have to build a relationship with each other—Will there be enough time to do this and teach to the curriculum? I doubt it. What will happen to the students that you are already teaching? Is this change in the best interest of the students? I feel for you and your students, and I feel it is really unfair that someone had the power to alter so many lives. I too love teaching, but I find myself wondering if perhaps I might be better off doing something else.