Abstract:

Berg asks, "What if, in our classrooms, teacher's lounges, district meetings and
communities, we always did the right thing rather than the convenient,
easy, or least-frightening thing?"

Berg, E. (2005). Teacher leadership: Striving to take 'right action.' Teacher Leaders Network diaries. Retrieved from the Teacher Leaders Network 8 Apr 2008. Link: http://www.teacherleaders.org/old_site/diaries/EB02.html

Full Text:

Teacher Leadership: Striving to Take "Right Action"

"Am I living it right"
--John Mayer, "Why, Georgia"

One of my favorite questions on various listserves I have participated in is, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" The question implies that the risk—and thus, the fear—is removed from the situation. For a long time this question really resonated with me, mostly because of my own fears that were holding me back.

Since I have moved to California, land of eternal sunshine and good weather, the question has changed for me. It is no longer couched in fear, and though that may seem to be just semantics, it is a subtle, but powerful shift. The new question is, "What would you do if you took right action? Why aren't you?"

What if, in our classrooms, teacher's lounges, district meetings and communities, we always did the right thing rather than the convenient, easy, or least-frightening thing?

Stop and really think about that. How would your classroom change if every action you took was based on doing what was right?

Before you begin to chuck rotten eggs and assorted vegetables at me, let me be clear that I have far from mastered this simple but difficult concept myself. I am victim of the same fears and barriers as the rest of mankind. I am, however, trying to choose right action more deliberately and consistently.

When I think about my last school year and my school career, I see so many instances where I chose the easy or least scary path over what was right. There were many times that I kept my mouth shut and my opinions to myself because I was afraid of what "they" might think of me. I worried that speaking up would result in isolation and criticism.

It is important to note that the staff in no way did or said anything to give me that impression. As human beings we tend to create illusions borne out of our own fears and insecurities. My illusions were created out of my tendency to believe I am not smart enough and my fears of belonging. Perhaps the staff would have reacted well, perhaps not, but because I did not speak up, I do not know the truth. I never gave them a chance.

Even then, is fear a good enough reason not to speak up, to hold back? Maybe, maybe not. I think the answer depends on where you are in your personal development and what you are ready to handle. I wasn't ready until now, and even now I know there will be situations I will continue to choose the easy or least scary path. I am human, so to think otherwise is ridiculous.

What I can do, however, is know consciously what I am doing and why. I can also teach myself to take right action in small ways at first, building up to the bigger, scarier stuff. What I cannot do, though, is pretend I do not know what is right, or that the excuses I make will alter the truth.

Right action can be powerful. I do have one instance this year I would like to share with you.

We are a public charter school. Charter schools tend to attract kids on extreme ends of the spectrum; we have a large number of gifted kids and a large number of special education and behavior-challenged kids. Charter schools are attractive to parents and kids whose needs aren't being met in the regular school system.

Sometime in the Fall, the staff started to talk about the larger number of behavior problems and special education students we were receiving since the school first opened four years ago. I chuckled to myself as these mostly early-career teachers talked about one or two kids in classrooms who "ruined it for everybody." Talk turned toward developing a screening and application process to keep "those" kids out of our school.

I was crushed. I spent the first decade of my teaching career working with classrooms full of challenging students. I know what is possible when teachers commit to these students' success. I'd like to say I spoke up right away, but I kept silent out of fear. However, my passion for teaching struggling and at-risk youth refused to let me stay silent. I went to a staff member who was a little more experienced and whom I trusted and told her how I felt. She, in turn, told me I had to tell the staff what I was thinking and brought it up at the next staff meeting.

I was surprised by the reaction. Explaining my concern about creating a policy of exclusion caused the staff to stop and think for a moment. They actually thanked me for telling them what I thought. We took a big step back from the policy that was going to be crafted.

The point of all of this is not that I stood up for "square pegs in round holes" kids or that the staff changed what it was going to do. I think what I did would have been as important if they had completely rejected what I said and developed a very strict, punitive policy. The outcome is not the most important part of this story, though we hope others will see sense when it's pointed out to them. What is important is standing up and doing the right thing so there is the opportunity for the right thing to happen. If I had decided not to speak up, there would have been no opportunity for my staff to consider a different path.

As it is, I learned a lot about my new colleagues. If they had responded differently, I would have known it was time to find another school. I know now that although we may have very different views and experiences, my fellow teachers are in the process of learning and are open to change. I know I am, for now, in the right place.

How do you start doing what you know is right? You just do it. Become aware of your choices and why you make them. Start small. Start with the way you respond to Johnny who has come to your classroom for the fortieth time without a pencil, or the way you sometimes pretend not to know what you know to keep the peace or avoid confrontation. And don't beat yourself up when you don't succeed. You are, after all, human.

Ellen Berg teaches in the middle grades at a public charter school in San Diego, California. Before moving to San Diego for the 2005-06 school year, Ellen taught for nine years at an inner-city middle school in St. Louis, Missouri, where she kept a TLN diary in 2004-05.

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