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Dealing with Difficult Teachers, Second Edition by Whitaker, Todd (August 20, 2002) Paperback
This book shows you how to handle staff members who:
• gossip in the teacher's lounge.
• consistently say "it won't work" when any new idea is suggested.
• send an excessive number of student to your office for disciplinary reasons.
• undermine your efforts toward school improvement.
• negatively influence other staff members. .
This book provides tips and strategies to help school leaders improve, neutralize, or eliminate resistant and negative teachers. 1999.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 30, 2016
There are 6 areas where teachers may pose difficulty:
1. Negative classroom behavior
2. Negative staff influence
3. Negative public impact
4. Resistant to change
5. Dampen enthusiasm/school climate
6. Parade students to the office
The golden rule: Always treat difficult teachers as though the rest of the staff was in the room.Always look for opportunities to “catch” the ineffectual teacher doing something right.
Rule of Thumb: Take one initial chance praising a difficult teacher publicly. Continue to praise him/her only if the initial praise leads to improvement.
Recognize that it’s okay (and often necessary) to raise the discomfort level of difficult teachers in order to effect change. This can be done by empowering superstar teachers, using peer pressure, and reducing staffroom negativity.
Principals need to help difficult teachers accept responsibility for their classes and students. Move them from Circle of Concern to Circle of Influence.
Staffroom griping is a learned behavior, so clearly articulate your disapproval of it and use peer pressure to ensure it’s perceived as not a part of the school climate.
Reduce the comfort level of negative teachers at staff meetings by splitting them up, re-arranging the room set up, etc.
Delay approaching a teacher who has done something inappropriate. Approach him/her when you are ready – to prevent you from being emotional, to give yourself time to formulate a plan, and to raise the teacher’s level of discomfort.
When questioning a teacher about inappropriate behavior, ask open-ended and leading questions to make the teacher do the talking (eg. Tell me a little bit about your classes yesterday.”)
Three types of influential difficult teachers:
- The apple-polishing back stabber
- The town crier
- The saboteur
Always remain calm and professional when faced with confrontation by naysayers and negative leaders. Everybody knows the principal is in charge, so don’t engage in public arguments to prove you’re right!
A more effective way to reduce the influence of negative leaders is to “break up the group” – reduce the number of followers. And make every attempt to work on the followers one at a time.
Consider “shuffling the deck” to minimize the influence of negative leaders (eg. re-arrange classroom assignments, lunch and prep periods to split up negative leaders and their followers.
Golden Rule #2: Always treat difficult teachers as though they want to do what is right.
1. Negative classroom behavior
2. Negative staff influence
3. Negative public impact
4. Resistant to change
5. Dampen enthusiasm/school climate
6. Parade students to the office
The golden rule: Always treat difficult teachers as though the rest of the staff was in the room.Always look for opportunities to “catch” the ineffectual teacher doing something right.
Rule of Thumb: Take one initial chance praising a difficult teacher publicly. Continue to praise him/her only if the initial praise leads to improvement.
Recognize that it’s okay (and often necessary) to raise the discomfort level of difficult teachers in order to effect change. This can be done by empowering superstar teachers, using peer pressure, and reducing staffroom negativity.
Principals need to help difficult teachers accept responsibility for their classes and students. Move them from Circle of Concern to Circle of Influence.
Staffroom griping is a learned behavior, so clearly articulate your disapproval of it and use peer pressure to ensure it’s perceived as not a part of the school climate.
Reduce the comfort level of negative teachers at staff meetings by splitting them up, re-arranging the room set up, etc.
Delay approaching a teacher who has done something inappropriate. Approach him/her when you are ready – to prevent you from being emotional, to give yourself time to formulate a plan, and to raise the teacher’s level of discomfort.
When questioning a teacher about inappropriate behavior, ask open-ended and leading questions to make the teacher do the talking (eg. Tell me a little bit about your classes yesterday.”)
Three types of influential difficult teachers:
- The apple-polishing back stabber
- The town crier
- The saboteur
Always remain calm and professional when faced with confrontation by naysayers and negative leaders. Everybody knows the principal is in charge, so don’t engage in public arguments to prove you’re right!
A more effective way to reduce the influence of negative leaders is to “break up the group” – reduce the number of followers. And make every attempt to work on the followers one at a time.
Consider “shuffling the deck” to minimize the influence of negative leaders (eg. re-arrange classroom assignments, lunch and prep periods to split up negative leaders and their followers.
Golden Rule #2: Always treat difficult teachers as though they want to do what is right.
July 29, 2018
Great read!
Concise, practical advice for any principal at any school. Points were backed up by scenarios in which strategies were used. Very helpful.
Concise, practical advice for any principal at any school. Points were backed up by scenarios in which strategies were used. Very helpful.
January 13, 2020
Direct and simple ideas. Great book!
August 15, 2014
Let me start by saying that I am a believer in Todd Whitaker. Consistently from book to book, Whitaker delivers essential survival tips for all leaders in education with his no-nonsense approach; Dealing with Difficult Teachers is another winner from Whitaker's collection.
Whitaker's thesis is essentially this: Because school leaders are often not taught to deal with difficult teachers in their leadership programs, and because new leaders often step into schools rife with ineffective teachers and a harmful environment, they must be given advice on how to use a number of methods (what Whitaker calls the "shotgun approach") in order to achieve one of the following results: 1. Make difficult teachers more effective, often through making them uncomfortable; 2. Minimize their influence on other teachers, especially newer staff members; and/or 3. Find ways to remove the difficult teacher from the school.
One prevailing adage that Whitaker uses throughout the book is this: Always assume that difficult teachers want to do what is right. If leaders treat teachers with this assumption, and act professionally in all interactions with them, the leaders will earn the respect of the other staff and can feel they did everything they could to rectify the situation.
One other message Whitaker makes loud and clear throughout the book: always do right by the students. All decisions school leaders make will have an impact on the learning environment. If a teacher is not helping the students, they are hurting them. There is no place in a school for difficult teachers; holding onto them too long, or letting their negativity influence the rest of the staff, can destroy whatever positive impact on the school the leader is trying to impart. The wisdom found in this book will provide school leaders with helpful advice for improving the school.
Dealing with Difficult Teachers is as vital a book as any that I have read in the education leadership genre, and one that I know I will revisit often as I continue my career in education.
Whitaker's thesis is essentially this: Because school leaders are often not taught to deal with difficult teachers in their leadership programs, and because new leaders often step into schools rife with ineffective teachers and a harmful environment, they must be given advice on how to use a number of methods (what Whitaker calls the "shotgun approach") in order to achieve one of the following results: 1. Make difficult teachers more effective, often through making them uncomfortable; 2. Minimize their influence on other teachers, especially newer staff members; and/or 3. Find ways to remove the difficult teacher from the school.
One prevailing adage that Whitaker uses throughout the book is this: Always assume that difficult teachers want to do what is right. If leaders treat teachers with this assumption, and act professionally in all interactions with them, the leaders will earn the respect of the other staff and can feel they did everything they could to rectify the situation.
One other message Whitaker makes loud and clear throughout the book: always do right by the students. All decisions school leaders make will have an impact on the learning environment. If a teacher is not helping the students, they are hurting them. There is no place in a school for difficult teachers; holding onto them too long, or letting their negativity influence the rest of the staff, can destroy whatever positive impact on the school the leader is trying to impart. The wisdom found in this book will provide school leaders with helpful advice for improving the school.
Dealing with Difficult Teachers is as vital a book as any that I have read in the education leadership genre, and one that I know I will revisit often as I continue my career in education.
March 25, 2016
Todd Whitaker is a talented writer whose work is easy and interesting to read. He is honest, straightforward, and backs up his ideas with research citations (although much of the research was done by his wife.) Although I got some ideas for ways to talk with difficult teachers that might effect change, I can't help but feel that some of his methods are manipulative. I've used "I heard some teachers/students talking..." before and it usually left me feeling guilty. Perhaps it's because I'm not an administrator, but I am looking for an honest way to help teachers become the best they can be. Maybe there really isn't one!
July 13, 2008
It's intriguing to look at what's on the other side of the fence. I recognized a lot of the traits of "difficult teachers" as similar to ones I see in my difficult students, particularly on the yearbook staff.
November 11, 2016
Good strategies
It's hard to agree with the author on everything having just gone into administration but his viewpoint is often right on and most of the strategies seem sound. Good read for new principals.
It's hard to agree with the author on everything having just gone into administration but his viewpoint is often right on and most of the strategies seem sound. Good read for new principals.
April 12, 2016
This is a resource I own in both print and digital format. It is a necessary text for any school leader looking for practice and time-tested strategies for handling the most challenging situations.
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April 1, 2008Another book for class. If anyone wants to borrow it, let me know.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews