Response to video
This video was very interesting and I can see this happening on a day to day basis. My question is why is there real glass in that high school. In Boston, I would have thought they replaced all the glass with plexi -glass...
Three things the principal did well was that he took the time to go outside to gather a pissed off student from leaving school. He identified the student from looking at the cameras and was able to track him down. The second good thing he did was that he called for the teachers side of the story before he handled the situation. This allows for the teacher's voice to be heard and explain their side of the story. The last thing was that he had the teacher and student sit down together to talk about their issue. This was a great idea, but it did not work, and he owned up to this.
Three things the principal did poorly, was he did not provide enough time for the teacher to prepare his defense nor did he allow enough time for the student to calm down. When he approached the teacher, he spoke with his briefly and started to walk away as the teacher was getting into the details of the issue. If the principal left with out hearing the rest of the story, he would not have concrete evidence to bring back to the student. Once the principal sat the teacher and student down together, he left them alone to hash out their differences. This is not cool! He needed to stay to mediate between the two gentlemen. If he did that, he could have calmed them both down. Instead someone else ran into the room to break up them up and in return, the student ran out. All in all, this situation could have been de-escalated.
I would like to start off by saying that I am so happy that you posted so soon. I have plans this weekend and was hoping to finalize this work before then! Thanks Jen! Allrighty then. Good point about going outside to get that student to bring him in! I like that the kid actually didn't put up a fuss and just looked resigned and went in with him. This is probably something that this principal does routinely. Great idea. I too wrote about how the problem escalated due to the principal's actions but I missed the point about how he didn't really get enough information from the teacher to go back with to the student to more clearly explain the situation. Good point! If he had talked a little bit more to the teacher about the student and a little bit more to the student about the teacher I think the broken glass incident could have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteI think you make an excellent point about the windows! They shattered with one punch. It was very unsafe for this particular student and could have been harmful for others. Plexiglass is definitely the way to go. Good Observation!
DeleteI also think the principal did a good job in being vigilant enough in the hallways to recognize a student in distress and to prevent him from leaving the school by initiating a conversation to determine what was wrong. I also agree however that the principal's actions lead to the escalation of this situation. The principal put the teacher and student in the same room to discuss their issues with one another when they were both still very much heated. The principal also put them in this situation without someone to mediate the situation, which was also a bad idea. If the principal had remained in the room to mediate the conversation between the teacher and the principal, odds are things would have gone a lot differently. First and foremost, he could have prevented the teacher from interrupting the student when he was trying to speak. This was one of the major factors that contributed to the escalation of the situation on the part of the student. He became frustrated that the teacher would not give him the opportunity to speak or express his opinion. He also began to raise his voice immediately without provocation from the student. Rather than reasoning with the student and calmly explaining his position on the subject of taking the student's hat, he began the conversation defensively, and I would argue, somewhat aggressively as well. This inspired the student to come at him in the same manner and things quickly got out of hand. Though I can understand that emotions may run high in these types of situations and circumstances, I thought that the teacher's behavior was unprofessional and lead to the escalation of the situation. He was verbally combative with the student and was so focused on being right in this situation, his point was lost. Had the principal sat in during this conversation, the whole scenario may have been avoided.
Steph, I totally agree about the teacher escalating the problem. They boy, in his own way, accepted responsibility by saying he would have put the hat in his locker. The teacher wanted no part in listening to him. Even his comment to the principal about when he was going to give the hat back was a little arrogant. The principal tried to get the teacher to relent a little and have the teacher give the hat back at lunch. The teacher replied something like "only if he is nice". That was when he mentioned the swearing. I almost doubted the teacher at that point. He should have mentioned that right away. I know the principal seemed to be in a hurry, but that seemed to be an important detail to leave out. Overall I believe the teacher caused the whole incident. It was clear he had little regard for the student and I really didn't believe him when he said he felt bad after.
DeleteThis is interesting to consider from the structure of the conflict cycle between the teacher and the student.
ReplyDelete