The Curious Case of The Useless Crowd

Two's company, three's a crowd.

Although this saying is rooted in a simplistic wisdom about social company, it is certainly very pertinent in a school's structure. The efficacy of managing a large body of staff is not a simple task but this task is made ever so complicated when you have weak links in the chain of command. 

It is inevitably apparent that some people fail to make any meaningful impact on the school life when they are just an additional stratum in the management sphere.  What they are achieving is a mystery to a few of us. You'd have more luck finding clues in a three thousand year sarcophagus than looking at these missing links in the evolutionary life of the school.  

Why again? Why them? Because their existence is not only just an inconvenience it is now a threat to the stability of the workplace and a burden on the remaining members of staff. Some of these managers show a distinct lack of experience and that is, without doubt, a natural event in life. People are not born achievers, they progress with time.

Progress or growth occur with contact with fellow colleagues. Progress happens when there is communication of the practical nature. Collaboration, feedback, contribution, sharing, understanding and above all compassion. Compassion is key. Shouting down from the top of the pyramid will not move the base. You will have to learn to understand the weight the base is feeling to devise better ways of responsibility distribution. The more you balance the weight, the more durable the structure becomes.

We have not seen some of the second-layer managers rub shoulders with their fellow co-workers. Once promoted swiftly to a position of influence, they sit comfortably in their desk chairs typing constantly at their keyboards, making tens of phone calls and attending countless meetings. If this is an exaggeration, we have not seen proof of the opposite. The majority of the work force is in classrooms working furiously as ever and a bit more. Teachers - poor souls- are not the most savvy in business project management or finance intricacies so they just deal with the day to day task of ensuring the primary goal of a school is successfully attained: teaching and learning.

Teachers also deal with a couple more tasks. They deal with the students' well-being, their mental health, their physical health, their social interactions, their hormonal growth, their university applications, their personal statements, their temperature every morning, their library books, their options, their social distancing, their absence, their explained absence, their unexplained absence, their missed assessment, their out-of-charge iPad, their medical certificates, their uniform when little John wears white socks and little Jane wears too much make-up, their parents, their parents' worries and requests, the leaking sink in the classroom, the blocked toilets, the break duties, their safety in the science labs or DT workshop and tens of other meaningful or meaningless tasks.

Teachers only teach is a myth and an ignorant statement. Managers only manage is a worse one. Schools thrive on the teachers' goodwill. Take that out of the equation and the whole management structure will multiply tenfold to cope with each field of responsibility. Teachers' work keeps management layers to a minimum by their dedication and hard work. Managers should be leaders in time of crises and an example to follow when we need guidance. So, to have some managers completely invisible sends the wrong signal to all staff. Again, the complicity they have shown lately by indulging in comfortable silence to secure their positions is not viewed favourably. They are not just invisible, they are of no use and claim no part in growing the next generation of youngsters. They are just useless. 

A bit harsh, I hear you say? Maybe the next person to be pushed out with a phony excuse will be more considerate with their choice of words.