When I first started being a Tech Director (former job) I felt great pride in being the guru of tech knowledge and unfortunately, I also did my best to keep that knowledge just beyond the reach of the staff. You might call it a lot of things….but in actuality it was a lot of conceit with a bit of job security.
Now, jump forward 10 years (perhaps 10 years of wisdom, 10 years of maturing) and my major focus is to eliminate my position at work.
You see – for many many (too many) years …I was the holder of all tech wisdom. (100% mostly for my gratification and my ego). The false sense of pride of being the “techie know it all” not only alienated and limited my staff but also was selfish to myself and the burden I placed upon myself…because of my unwillingness to share the information.
So now I am consciously striving to put myself out of a job.
Here are some things I am (or am no longer doing):
* Refusing to touch the mouse when I am called in to help a teacher but letting them drive.
* Writing up “HOW TO “ worksheets and placing them on the server and no longer hoping staff will read them, but directing staff to read them before jumping in to trouble shoot something they could troubleshoot on their own.
* Inviting and dragging (yes, right now I am dragging) teachers to conferences, to conversations, and to training and then following up later to see how they are doing and having them share at in-services instead of myself always teaching
* Not giving my opinion on matters as quickly as I had in the past – but instead taking time to seek others viewpoints and contributions.
* Sending grant ideas to teachers with a “you could and should apply for this”
* Sharing the deep dark secrets of the network – okay, not totally true – but not making the network such a “scary, members only area”
* When receiving emails of “Jen, do you think this is a hoax” returning the email with “what does snopes say about it”? and other various ways of not always being the know it all.
AND
* No longer saying “Yes, I can” but saying “Yes, you can.”
I do not know the number of my days – at work or in my lifetime – but I know pretty certain that this job will not be my last job and though I do not have plans to leave any time soon….I do not wish for them to be helpless and hopeless just because I am not there.
I do not wish for the vision of tech at my current campus to be driven by one person – especially if that one person is me. My limitations of knowledge, my ruts of certain software that I am comfortable with, and the setting of goals and benchmarks should never be the final say on my campus.
It is very very easy for me to jump in and do it all – but it is much better for my campus to learn to not only be self-reliant but also team players who work together for a common goal that is understood and written by all (and not just by me.)
I do enjoy the campus that I work on. Most of the people are eager for new ideas and are thankful that they have someone kind in my position right now who does not bark at them for their lack of tech savviness. But I also know that once I get them to the point that they don’t turn to me first – they turn first to themselves and then they turn to a fellow teacher or their PLN….then I have done my job!!
Jen
cross posted at: http://www.techlearning.com/section/Blogs
Jen,
When I first took a teacher-leader position on my campus as the School Improvement Facilitator, one of the first “responsibilities” in that position was to “work myself out of a job.” The job description started with “The School Improvement Facilitator is a campus-based change agent…” and in our training they told us that our number #1 goal was to work ourselves out of our jobs by building capacity in others — in ALL others — to collaboratively lead change on the campus.
Of course, leading whole-school change is not an easy endeavor (much like tech integration), and realistically no one expected all of the SIFs to really work themselves out of their jobs. The goal was more a philosophy for how we did our jobs — just as you described above… not “yes, I can,” but “yes, YOU can…”
I especially like how you phrased it when you said:
“It is very easy for me to jump in and do it all — but it is much better for my campus to learn to not only be self-reliant but also team players who work together for a common goal…”
Great post!
Jen,
Nicely written. I hope to retire from my regular position in another year or so. My goal is to leave a staff so competent they do not need to replace me.
I think I will print and paste your “rules” above my computer.
Sharon
@Stephanie
Thank you for taking to time to stop by and post….and for your kind words.
It has been a journey — for us all.
Thanks again for writing.
@Sharon
Thank you for your words. Can you share with me some things you are doing with your staff? I would love to learn from both you and Stephanie.
Jen
Jen, I completely agree with everything you have written and have been trying to put myself out of a job with one caveat. Sometimes I do the mouse “driving” so that people can write down the steps if I haven’t already created a “how to” sheet (which is rare). Once I have successfully educated people how to do something, something else lands on my “plate”. I continue to learn new things and ask questions. Thank you for sharing!
Even beyond your position, teachers in all content areas tend to be “the keepers of knowledge” and reluctance to share greeted me when I found myself in the position I hold this year. Seven empty file cabinets. Empty file cabinets! One, what would I ever do with one of them let alone seven. Two, what did she do with the 30+ years of teaching she must have had in them? Yet, I’ve come to be glad that I didn’t have to weed through each of them. I still question what did she do with the knowledge she held? It certainly hasn’t helped frame my approach to teaching ninth grade English.
Nice post Jen. It gives me a lot to think about on how I deal with my staff. I really like the idea of the help sheets on the server and email responses that ask teachers to think for themselves first, before going to the ‘expert’. It should be what we are asking students to do, why should we treat teachers and staff any differently.
Jen,
I think this is a very courageous admission on your part. It’s very gratifying to be the one with the answers, but I agree, in the long term interest of the staff, it’s good for people to be empowered.
Someone I met at NECC a couple of years ago (think it was Ken Pruitt) suggested that instead of using the uber users as trainers, we have mid-level users be trainers because they better understand the concerns of teachers, possibly, and also don’t get as caught up in the complex features of what they are sharing. Plus teachers don’t feel like they are trying to live up to this “uber” users abilities right off the bat.
Anyway, your post makes a lot of sense!
Love your post. I have always been a “Yes, I can person”, and really need to work on the “Yes, you can piece of it. Thanks for some great ideas.