When you go into any career I imagine there are surprises as to how people act professionally. Furthermore, there is likely an expectation in every career. I know for me, in the two ones I have had: Pizza Hut management, and public school teaching, there are both explicit and implicit mores to be observed. Case in point:
When you hear rumors of a teacher having done something unprofessional, it is not the best move to go to the Principal over it. Reason for this being that if the teacher in fact did nothing, he/she will suffer a false rumor that has been reported to her/his superior. And more importantly still, if you one day are accused of something unprofessional, you have set a standard that others are likely to follow of reporting it to the “boss.” Let’s talk for just a minute about the “boss.”
Principals are usually exceptional teachers that were selected to be in charge of schools. Once in that position they field all complaints of a school with mixed success. They sometimes have the ability to squelch the complaint and/or find a resolution for it but more often than not, their hands are tied and they wind up stuck between union bylaws and human discontent. In other words, they are only one option for dealing with conflict you hear about. I have extreme respect for Principals because they work under such an enormous workload. They have enough to worry about without “tattle-tale” teachers, usually new, who feel the Principal can solve every c0mplaint and issue they hear about with a magic wand. Principals are not the hope-all end-all of solving problems between colleagues. So what am I getting at?
New and old teachers would be wise to withhold frivolous complaints to the Principal. A good rule of thumb, if you are concerned, is to go to the person at issue and inform them of the complaint. You are not at any risk if the situation waits for that. Anyone would respect you going straight to the source before laying the burden upon the Principal. I agree there are some drastic situations that may be so severe you should tell the Principal but hearing frivolous rumors and dumping them on the Principal is not professional. In every case, bear in mind the person you are “reporting” is a person just like you. Principals carry mixed degrees of people skills and abilities to solve disputes. It could backfire on you when the person being accused finds out who reported a lie or otherwise untrue information you spread.
The good old rule of thumb is this: if you were in the other teacher’s position, would you appreciate the Principal knowing there was a complaint or rumor out there about you? 90% of the time, these things are fixed between the teacher and the “offended” party. Accusations can permanently destroy work relationships and this is not helpful to teaching kids.
You are almost always better off going to the source before “tattling” or spreading un-justified rumors. This is not a teaching method tip but rather a tacit tip from someone in the business for 11 years. I know people who haven’t spoken in decades because of issues like this and it affects the school. I say, going to the source, or staying out of it is the best rule to follow with colleagues. Like mother used to say, “If you can’t say anything nice …”
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