Mock Mediation

I participated in a mock mediation that simulated a conflict between two faculty members.  I found the mediation framework to be a useful tool.  Often as a teacher I find myself in a position to mediate conflict between students, and having a set structure to regulate the process would save time and increase accountability to decisions made.  Based on the mock experience, I believe the structured format also decreases the tendency of a more aggressive party to attempt to dominate the conversation.  I found myself considering the next steps of this process, i.e. the follow-up with teachers and the method of archiving and tracking such documentation. 

My primary realization during the mock mediation process was that it is impossible to duplicate the environment of a true mediation.  This mock event was patterned after an actual conflict from my campus experiences of the past, and I know that the emotional component of the conflict was significant.  What I feel this experience did not prepare me for is the de-escalation of hostility at the outset of the mediation.  When personal feelings of pride, embarrassment, degradation, or devaluation stem from a conflict, it both raises the stakes and magnifies the challenges of finding an equitable solution that repairs an effective collegial relationship.  I do believe that working to build empathy for an opposing perspective through the use of  “I statements” and role reversal create a foundation for finding those areas of consensus and problem-solving.  

A school environment is one rife for conflict:  the various wants and perspectives of such a broad base of stakeholders almost ensure that not all waters will flow calmly.  I agree that prevention is vital, through the establishment of clear goals, expectations, and group norms.  However, this will not ensure that no conflict will arise.  I have seen first-hand in my career how an administrator’s intervention in conflict can affect the overall culture of a school:  the importance of effective mediation of conflict cannot be overstated.  This structure, which calls for direct dialogue, active listening to opposing parties, and a functional plan for resolution, creates a culture of collaboration over conflict, a standard that any administrator would do well to follow.

Thinking Like a Leader

I had the privilege of participating in the study group discussion about administrative decision-making and problem-solving skills.  Not only did the discussion present excellent insights, I think that the simple occurrence of the discussion reveals a vital component of administrative skill set development:  the ability and desire to collaborate.  Last week the lecture discussed some paradigm shifts that must occur in 21^st century principals, and one of those shifts called for a recognition of staff as colleagues.  In doing this, an administrator has now created a pool of knowledge, experience, and perspectives to utilize in their decision-making process.  Then, the principal must have the strength of conviction and the personal integrity to take all of that information and move forward with confidence.  Because, while many can be part of the decision-making process, in the final analysis the administrator stands as the face of accountability for those decisions.  Our study group shares, discusses, argues, and supports; then, in the end, we each put forth our own product and stand behind it.

So the question then becomes, “Is it nature or nurture?”  As many have stated eloquently before me, the ability to make effective decisions and solve complex problems requires both an innate skill set and an adequate body of experiences.  I have been a teacher for about 15 years, and during that time I have seen great teachers become outstanding administrators, I have seen great teachers die on the vine at the administrative level, and I have seen good, but not stand-out, teachers become truly exceptional administrators.  What were those great teachers lacking that kept them from excelling at the next level?   To my mind, this is where experience takes the fore in determining success.  A study group colleague mentioned in her discussion board post that administrators emerging from only a short tenure in the classroom must “learn everything on the fly”:  this sharply steeper learning curve can prove costly for a young administrator, as their choices have abruptly become much more high-profile and weighty.   In the same vein, a classroom teacher who spent years in growth and development in the classroom comes to administration with a true sense of how to work through a problem in order to find solutions.

I have what I hope is a healthy respect for the consequences of decisions.  In my post regarding ethics, I discussed the need for transparency, accountability, and trust in making ethical decisions.  Using this frame of reference, I consider myself a strong, ethical decision-maker.  I am constantly humbled by the vast amount of knowledge and experience that surrounds me on my campus, and I call on those resources as I make professional decisions.  I believe that my colleagues would consider me a person of significant knowledge and experience in my own right, and that they would tout my communication skills with all manner of stakeholders in all manner of situations.  I have a strong sense of conviction, and this gives me the ability to make a final decision and stand accountable to it.   This conviction might, in fact, also reveal my greatest challenge to decision-making:  the sense of meta-cognition that is required to assess to results of decisions and adjust them if necessary.  I tend to make a decision and move on; the spirit of ‘Continuous Improvement’ is one where I am still working to hone my skill.

Cultural Proficiency

The following continuum is drawn from an article entitled, “Cultural Proficiency: Tools for Secondary School Administrators” (Nuri-Robbins, Lindsey, Terrell, & Lindsey, 2007) :

Cultural                                   Cultural                                          Cultural        

Destructiveness                      Blindness                                    Competence

  Cultural                                Cultural                                          Cultural

Incapacity                         Precompetence                                 Proficiency

Public school can be an absolute hotbed of intolerance and cultural dissonance in the absence of strong, culturally proficient leadership.  A campus and its students can be buffeted between the strongly-held beliefs of various stakeholder groups, and much too often the public school environment falls prey to the most virulent intolerances in our society.   It seems many initial efforts to acknowledge and understand diversity are marked by inappropriate overtures.  From America’s early attempts at racial integration of schools through busing to my own awkward first implementation of differentiation for mainstreamed students, part of the learning curve involves making mistakes.  We over-compensate for the slights and discriminations of the past, and in doing so we create new ones.  A teacher with the best of intentions for providing a differentiated classroom can alienate both LEP learners through too overt accommodations and content mastery, and gifted learners through a disproportionate amount of project-based and independent study.  Here no child’s academic needs are served while maintaining both her dignity and her role in the whole classroom.  My experiences in vibrant, culturally diverse campuses throughout my career have given me a real-time education in the value of embracing cultural differences, and the real risk in ignoring them.  I do believe that while entire districts can and should have policies in place to facilitate cultural proficiency, the bulk of the responsibility to this charge falls at the campus level.  Each campus has a unique set of needs and opportunities, and it is necessary for a campus administrator to assess those and implement activities and communication that will speak to her campus’ specific profile.  I struggle with my own embedded cultural mores, and I know that part of my work as an administrator would involve retooling the way I think about creating opportunities for a campus to begin dialogue about those barriers. 

I currently work in a school environment which I believe is, on the whole, at the cultural competence stage of the continuum.  We recognize the benefit in giving value to our diversity, and we look for ways that we can accomplish this.  Our weakness is that our action tends to happen in fits and starts.  We have an International Night on our campus, where many of the cultures of our campus community are given an opportunity to share information and connect with the larger community.  However, we are at times lax in taking this opportunity to continue the lessons of the moment in our classrooms and using it to springboard instruction.  We also find that, with the overwhelming pressures of district and state assessment, creating opportunities to add these cultural components to instruction does not receive all of the attention it deserves.  We have engaged in some pieces of professional development, for example Ruby Payne coursework and sessions on developing home/school relationships; yet, these opportunities have not truly turned into school-wide initiatives, acting rather as ‘consciousness-raising’ activities with inadequate follow-through.  Cultural proficiency is the gold standard for which we all strive in our classrooms and on our campus, and I think that my school does much to work proactively toward this goal in all areas.  Accepting and celebrating diversity in all of its forms is a basic tenet of our campus improvement plan, and the professional development opportunities and campus activities that I have mentioned previously are results of that focus.  I believe this goal can never be achieved completely, because there is always more to learn about others, and there are always opportunities to learn and grow as a campus and as a community.

Nuri-Robbins, K., Lindsey, D. B., Terrell, R. D., & Lindsey, R. B. (2007, September). Cultural proficiency: tools for secondary school administrators. National Association of Secondary School Principals: NASSP Principal Leadership , 8 (1), pp. 16-22.