Wisdom Talks with 60 Principals

Author: Ma Lianfang / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: For a long time, the development of teaching staff has been a persistent concern for many principals in advancing quality education. We often hear such sighs: "Educational reform is not easy! Our teachers' qualities cannot keep up!" However, in recent years, Yangxiang Primary School has taken a relatively successful path in this regard. Could Principal Hong share with us some of your thoughts, practices, and insights regarding teaching staff development? We should consider teaching staff development as part of the entire school management and consistently uphold the principle: "Teachers should respect and understand students, and leaders should respect and understand teachers." I would say that my guiding philosophy for teaching staff management is "Respect and understand teachers, enabling every teacher to succeed." This translates to "、、、、."
First, tolerate others' shortcomings. Everyone has weaknesses, and as school leaders, we should not focus solely on teachers' shortcomings but instead show more tolerance and recognize their strengths. For example, our school has a teacher with high professional skills but a strong personality and quick temper. Nevertheless, I insisted on giving her a chance, leveraging her strengths by appointing her as the head of the subject teaching research group and asking her to mentor two young teachers. This deeply moved her, and in subsequent work, she maximized her intellectual potential. Under her leadership, the group made rapid progress in all aspects of its work. Not only was her group recognized as an "Excellent Civilized Group," but she herself was awarded the title of "Shanghai Outstanding Educator." The two young teachers she mentored also repeatedly won awards at the district and city levels. Thus, only by tolerating others' shortcomings can we better utilize their strengths.
Second, treat people with empathy. The word "empathy" is easy to say but difficult to practice. Why is it difficult? It is difficult because the empathy a principal shows must be genuine. Superficial or insincere "emotional investments" can only fool teachers for a while and will inevitably backfire. A young teacher from another district had twice won the "Shanghai Outstanding Educator Award" and once won the first prize in the "National Primary School Chinese Language Teaching Competition." She was willing to work at our school, but the leadership of her original school refused to let her go, even with the intervention of the district education bureau leaders, who offered various incentives to retain her. To bring her to Yangxiang Primary School, I braved a heavy rain and cycled to her school, speaking one-on-one with the principal, party secretary, and head of teaching affairs. In the end, I "touched the heavens" and successfully convinced them. Afterward, she said, "If it weren't for the principal coming in the rain to negotiate, I would have agreed to stay at my original school." Practice has shown that treating people with empathy is not about small favors but about respecting people's emotional world, alleviating their sense of burden and oppression, and replacing it with a sense of closeness and trust. This mutual respect, recognition, and encouragement is conducive to people's performance and also helps us in all our work.
Third, help others succeed. "Achieving success for oneself" is a major aspiration for most teachers. For example, veteran teachers hope to be appointed as mentors or supervisors, while young teachers aspire to become "rising stars," "talents," or "promising seeds" as soon as possible. Therefore, to retain talent in the school, the leadership must assist teachers in various ways to help them achieve success sooner. Only in this way can teachers truly feel, "This is where I can grow."
P30