Reply to APS - How can we get rid of Superintendent Murphy?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am surprised that such an under educated person is leading a school system with such high-achieving parents and children. It's odd.

A coach? Wtf? the least educated of educators.[/quote]

I'm not a big fan of Murphy, but I will push back on this charge.

It's actually not a surprise that many coaches end up in admin positions in school systems. The skills that make good coaches are similar to the skills needed to be a good administrator. They are, literally, team leaders. They are accustomed to working with a variety of skills to try to put together a cohesive team. They have to consider skills and personalities and be able to recognize people who bring "intangibles." (The player who doesn't look great on her own, whose stats aren't particularly impressive, but who somehow makes everyone else on the floor/field play better.) It sounds facile, but they are accustomed to providing direction and oversight and watching the team work together to get the job done.

Most teachers don't do any of this in their day to day jobs, though of course some do have these skills. In fact, there are lots of teachers who love their jobs in part because they love being the ruler of their little fiefdom. (That's not a criticism.) These teachers love the day-to-day autonomy (even if they have to hew to imposed standards), love being in charge of their classrooms, and often don't enjoy, and even actively dislike, committee work. They are autocrats, however benign. These teachers typically aren't attracted to admin positions (and if they are can be autocratic admins who are not beloved by their underlings).

Also, don't forget that many subject teachers in high schools actually love teaching their subjects and don't want to stop doing it. They went into teaching because they love French or physics or history and want to teach.

Another factor is energy level, or willingness to devote a shit ton of time to the job. School administrators work really long days. Teacher-coaches--who teach PE all day and then stay after school to spend 3 more hours coaching--are accustomed to this and actually enjoy it. Many other teachers do not have any interest in this. (And underlying this is the male-female dynamic--in our culture, women still do the vast majority of childcare, and teaching is still a primarily female profession, so a large proportion of teachers are women who need to go home to their own children, so they can't/don't want to devote this kind of time to their job.) (Again, this is observation, not criticism.)[/quote]

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