from the desk of the executive director Building and Sustaining Positive


Relationships With Administrators Timothy J. Schaid, Executive Director


Over the last four years I have had countless opportu- nities to sit in meet- ings, network and interact with music educators from all over the state. One theme I notice that seems to arise from


teachers during these interactions is how to best approach building or district adminis- trators with questions, concerns and ideas. There is a logical reason why I would take special note of this theme.


Many of you may know my professional background but for the sake of those who may not, I was a vocal/choral music educator for nine years and a high school building principal for 24 years; all in Wisconsin public schools. With the bulk of my professional career spent in school administration, I guess I never knew how much teachers struggle over how to ap- proach their administrators. In hindsight, I wish I had been more aware of this phenomenon, as I certainly would have done even more to make sure teachers felt comfortable approaching me.


As such, the purpose of this article is to provide music educators, or any educator for that matter, with five general tenets to consider when approaching building and district-level administrators. These tenets, albeit from my perspective, may help teachers to further build upon and sustain healthy relationships with their adminis- trators while at the same time making sure administrators hear and understand your needs to assure the best education possible for students.


Understand the Administrator’s Field of Vision As a music educator, your field of vision includes students, your curriculum and


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your classroom. You were hired to effec- tively teach the students assigned to you, which includes making recommendations to assure quality music education curricula and coursework, and a classroom that contains the necessary resources to deliver that curricula and coursework. That’s your job! No administrator should ever fault you for making recommendations that best serve the students assigned to you.


The administrator’s field of vision is broader. It includes the entire school or district, the physical plant and grounds, staffing, available budgetary resources, board policy, etc. The list is long and so is the list of recommendations to the admin- istrator from staff and others to improve the quality of educational services for students. This means the administrator, at times, has to make some very difficult decisions.


Understanding the differences in these two fields of vision is important. First, it may help the music educator to not take an unfavorable decision regarding an educational improvement recommenda- tion personally, but rather, to chalk it up as something that did not go through “this time.” Just because a recommendation was not approved, does not mean it did not have merit. Ask your administrator what you could do to improve the recom- mendation and/or whether a modified recommendation could be considered again in the future.


Second, understanding the differences in these two fields of vision helps the music educator realize that administrative deci- sions are oftentimes similar to decisions the music educator makes every day with respect to student needs, desires and ideas. Certainly not every request of students is granted. It could be because the student request is unreasonable, but just like a high quality educational improvement recommendation that is denied, a student


request may have to be denied or put on hold due to cost, timing or other factors. Even in our own homes we have several needs, desires and ideas, but in many cases not all of them can be obtained or imple- mented all at once.


Choose an Attitude With Class


It has been said that we all get to choose our attitude each and every day. Attitudes matter to others, one way or the other. As a music educator, you encounter hundreds of different student attitudes every day. While you try to be fair, positive and friendly with all of your students, we all know that becomes difficult to do with the student who is negative or indiffer- ent. Administrators are no different than you in that regard. While I am sure most administrators want to be congenial and positive with all staff members, doing so can become very difficult when encoun- tering the negative or indifferent staff member.


Remember that classy attitudes matter to others. Choose a positive disposition always, even in the face of adversity. It is easier for teachers to work with students who have a positive work ethic and at- titude. The same holds true for admin- istrators and their work with teachers. Being positive, friendly and cooperative with others should not be conditional, but rather, a way of being that will pay off big dividends sooner or later.


Numbers Don’t Lie – Use Them


Accustomed to the educational discourse of the day, if you are like me I am sure most of you do not want to hear someone utter the words data-driven decisions. I know full well that not all educational de- cisions need to be data-driven; many good decisions are just instinctive or come from solid professional intuition. Nevertheless, numbers do not lie and we need to use them to our advantage.


April 2016


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