Politics

There is a certain atmosphere in the office at the moment. When I first was placed at the college it was hard for me to distinguish the normal stresses of the teachers there from the nags that made certain parts of their jobs a daily struggle. This is an enormous issue with several members of the staff and it is becoming more and more apparent that it is affecting staff morale. I have acknowledged this is a real issue over the last few weeks because I am starting to feel like a piece of meat that can be used for “spin” or propaganda forms of self promotion.

What is the problem? Well the programme manager at the college is a very relaxed character that lets a lot of the members of staff operate how they wish and rarely gets involved with “swamping” them with pressure or targets. This approach suits some of the staff members, one in particular who suggests it lets the staff be their own boss and get on with the real task of teaching. The problem lies with personality clashes that arise from other members of the staff who like to operate in a much more formal manner. These members of staff seem to erupt at the joy of gossiping about how the college should and could be run and seem to get a satisfaction out of this. This humours me as when certain members of staff enter the room they all immerse into a deadly silence that can be cut with a large Samurai sword, the type you would expect to see in a Tarrantino directed film. Why do they do this? What motivates them to create a grey area in an otherwise successful department? I don’t really know but am certain if I ever evolve into one of these delusional and self promoting entities then I would surely come to the realisation that my days of a teacher are numbered.

This is something that I will always ensure I try never get myself involved with. I can only see negatives in slating other individuals in an unproductive fashion. If I were to have problems then go down the professional route rather than pushing the “us and them” divide further miles apart. This “us and them” divide is evident all over the college; between students and staff,  staff and senior management to name the obvious ones. Issues around this are really starting to assist me in finalising my project as I will look to research the “folk pedgogy” which surrounds the college.

My personal opinion on these issues are that some people just like to have a moan sometimes. They like to point the finger for several reasons from self promotion to just being padantic. How does this effect the morale of the staff? Well for me I think it works in two ways. Firstly, the staff “bounce” off each other with views on how to run a certain course or deal with a ceratin student which fuels them with “bad blood”. These negative insights seem to have an added benefit though in that the staff communicating with each other about the issue bond closer and establish a natural rapport with each other. I use the word natural as I am also certain that a lot of the staff are sometimes false with each other and pay “lip” service when they communicate with each other. Why do I think this? I know this as when observing staff with students in a class or pensively watching staff have chats with students informally through the college there is a naturalness that shines from certain members of staff which very much intrigues me. I also am guilty of wanting to engage with students more than the staff and see this as a positive aspect of my teaching practice; I’m there to help the students in the first place.

I would be interested in hearing back from the other forms of “politics” that people have experienced. It’s an issue, I feel, that I will see all throughout my teaching career.

Arrivederci

Lloyd