One of the classic issues in education throughout the world is the interaction between administration and faculty. When a governmental committee decides to make a new policy about teaching material and methods in the public schools, principals and other administrators pass the new policy to the teachers. This usually causes some problems. Teachers everywhere commonly complain that administrators do not understand actual classroom conditions. At the same time, administrators complain that teachers are unable or unwilling to adapt to necessary changes. It is like a war!
When administrators implement a new policy, they often do not consider what the policy requires of the teachers. Is there enough time during the semester to introduce the new learning material? Will the students find it interesting at all? What methods are best for teaching the new material? Will the new teaching methods work with the students? These are questions that a teacher must answer. Usually, administrators merely wait for the results of the next standardized test to determine whether the new materials and methods have succeeded. If student test scores are not desirable, administrators accuse teachers of failing in their duties.
Tension between administration and faculty is even worse when there is a language barrier involved. If the administration comprises a Korean hagwon owner, director, and manager, and the faculty is made up of one or two foreign teachers who do not speak Korean, there will almost always be conflict. These teachers will feel that the administration is demanding the impossible. If the administrators make demands which the teachers cannot meet, the blame will fall on the teachers, yet is it not the duty of administration to make reasonable requests rather than impossible demands? Meanwhile, the administrators are convinced that the teachers are lazy or inept.
It is tempting to choose sides in this common conflict. Will you side with the lazy, inept teachers, or with the uninformed, unreasonable administrators? I will tell you which team I choose: the students. When administration and faculty do not cooperate smoothly, who is the victim? Who suffers most when unreasonable policies are passed or when inept teachers are unable to prepare students for the tests they must take to reach university and secure a good job? The students!
Both good administrators and good teachers must keep in mind the single most important part of the education process: the student. Innovations in education should be carefully designed with the classroom in mind, and actual teachers should be consulted before new policies are passed. Administration should carefully consider the difficulties faculty will face when presented with new materials, methods, testing procedures and teaching conditions, and administrators should do everything they can to help teachers meet these challenges. Teachers should rise to the demands of innovation in education, maintaining an open mind toward changes in curriculum and methodology. Perhaps most importantly, when a new policy does not produce the desired test results, everyone must share the responsibility.
Education must not be conducted like warfare, where powerful men can hide behind desks and give orders which send others to danger and doom. Administrators need to cultivate better understanding of actual classroom conditions. Teachers cannot be soldiers marching along like robots, following orders. They must be human: energetic, creative, and free to adapt to change. If the education process is conducted like warfare, the only casualties will be the students.
[D. Julian -- Fall, 2004]