Why Teachers Might Fire Themselves

When management changes occur in schools and other organizations, such as at General Motors late last year, most people focus on the new CEO and his or her replacement. More significantly, however, are changes that take place during these changes. Ashkenas (2009) offers this observation about top organizational personnel changes: Unfortunately, the GM situation reflects the reality that most managers become enamored with their own strategies and have trouble breaking free of their tried and true patterns. In other words, even when we intellectually understand that the world has changed and we need to do things differently, it’s difficult to let go. We become invested in what we’ve created and how we’ve learned to do things. And it’s not just managers at a troubled company like GM; it’s all of us. To the extent that people in industry and public schools follow similar patterns, Ashkenas’ point offers an insightful perspective. 1. Maybe more teachers should consider firing themselves. 2. Perhaps some teachers who leave their jobs do fire themselves. They find out that they don’t fit and don’t want to fit into a specific school system as operated by the current school superintendent and school board. Teachers as managers of other people’s learning in many ways fit the description that Ashkenas offers for other industries. Teacher blogs exhibit thousands of opines of why other people just “don’t understand,” “don’t respect,” … their “caring,” “efforts,” … that restrict state required student academic learning rate improvements. In other words, it can appear reasonable to consider that teachers hang onto their procedures and approaches as Ashkenas describes that some employees do in other organizations. Heiny, an urban public school science teacher, reported, based on a scientific, empirical study, one versions of teacher complaints: New science teachers leave public school appointments, because their principals don’t support them emotionally. In Ashkenas’ words, they fire themselves. He also cites the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future [NCTAF] (2003) as background for this conclusion. “… in an average school year, approximately 1,000 teachers quit each school day and on an average school day an additional 1,000 teachers migrate from one school to another. On average, a third of the newly hired teachers leave during their first three years; almost half leave during the first five years … They too fire themselves. Taking Ashkenas’ and Heiny’s observations together, senior administrative shifts send two strong messages to everyone in the school system: 1. It’s time for new fundamental perspectives and faster academic performance, including in classrooms. 2. More changes will follow and you, Teacher, could be one of those changes. So, think hard about how you will adjust to meeting new expectations, including those brought by your new boss as well as those imposed from outside the school, such as increasing use of Tablet and other mobile PCs by students on their own in order to learn more than you offer in your classroom. Tip: Prepare for unexpectated promotions, such as younger teachers to key positions, if the new principal or superintendent is serious about increasing student academic learning rates, and consider if you should fire yourself. Hmm, I wonder if others have interpreted teacher changes as Ashkenas has for other employees? Can someone direct me to such research reports? Ashkenas, R. Why you should fire yourself. Guest Editorial, Blog Conversation, Harvard Business Review, December 30, 2009. Heiny, L.P. (2009). Retaining Teachers: Teacher Retention, Attrition, and Mobility Studies. Posted to RetainingTeachers.com.