Disagreements and conflicts in the workplace are common in my job. I work with students who are young adults and have backgrounds that involve a great deal of violent and aggressive approaches to conflict. Conflicts occur among the students on a daily basis, and quite often between students and staff. Therefore, as a staff, we have to remain united in order for the students to adhere to rules and restrictions. If one staff member allows students to “get away” with many things, it hurts the entire group.
Recently, I have become frustrated with one of the staff members. There are three of us that teach reading and the demographic of students with whom we work often makes it difficult to be an effective teacher. We need to show “tough love” and we need to hold each and every student accountable for all of the rules of our program. If we slip, the students will find that weakness and take advantage of it. One of the reading teachers is slipping. She is allowing students to get away without doing any work in her classroom. She allows them to sleep, wear their hats and coats in the classroom, curse excessively, and get into altercations in the hallway. She is now viewed as the “place to hang out.” She is also giving the appearance of being the “cool” teacher, and has projected “witch” status onto my other colleagues and me. I do not like being considered nasty or mean simply because I adhere to rules and am teaching my students life skills and accountability. I have spoken to this teacher on several occasions. I have let her know that she is under a microscope with our superiors, that students are talking about her leniency, and that her job may potentially be on the line. Nothing has changed.
After reading a great deal about conflict resolution this week, I have learned a few skills that I believe will assist me in speaking to her about this issue, and if necessary, with my boss. When I first approached my coworker, I went about it incorrectly. Because I was afraid of damaging our relationship as peers, I told her her job would be threatened and created a defensive climate; on in which “the people involved feel threatened. It is an atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion, and apprehension,” (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2009) . What I need to do is create a supportive climate. I need to let my colleague know that I’m here for her, but I need her to understand my needs also. I need to voice those needs in such a way that I don’t offend her, but still allow her to see my point of view and how her behavior is affecting my days.
In addition, I can no longer be an escapist and avoid the conflict all together. Something needs to change in her classroom so that I don’t have to face the abuse from all of the students about how nice she is and what a horrible person I am for holding them accountable. I need to confront her, but also need to know my communication boundaries. She may not want to speak with me about this, as I am not her superior, and I may have to go to my boss to have a mediation. I do not want to cause this teacher to feel as though she is unsupported, I simply want her to see that she is leaving me unsupported, as well as other staff members.
I would love to know what others would do in such a situation. How would you approach such a dilemma?
References:
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real Communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
No comments:
Post a Comment