Leadership Connectors: Safety

This was a very helpful chapter and important chapter for any school leader.  The universal response for leaders is, "My number one priority is to provide a safe environment for my students."  That is true on so many levels, however it is equally important to create an environment where "everybody" feels safe from students to teachers to parents to classified staff.  Bullying behavior is prevalent at schools, especially secondary schools.  Students bully other students, teachers bully other teachers, and administrators bully teachers.  In order to create an effective learning environment, a leader must implement systems to counter this type of behavior and create a culture of compassion, caring, and interdependency. 
Bullying between students is something that can not ever be tolerated.  Disciplinary measures are not always effective.  A culture where bullying is not tolerated must be established.  The classroom is a great place to teach appropriate behaviors.  Teachers can have class meetings with their class to discuss the damaging effects of bullying, the support systems in place in case you are getting bullied or have witnessed bullying, and systems to help the bully.  Counseling and discussions with administrators can be very effective in changing these negative behaviors.
Another type of bullying exists between teachers and teachers and teachers and administrators.  Veteran teachers can be very unsupportive of new teachers and their new ideas and strategies.  An effective leader must supportive the ideas and establish opportunities for the new teachers to share in department or PLC meetings and share how the ideas are innovative and could assist the PLC or department in achieving its goals.  The process to building trust between teachers is critical and the administrator can play a vital role by providing opportunities to meet within the school day and encouraging active participation by all members.
The role of the administrator is continuously changing.  The manager that rules with an iron fist is being replaced by the collaborative instructional leader.  Working in collaboration with teachers and supporting their work each day will be more productive in establishing the trust needed to create a healthy school environment.  Teachers should feel comfortable to come to you with questions or problems without fear of retribution.  They must include the administrator as a member of the instructional team.  This type of environment does not happen overnight.  It must be developed over time through common goals and support for one another.  One way to do this is to give teachers credit for what they do.  If something works well, a leader should look through a window.  If something goes wrong, a leader should look through a mirror. 
I feel that the best way to earn the trust of your teachers is to admit that you don't know everything and that you have a lot to learn from them.  Yes, you still have to make the tough decisions when needed, but they will trust you if they know you are there to help and are not out to get them.   When they realize that you are on a treasure hunt each day, they will cease to believe that you are on a witch hunt.