Several years ago, a colleague confided in me that she was afraid to hold her students accountable because she was convinced that they would hate her for it.
Some of her students were taller than her and looked like adults, which may have been a factor.
However, I’ve had the same conversation with elementary teachers and have discussed this phenomenon dozens of times with teachers of every age group as part of my personal coaching practice.
I pleaded with this teacher. I really did. I implored her to trust me and went into great detail explaining the high school plan and how enforcing accountability can be a painless process.
But she was reluctant.
Beyond the fear, there was also her belief that her students would appreciate her if she let them off the hook. “These are kids,” I told her.
Indeed, it would be nice if it worked that way. Alas, without accountability, misbehavior and chaos will reign.
Our conversation was early in the school year and she was new to teaching high school. I’d see her around campus over the following months. She’d say hello and tell me that things were fine.
But I knew that unless she had changed, it couldn’t possibly be true.
Sure enough, I began hearing rumblings that misbehavior was becoming severe under her watch. Some students were leaving her room and wandering campus.
There were fights. Her students would ignore her lessons and play music in class.
Hat in hand, she came to me for advice once again. She wanted to know how she could turn it around. We had the same discussion we had months before. I went over the plan. I explained how to start over. I offered to help her every step of the way.
She was determined this time. She acknowledged that she wasn’t long for the school if she couldn’t get it together.
I didn’t hear from her directly for several weeks. We’d say hello same as always and she would tell me that things were better. “Better” usually isn’t a good sign.
If she were really following the plan, she would have said that things were tough at first and that there was a lot of pushback (because she had started so late in the school year), but she finally had control.
So I knew. Sure enough the rumor mill revealed that the principal had put her on an improvement plan. The chaos had continued.
A few weeks before the end of the school year she told me that she wasn’t being asked back for the following year. She was regretful. I felt terrible, but there wasn’t much I could say.
The truth is, there is no other way. There is no secret permissive or consequence-free strategy. There is no alternative to clear, firm, and consistent accountability. There is no hiding from the fear.
It must be confronted and overcome.
And no amount of bribery, flattery, or faux friendship with students will change it.
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