Defensive Teacher Attitude- Just the Way it is?
Why do we so often encounter defensiveness among teachers?
Defensiveness
- about the way they have been teaching for years the same subject, the same book, the same curriculum, the same tests, the same way…
- towards someone who is willing and ready to help them plan, co-teach, model, mentor, coach…
- about “doing” computers
- when listening to the difference between computers (in general), IT, networking, Help Desk and what “educational technology” means…
- against experimenting with something new where we don’t know the outcome yet ….but isn’t that the definition of experimenting?)
- against wanting to participate..becoming involved
Defensive (adj) is defined on Dictionary.com as:
Excessively concerned with guarding against the real or imagined threat of criticism, injury to one’s ego, or exposure of one’s shortcomings.
Mmmhh…
Is it an illusion that one can bring about the shift towards 21st century teaching & learning and integrating technology in our schools with:
- a smile
- a good attitude
- by being helpful and supportive
- “knowing your stuff”
- having a generally nice personality
That does not seem to be “enough”.
“In a person who is open to experience each stimulus is freely relayed through the nervous system, without being distorted by any process of defensiveness.â€
Carl Rogers
We are not the only ones asking ourselves these questions:
Why are teachers so defensive and what can we do about it?
Steven McLeod on Dangerously Irrelevant blogged “What they say vs What they hear“:
Educators’ reflexive defensiveness is a fact of life in most school organizations and is a challenge for leaders who are trying to move their schools in new directions.
He quotes Sue King who blogged on Leader Talk. Her “I said…they heard” rings so familiar:
I have said, “We must be explicit about what we want students to know, understand and be able to do.”
What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”
I have said, “We will be more effective [if] we collaborate and work together to figure out how to best meet the needs of our students.”
What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”
I have said, “The responsibilities of public education have changed; we can learn together how to be successful in this new environment.”
What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”
I have said, “I believe in the ability of teachers to reach and teach ALL children.”
What some heard was, “You are not doing a good job.”
” Improving the planning and teaching of Mathematics by Reflecting on Research” by Lauren Hoffman & Daniel Brahier
…can be a worthwhile experience as teachers compare the general findings of the research with what they typically do in their own classroom. Instead of viewing the results defensively, educators have an excellent opportunity to constructively improve their teaching performance through reflection on practice.
This quote implies that defensiveness seems to be also used as a mechanism for not having to reflect and and guarding against having to implement changes and adjustments of their teaching practice if necessary.
Corey Bunje Bower asks the same question on her blog “Thoughts on Education Policy” Why do teachers get so defensive?
Although the post tries to approach the question and answer from the general criticism towards “bad versus good teaching” and not towards the defensiveness against technology integration aspect , nonetheless it points out the extremely personal nature of teaching as one of the reasons for defensiveness.
[...]teaching is a very personal pursuit. It requires a lot of an individual. Many people who go into teaching devote more than just time and energy into their teaching — it’s more than just a job to them. [...] For many teachers, however, their job is personal. And criticism of the way they do their jobs is seen as criticism of them as people. And nobody takes kindly to that.
How can we as “Change Agent Wannabes” work with the defensiveness of educators?
- Do we need to take them as that is just the way it is in education?
- Only work with the willing (non defensive) ones?
- Focus on breaking down the defensive wall if we ever want to really be effective and shift our schools and education?
- Focus on building trust?
- How do we encourage dialogue?
- Make sure that we have the courage and passion to address individual defensive teachers and not make a “blanket” statement, plan or decision for everyone?
I think this starts with the school environment. That means it starts with the Superintendant, District Coaches and Staff, Principals, and Asst. Principals. I’m one of those teachers who takes things personally. Any criticism of my class is a criticism of me. HOWEVER, I have been fortunate to be in very supportive school environments and I never had to become (outgoingly) defensive. I still do sulk or feel ashamed by something said. But, I think, most of my peers would consider me an uber “change agent.” Those two things(being defensive and being a change agent) can not coexist without an awesome principal, etal.
Teachers are rarely treated as experts or even as professionals. People in all sorts of positions feel entirely comfortable advising teachers on what they should do, and in the course of a year a teacher is subjected to hundreds of opinions on what is best.
Consider that you are not the only person asking a teacher to change- in fact, you are one of probably ten to twenty. I almost quit teaching during my first year under the pressure of trying to please all of the people all of the time and failing to find my own voice in the classroom.
Some teachers may simply shut down because it’s too difficult to try to integrate so much into their practice. Others may simply be focusing on one thing at a time and cannot integrate X, Y, and Z all at once. Some may simply not like your ideas (which is, by the way, a decision they have the right to make).
I can also say that I detect an us-versus-them attitude in your own post as well as in the quotes you cite. Each of you talks about why teachers are so defensive, and clearly you do not include yourselves in that label- you are separate and fancy yourself as better in at least one way, if not more.
I believe if you took the time to go into a teacher’s classroom and watch him/her, observe what they do best and how they manipulate their content, and THEN met with that person and suggested specific tools or activities that might enhance what they are already doing, that might be effective. Acknowledge that there are reasons for the things they are doing that you may not know. Acknowledge that teaching is a craft they are trying to perfect, and give them specific tools to do so. Keep it small, keep it simple. Allow teachers time to process one suggestion before making 6 more.
No one goes into teaching for the money or the short hours, and so the decision is almost always deeply personal. Try relating to teachers AS PEOPLE instead of as barriers to change, and see where that gets you.
(For the record, this is coming from a teacher who has been asked to be a little LESS out there and innovative by her admin)
I think it is important to start an open line of communication but I’m finding it is also important what I say and how I say it. This could help keep people for jumping out on the defensive. I’m reading a great book call: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High http://www.shelfari.com/books/132007/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-for-Talking-When-Stakes-are-High. I think this might be a good book to read before the conversation takes place.
I, too, struggle with this issue. I’m not a professional trainer but I am the computer electives teacher at my school and I occasionally offer trainings. There is really only 1 other teacher (the Library Media Specialist) who desires to learn about or use technology, much less 2.0. My staff sees me as an uber “change agent†(borrowing the phrase from the previous commenter), but not in a good way. Their ears close immediately when I begin to talk tech, no matter how supportive and positive I try to be, because they think I’m overly enthusiastic, i.e. a tech fanatic, or because “it’s-all-so easy-for-her-because-she-works-in-lab.” I was a regular content-area classroom teacher for years before I took this position, so I know where they’re coming from.
Anyway, as far as solutions: I’m friends with the head Literacy Coach for my District and he gave me the best advice ever. He said this movement would happen only through grass-roots efforts in our District/schools because tehre was so much resistance on so many levels. He suggested that I should work ONLY with those who want to change. That seems to work because now, 3 years later, I do finally see that change seeping ever so slowly through our systems.
Every little indication of progress toward real understanding of 21st Century Learning and joining our kids in the digital world gives me hope enough to stay and keep trying. I’m not thrilled, but I’m slightly optimistic. I’m no longer bitter about it; I guess I’m just resigned to reality.
In the meantime, I still get most of my professional fulfillment and learning from my PLN and by presenting what (little) I’ve learned away from my home district. I feel it’s the only way to avoid committing malpractice and letting the best practices of my profession pass me by…
Many of the presentations that I have been to begin with an attack (not a critique) on flawed models before launching into a better teaching strategy. The structure of this presentation model is designed to guilt the audience into changing. So if you were taught to use that flawed model, wouldn’t you be defensive?
If you get the chance to see the Powells present on differentiation, I recommend that you focus on the structure of their presentation rather than the content. Though their message is quite revolutionary (though not unsound), it is not an attack.