Accountability

Over the last few weeks I've become more and more intrigued by the apparent metamorphosis people can go through when they become school managers - especially at senior management level.

By metamorphosis I mean the sudden change in the way they are perceived by others and the way they perceive themselves.

My own point of view has always been that I am no different now than when I was a teacher. But perhaps I'm being naïve, or worse still deliberately distorting reality? What is apparent is the way others respond you, your decisions and your behaviour.

The "them and us" is reinforced in so many tacit ways that even for the most egalitarian leader, or enlightened teacher the effect upon behaviour can be immensely strong.

On the manager's side is the problem of accountability - "if things don't go well I am to blame" or "if people make mistakes then I am to blame" The answer in most cases is to reduce risk by increasing control.

In such an environment the teacher feels disempowered, becomes passive and happy to play their 'part' by "blaming the management" if things aren't going well.

The manager responds to such passivity by increasing the level of direction and control and will say things such as, "I've got to do everything myself" - "no one thinks for themselves"

In turn the circle becomes even more vicious as teachers become even more removed from the management.

The underlying source of the problem would appear to be the crippling effect of accountability - so what can we do?

Particularly when the position of head teacher can leave one feeling extremely exposed.

Perhaps this idea is too simplistic but I believe the answer to be to shift the focus from accountability for "bad" things to accountability for "good" things. For it seems to me that head teachers burden theselves with negative accountability - and, ironically, that they do this for the best of reasons, i.e. to protect their staff. If we could just turn this on its head and focus instead upon the positive things that can happen in our schools. By taking such an outlook the head teacher is more likely to be prepared to share accountability with their colleagues.

If such an environment could be created then teachers are much more likely to contribute, lead and help to shape the future of the school.

One of the reasons that I'm fairly confident there's something in this is the fact that such an outlook permeates all outstanding schools. A highly controlled environment where everthing has to go through management can be successful - but such a school will have an in-built limit to improvement based upon the ability of the management to sustain their effort. Whereas a participative model, focussing on positive shared accountability, has no such limit, is self-sustaining and much more healthy model for all who work there.