Chapter_7

=//To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher//=

Chapter 7: Working in the Gap: The Mystery of Teaching

Ayers discusses, the art of creative insubordination; an issue that Robbins and Alvy also brought to life last semester in //The Principal's Companion.// For both teachers and principals, this "art" is a delicate balance between doing what we're told to do, but also doing what is best for our school and students. As a future leader, where is this delicate balance, and have you experienced this either positively or negatively?

The mystery of teaching, Ayers has nailed the title to this chapter. He talks about how education is currently and what is should look like in the future. The paradigm of teaching needs to change. As future leaders we know education is in need of reform. Ayers states, “Much of education is based on obedience and conformity, the hallmarks of every authoritarian regime throughout history.” The question is where is the balance between what we are suppose to do as educators and what is best for the students. I have seen this in my current position. Many science teachers are learning new teaching approaches, for the most part dealing with inquiry. For example, what it looks like it the classroom, how to plan lessons, and how to assess it. Research shows that inquiry based teaching leads to more critical thinking and more student centered classroom. As a leader when you walk into the classroom you may see the same objective on the board for a couple of weeks. You stop and talk with some of the students during a walk-through and a lot the students may be on different concepts. This is part of the inquiry process! As an administrator the district tells you that the teacher must have a detailed objective that must show evidence of being met. With inquiry we call the objective “The big idea” and the students are lead to discover the details. Unfortunately, this style does not meet district policy (having a detailed changing objective, measureable, ect…) I know this style of teaching leads to a better education for the students, so how do you continue down this road? More education for the administrators about teaching practices or finding a better way of evaluating teachers? I don’t know? (Josh J)

Good questions Josh, but I would add that it's not so much the administrators that you need to convince, but rather, the mandates coming from the downtown office. I like to believe that most administrators understand what good teaching looks like; and that good teaching doesn't always align itself with what looks revolutionary on paper. (Dr G)

“The guiding principle is simple: Creative insubordination might be necessary to serve student learning” (Ayers, 143). There are going to be times in our careers, both as teachers and as school leaders, where doing something wrong is what is right in certain situations. Student learning is our main concern and therefore if rules need to be bent to achieve this then by all means let’s to it. However, we must decipher where the line of acceptable bending is and where unethical situations begin to arise. I believe that the majority of teachers/administrators know where this boundary is but unfortunately some do not. I look at my two schools that I have worked in and then examine the administration in both of these schools. Both have the best interest of students in mind and both utilize creative insubordination. Unfortunately, I believe that some at my previous school went too far and crossed into those unethical territories. My current administration would do anything for its students and staff. Working in such a large district the number of students transferring between the different schools is substantially high. Having schools that are already overcrowded, the district is pretty strict about not letting a student permit to a school in which the student’s house does not fall within the boundaries. Certain students face many challenges that put a limitation on their learning and one of those limitations is often the relationship, or lack thereof, that they may have with a teacher. When the relationship is there, great things can happen. We have had one student (and I am sure there are more) in which they struggled at one of the previous middle schools, moved to ours, and then was having to move to another middle school. While at our school, the student established a good relationship with his team of teachers and began to raise his grades and become more involved in school activities. Moving to another school meant risking these achievements and as a result our principal worked his magic to keep this student in our school against the wishes of those powers higher up. This is an example of positive insubordination. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed the opposite at my previous school. We all know those students that have a less than perfect home life. We all feel compassion for them and wish we could do more. There is a limit to what we can do for these students and rightly so. We can provide food and clothing to those who need it and we can provide the proper support agencies for those who require it. What we should not do is provide these students place in our own homes. Three of my five administrators at my previous school all had students such as these housed in their own homes with their own families. While I commend the m on their want and desire to help, this crosses into the unethical side of creative insubordination. This puts the leader into a vulnerable situation the no one should ever be in.

An effective leader has the best interest of their students and staff in mind at all times and is not afraid to bend a few rules to obtain the most beneficial results for them either. However, and even better administrator knows where the line between creative insubordination and unethical lies and does not sacrifice respect or success by crossing this line.(joe d)

Thanks Joe. I think you summed up that "fine line" as objectively as it can be! (Dr G). Student living in their own homes; seriously?

Dr. G.... I thought the exact same thing. Three of our five administrators plus our school police officer had students living with them and 2 of the administrators had younger children of their own living in the home as well. The students that they took in tended to be those with issues at home or other behavior problems. Not only do I see numerous ethical violations here but also just a uncomfortable situation developing.

I liked what Ayers had to say about the qualities of good schools on p. 147. They are all such simple things, but yet we don't always see them in our schools. Sometimes I think we get so carried away with details that we forget about the big picture items like respecting all teachers. Ayers also talks about the parallels between great acting and teaching (p. 136-137). I have often equated what I do in my classroom to acting. For example, I expend a lot of energy getting 3rd graders excited about a lesson that I've taught 15 different times. I have to stop and remember how exciting it was the first time I taught it before I even start. So,yes, I do a lot of acting to 'sell' a new unit, but once the kids have 'bought in' to the song, book, or activity I draw the energy from them.

As for the art of creative insubordination, I underlined the same quote as Joe D did on p. 143. I wish I had the mechanical abilities to make the intercom in my room stop!! Typically, I turn up the volume of my sound system and teach through the unnecessary interruptions. Often, the students don't even realize the intercom made any sound. I'm sure one of these days I'll miss an important announcement, but I think a lot of this is the fault of the administrator - a bit like the boy who cried "wolf." Save the intercom for serious information, please. I would say my first principal was a master of positive creative insubordination. I'm certain there were district mandates that we didn't follow to the letter and she did a good job of buffering us from a lot of them. I taught in 4 different buildings within the same district and her building was the best to be in. Her decisions were based on what was best for students - not always what the central office wanted. Yet she always found a way to justify it to the central office, so we were allowed to continue things as they were. I think there are times when bending the rules (without breaking them) is needed in order to allow teachers to teach. (Kerri)

Kerri: Yes, it's all about buffering - just as Whitaker stated last semester. Nice job (Dr G)

“Creative insubordination might be necessary to serve student learning.” (p.143) I think the delicate balance lies within the purpose of the subordination. Depending on the situation, creative insubordination is acceptable when it serves the best interests of the students involved.

I want to share a story that I consider creative insubordination. My principal was very effective and a great leader, however, this is one situation where I did not agree with her decision. There were 5 days left in school. Marquis (a student from another 5th grade classroom) was in a 3-day ISS (In School Suspension) for duct taping a large screwdriver to his body with plans to use it to harm one of my students. Two days left in school, Marquis - recently released from ISS - is out at recess and tells the same student that he is going to kill him. Several of my students witnessed this threatening act. I wrote a referral to my AP and submitted it. After school I asked my AP what was going to be done about Marquis the next day - the last day of school. She contacted the Principal, who was out of the building, and she said he would be in ISS in the morning before and after the 5th grade Graduation Ceremony. Marquis would still be attending the 5th grade Graduation Ceremony that was to be held at the City Park. I strongly voiced my disagreement and left in defeat. Looking at it from a parents’ perspective, I ended up calling the father of my threatened student and told him the facts of the situation leaving my opinions out of it. I asked what his thoughts were and just as I expected, he was livid and appreciated my phone call letting him know about the situation. I gave him the phone number to the AP’s office and hinted that she was there at the moment. The father immediately came to the school and argued that the administration needed to think of a better punishment for the student that was threatening harm against his son. The next morning, the AP told me that she was at the school until 7:00pm the previous evening with one of my parents dealing with the situation. I guess it went all the way up to the Superintendent’s office. It ended with Marquis NOT attending 5th Grade Graduation; he was in ISS all day. Yes, I went behind my administrations’ back. Was it the right thing for Marquis? Yes. Was it the right thing for the rest of the 189 5th graders? Yes. Was it the right thing to do for MY student? YES! Not only am I to provide my students with an education, but also it is my job to keep them safe in doing so. I consider this to be a good example of creative insubordination and one that I would do again. I believe it is acceptable as long as it is beneficial for the students.

I don’t expect to be a perfect leader of educators, and there will be many things that I will learn from experience. I suspect my future staff will practice ethical creative insubordination in the hopes of promoting student success. I just hope I don’t hear them bragging about it. (Jeni R)

Powerful story Jeni; thanks for sharing. And you know your last paragraph is true also! (Dr G)

====**I have to echo what Joe D., Kerri, and Jeni R suggest. To be able to fully teach the diverse learners in our wonderful world of education today, we must bend the rules. In fact, if someone hadn’t cut the speaker from the wall at some point in the past, we may still be teaching only out of textbooks. None of our auditor or kinesthetic learners would stand a chance if the rules weren’t bent at least a little. However, like Joe D. explained this should only happen in certain situations, people shouldn’t be living together, but in situations like Jeni’s I believe you have to protect the student.==== ====**Ayers later mentions that, “Good schools tend to be organized around and powered by a set of core values” (page 147). I could be wrong here, but I believe those values set up by the school and the community had to stem from someone being different, being special and challenging the status quo by bending the rules. I wish I could have a solid concrete example of someone doing this but I don’t. However in this situation, I think of the “Freedom Writers” movie and perhaps believe Hilary Swank might have bent the rules when she had kids stay with her for hours after school and convinced the board to let her teach the same kids for as long as she did; rather than allowing the advanced class or tenured teachers the chance to. Still, she put the students first and they got a whole lot more out of their high school education then they probably would have. (This example does seem like a stretch but that’s what I think of.)==== ====**Question: Any coaches out there ever speak differently to a student-athlete to motivate them to be there best? I am guilty of bending rules and using a word or two of profanity to get their attention. At the time it worked and the student-athlete did well, but I try whole-heartedly not to say those words. I guess you could say my experience bending the rules was a positive one, but I hope to bend the rules in other ways.==== ====**From a principal stand point; if I have a teacher who bends the rules and gets in a pickle, their reason for “bending” better be good. That way if I need to back them up I have something to work with.====

**In the end, like the others before me wrote, bending the rules needs to be done or I don’t believe the teacher/principal did their job, nor did the student learn to their full potential. - Josh Saba
Ayers said that "an enormous number of the existing regulations in schools serve bureaucracy but not youngsters. The guiding principle is simple: Creative insubordination might be necessary to serve student learning" (p. 143). He later mentions that leaders in good schools run interference with these mandates and other things that "undermine teaching." In his example of picking apart the intercom, I could see a principal putting two and two together and simply not putting in the maintenance request for a few years to get it fixed. For as much as I think teachers can bend the rules, I think a principal could, too, in some instances. Kerri mentions this "buffering" in her comments at the top of this page. I don't have any outlandish examples (perhaps this speaks to my concrete-thinking personality) when compared with Ayers' ideas, but in my last year teaching I used students to push forward an assessment/grading agenda throughout the school. A group of teachers were in the midst of moving towards standards-based grading and we realized that students could either be our allies or our enemies when it came to this change. The principal was on board, but since it was a grassroots movement (no more graded homework, reporting based on learning rather than doing, etc.), it had the potential to divide the school. We did not have a grading policy that took a stand either way, but it sure did seem like a few of us were "breaking rules" by bucking the status quo. We pitched the democratic side of education Ayers talks about by helping students realize how the new system was beneficial compared to the the traditional grading system. (Matt T.)

One of the ways that creative insubordination has been positive within my classroom is that I 100% disagree with our homework policy. I have disagreed with it since day 1 and have at no time followed the school wide (5th-8th grade) policy. The policy calls for a half hour detention for not having homework done at class time and a 10% off and 10% off for every day that it ends up late, we don't care that you don't finish it during that 30 minute detention. If the student comes to class without the work they go to the office and call home to say they have the detention. After hearing the policy, on Day 1 of teacher inservice my first year, I approached the principal and asked why the policy was in place. He said that the staff had agreed to it and that although he didn't fully agree either he had compromised with the staff to HAVE a policy so that it wasn't every teacher for themselves. At that time we agreed to the point I didn't agree with it and at no time did I say I wouldn't follow it. Through the last 5 years I think I have disciplined approximately 5 students based on this rule while I know other teachers that have a handful every day in the after school room. What is the difference between them and myself? That is fine, you don't have your work done now? Why? Let's meet after class and discuss and discuss a plan to get it done. Typically, those who have problems at the beginning of the year get tired of being late to the next class and start having my work done when they come to class. Other teachers have the students waste class time by going to the office, reporting that they didn't have their homework done, call home to say they have detention, and then return to class. Waste of time! What about the homework? Probably gets done a few days later and the pattern continues because the student gets to leave class every day. My problem gets solved early in the year, their problems continue all year long. At no time has my principal questioned me about not following the rules, he knows (and I think appreciates) that I can handle my own homework policy (problems).

Do I expect teachers to follow every school policy word-for-word? Of course not because if we are doing what is best for students then we are doing what is right. If we were to try to change the homework policy there would be teachers up in arms! If you do what you think is right (and can defend it or give me a good reason to defend you as the teacher) then we will get along just fine. (Aaron B)

Aaron: A wonderful example of the art of creative insubordination as a teacher. As a future administrator, I wonder what you (or any of us) might do - if we know we have a policy that isn't followed uniformly by all, should it get adjusted accordingly? I know that's a bit off the subject of creative insubordination but something worth thinking about! (Dr G)

I think this delicate balance between doing what we're told to do, but also doing what is best for our school and students exist in all aspects of teaching. Do I need to write a daily lesson plan for framing a building when the last 7 days my students have been framing a building? According to my school district, this is a requirement along with the standards, benchmarks, resources, and assessments identified. Is it worth spending the time preparing this stuff every day, when it might mean that 40 of my 44 minute preparation period would be at stake to do a half-hazard job in preparing these plans? That doesn’t include getting price quotes for materials, writing up P.O.’s, getting spending authorization, or tool/equipment set-up. Unfortunately, this is the reality for one of the seven preps I teach this semester. It is also expected that we build and maintain websites, post our lessons 1 week prior to delivery, post each week’s grades prior to Monday morning, and keep up with the daily job of assessment of student work.

Believe it or not, sometimes I do not do all of the assigned crap as I think it better serves my students to focus on what I want them to learn that day. I feel that sometimes the districts main concern is the opinions of our parents. If we don’t have our minute to minute routine posted somewhere a parent might be mad. This reminds me of a conversation I had nearly two years ago. A veteran staff member said “Joe, I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping your website up to date”. I respond by saying, “why is that?” He said that “I have maintained my website for the last four years, I e-mailed the site link to parents, demonstrated how to peruse the site with my students and even put the URL on my course syllabus, but I felt no one was reading it”. To test his theory, on his lesson plan template (found on the website) he put in large bold letters, IF YOU READ THESE LESSON PLANS I WILL BUY YOU A POP. Interestingly enough, in two years he never had to buy a pop for anyone. (Joe B.)

Joe: Had to chuckle at your colleague's way of testing his theory on his website usage. Considering your current coursework and this program, the key question is..... if you're district requires it and you are the principal, how do you set aside your current beliefs and mandate it when the peop le above you are telling you it is not an option? (Dr G). I think you do it, but perhaps not to the level in which is deemed appropriate. Again, I think the answer to this is creative insubordination (Joe B).

I think creative insubordination as a teacher can take on many forms. At every one of our schools, we probably face certain bureaucratic rules, regulations, and policies that we would rather not follow. I think the key for an educational leader determining whether or not they can tolerate or overlook staff insubordination is the reason it is happening. Are teachers ignoring certain policies in the interest of student learning, or for self-benefit (less work, etc.)? Good educational leaders should re cognize when this is happening and attempt to find ways to deal with the situation. Like the intercom example, you would hope at some point that a leader would see the distracting effects of numerous intercom announcements. One personal example as a teacher is our policy of sending a student to intervention when they have received three tardies. So they come late to class every day, then on the third time, they are sent to intervention to miss even more instructional time. I rarely, if ever, follow this procedure, as I find it counterproductive, and I feel doesn't address the issue properly. One way in which I may possibly use creative insubordination as a leader is in hiring practices. If I have extra connections to find out more about an applicant, for example, I'm going to use those connections to find out all I can, even if that is not necessarily "by the book". Pretty much everyone can find two or three references to say nice things about them, but if I have the resources I will definitely be digging deeper. As we have discussed many times, the most valuable thing at our future schools will be job openings. Unethical? (Travis)

Travis: Not unethical at all. Practiced by anyone that's been around long enough to have a network to rely upon. We call them "unnamed references"! Your example of creative insubordination and the tardies is truly classic! (Dr G)

In the book study we are doing for our PLCs, the authors mention the teacher's challenge to be a 'positive deviant.' From reading the posts, sounds like there are quite a few 'positive deviants' in our midst. One of the creatively insubordinate activities in which my students engage each semester is some sort of video exercise. When I taught at the Jr. High I gave my students free reign to recreate some event from U.S. History. Dummies were thrown off the balcony of the auditorium to reflect John Wilkes Booth's escape from Ford Theater; students shivered in snow banks to depict the Donner Party's demise; and students ran down hallways yelling "the British are coming" while riding stick horses. My principal loved it, but plenty of veteran teachers rolled their eyes. The eye rolls still continue at the high school as my Government students filmed campaign commercials last semester (most were filmed outside with our new 5-8 building, or waving flags, in the background) and Psych students filmed various "what would you do?" scenarios to capture student behavior in staged settings. Letting students roam outside the classroom creates some potential problems, but my guess is that the activity is one of the most memorable (and fun) lessons they take away from my class.

Our creative insubordination is also going to have to be engaged as we discern the most meaningful way to cover content. When Mike Schmoker spoke at W-SR last semester, he emphasized the importance of picking the most important content, and throwing out the rest. The most meaningful learning experiences are those in which students are given the opportunity to study in depth. So long as we strive to get through stacks of standards and benchmarks, students will struggle to engage purposefully in our content. But as we take TIME delve deep, and to model our passion for history, math, literature, science, music and industrial technology (did I cover everybody there?), then hopefully some students will catch that mysterious equation to which Ayers alludes.

One of the most powerful quotes from this chapter is on p. 136, "I wish I knew one thing about teaching as well as some of them [policy makers] seem to know everything." When we consider the (lack of) experience and knowledge of many of those creating the policies, perhaps that gives a different perspective from which we might be creatively insubordinate. (Rick)

Rick: First of all, I love the phrase "positive defiant"! Pretty much does get at the root of what Ayers' and other authors term as "creatively insubordinate". And some wonderful examples of authentic learning from your social studies classroom. Ironic, but I was talking with a group of pre-service teachers yesterday about increasing their chances to get hired and I talked about the fact that principals want to know how undergrads teach DIFFERENTLY. I said, "there are many different ways to teach about Lincoln's assassination, and I don't know ANY principals that would want you to talk about how you taught his assassination with text and questions only." Your examples speak volumes to your belief in the importance of teaching "differently", and to the fact that some might not see it as an effective method. But as we know, sometimes school cultures take time to change, and until that happens, some might consider those styles inappropriate or even 'insubordinate.' I don't know about you, but I'll take the 'insubordination' in this example!!! ha (Dr G)

I don't have a specific example to share about creative insubordination, but I am certainly a supporter if the situation warrants! The teacher's job is to do what is in the best interest of the students. To a quality teacher a student is not a number but a person that we are responsible for 7 hours everyday. Shoot! We spend more time with our students then we do with our own families! Do we sometimes "break the rules" in family situations in order to accomplish a goal, knowing that we are not sacrificing our integrity or ethics by doing so? Sure. Then why wouldn't we do the same for the children we teach? The example that Jeni shared is a prime example of this.

"Good schools are generally places where a lot of good teachers have been gathered together and allowed to teach. This means school leaders have attracted and recruited good teachers, and then run interference with bureaucratic regulations, state mandates, ans the entire apparatus that undermines teaching" (p.146) (Katie F.)

On page 144 Ayers states, “Good teaching requires audacity, but it also demands humility.” I think this the balancing of doing what you think is best, but knowing the limits. We all want to do what best for students, but sometimes that isn’t possible because of circumstances out of our control. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” Theodore Roosevelt. (Amy)

Thanks Amy. A very fitting quote! (Dr G)

//There is a delicate balance between doing what we’re told and doing what is best for our school and students, because sometimes these two things do not coincide. I think we should always have the students’ best interest at the forefront of our priorities, and hopefully the powers that be do as well. However, when they don’t, we should try our best to do what is right for students (creative insubordination), keeping the their safety and needs as our top priorities.//

//I cannot think of any specific examples of creative insubordination that I've either experienced or seen. With that being said, I think doing what is best for students needs to be a priority and if what we’re told to do isn’t what’s best for students, then something needs to be changed. If there is a need for a teacher or principal to bend the rules for a student, or group of students, in order to do what is best, then maybe the rules need to be changed. Principals should always be advocating for their students and teachers so they don't have to be placed in a position of creative insubordination. (Whitney Bowen)// // ﻿ ﻿ // I really enjoyed reading everyones examples of creative insubordination and I think it happens very often in schools at all levels. Ayers argues that "every successful teacher I know (and every pincipal) can tell stories of creative insubordination-of regulations ignored, paperwork "lost", procedures subverted. An enourmous number of existing regulations in schools serve bureaucracy but not youngsters. The guiding principle is simple: Creative insubordination might be necessary to serve student learning" (p 143). Which I think we have proven with all of our examples. But as Dr. Gilson pointed out this is a delicate balance and I think one needs to know how far this can be pushed both as a teacher and future leader. For me the line is drawn between what is good and right for kids and what isn't. If creative insubordination is what is best for students then I will probably let it happen to a degree. However, if you are a teacher in my building you better make sure that it is what is best for students and that its not going to come back on me as your administrator. Selfish, yes! if I am doing my job to the best of my ability then there shouldn't need to be much of this. There shouldn't be mindless interuptions, there shouldn't be meaningless homework policies, and the list goes on and on. (Erin Burmeister)

I have experienced this a ton this year! I came new into this school district and this district did not have a consistent curriculum until last year. Each year they are implementing new parts of the curriculum, so each teacher is consistent. Last year they introduced math and this year is reading. Teachers were really upset about this because they felt as if they were not allowed to do what they new how to do. The new reading curriculum is completely different then what they had done in previous years. It was hard for teachers to give up the freedom and control that they had in previous years. At the beginning of the year we were supposed to give complete fidelity to the new curriculum and only use what was provided. Teachers were not happy and did not have confidence in the new program. Now that it is the end of the year teachers are not controlled by the curriculum and are able to put their spin on it. People are able to put the art back into the curriculum and areas that their students need support. So now we are able to be in charge of the curriculum based on our students needs but still using the material provided! (Katie O)

I absolutely love the last quote under //creative insubordination// on page 143, “The guiding principal is simple: Creative insubordination might be necessary to serve student learning.” In answer to your question, Dr. G, the delicate balance between doing what we're told to do, but also doing what is best for our school and students is one that I am not sure has an answer. This is such a tough question, though. I am one that would do anything for my kids. I am one that would want to say I would choose what is best for my school and students, in most situations. I think this is one that would depend on the situations, consequences of actions, and the student. I am not sure I would know the answer unless I was put in the situation. I have seen a situation where the superintendent was doing what she thought was best for kids by putting down, what I deemed, as false information for grants. I was actually sitting there when she was filling one out and saying that in 6th grade they did all of these different programs. I told her I am in those rooms and they do not do any of those. She just ignored me and put it down. I think in her eyes she was doing what she felt was best because she was getting our school money. I was nervous because I knew she was lying to get it. That is where I think I would draw the line. I understand bending the rules a bit, but in this case the rules were being shattered. When you put yourself and school in jeopardy because of such false information, that is going too far. I do feel, though, as a principal and teacher, you may have to bend the rules a bit if you feel it is what’s best for students. When a student last year threatened to “beat the crap out of me,” I argued until I was blue in the face with my principal to keep him from going on our final 3 trips. I felt it was best for my other 24 students to keep him away from those. He didn’t go on our big trip, but he did go on the other two. I also pushed hard to keep the 5th grade at the elementaries instead of moving to the middle school. I really gave my opinion, to the point where my principal sat me down and had a conversation about what I was saying. I fought hard because I felt it wasn’t the best move for kids. I risked a lot by being so outspoken, but I was doing what I felt was best for my students. (Derek Philips)

Derek: I give you credit for the "conversations" you mentioned in the your final sentences. Considering you were likely a probationary teacher at the time, that certainly comes with some risks! And I suppose you're correct Derek, no definitive answers; purely situational! (Dr G)