As We Continue on Our Professional Paths

As I prepare to move into my specialization I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have been on this journey with me. I have been able to share and learn with everyone in many different ways. It has been very helpful to be able to share with people who share the same visions and have experienced some of the same things that I have as we educate and prepare children to be successful in school and their lives. I would like to wish everyone much success in whatever specialization that you choose. I also look forward to those who will continue this journey with me as we specialize in administration, management and leadership. We are almost there!!!  

Andrea

Adjourning From a Group

The group that was the hardest to adjourn from would have to be the group of women that I worked with while I was working as a Licensing Inspector with Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. We had a great leader Lalah Ash and the women in my unit were and still are a great group of women. I loved working with them and they helped to make the job a lot easier. We all had each other’s backs and when someone was out sick or on extended leave we would all spit up the cases and work them as if they were our own without complaints. I could always go to my supervisor for support and assistance and knew that she would be able to help find a solution that would be in the best interest of the children in care. My unit celebrated my marriage with me and the birth of my first child. They also gave me a going away party when I left to begin my teaching career.

It was also hard for me to leave or depart from my Women’s Track and Field team that I trained and competed with for four years of my life. Track and Field was a part of my everyday life from the time I was 12 to 22 years old. I truly miss competing and the friendships and bonds that were created.  

I have enjoyed the discussions and insight that I have gained from my colleagues.  I feel that although we have not been able to bond with one another face to face we have been able to build relationships. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues and continue to share and learn from them.

I believe that adjourning is an essential state of teamwork because all relationships that end must have closure. You will either agree to keep in contact or go your separate ways if the relationship was not high performing or cohesive. 

Managing Conflict

A professional conflict that I experienced last school year involved myself and my department chair (DC). My DC was the previous nursery/child care director and decided that she no longer wanted to be in charge of the nursery in order to alleviate some of her workload. When I became the nursery director I arranged the director’s office in a manner that would make it more functional for me as well as provide a safe exit for the preschool children to use in case of emergency. (My office is in between two classrooms that connect). One day I walked into my office and saw a table was back in the office. I removed the table and placed it back. When the DC arrived she came into my office to make copies and then asked me about the table outside. I informed her that someone had placed the table in the office and I removed it because I did not need it. She then told me she placed the table in the office so she could have a place to work when her classroom was occupied in the morning. I informed her that I did not want the table in the office as it made the office cluttered and would make the exit route unsafe. The DC then began to verbally personally attack me and my decision to not have the table in the office. As a result of being verbally attacked I became defensive resulting in an argument.

Looking back on this event and after learning about managing conflict, nonviolent communication and the 3 R’s I would have handled the situation in the following manner instead:

1.       Focus on the issue (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012) – I should have made it clear that the reason for the office being rearranged and for me not wanting the table was to ensure the safety of the children. Not to keep her out of her old office or to “shut her out.”

2.       Considered Options and Alternatives (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012) -  I should have suggested that she could go work in the Teachers Longue on their computers and tables when she needed a place to work.

This school year I plan to not use the Escapist Strategy and make sure that I am communicating and not avoiding having conversations that need to be had. I will make sure that I am considering the other persons feelings and focuing on the issues and not who is “right or wrong.”

O'- Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.