[monarch558]

Hey there - I am a teacher - a passionate one at that ( did I say INFP - stands to reason! LOL) at any rate - If I am left alone to teach I would be fine - but there are times - more than I care to reflect.. that I must play part in the "game" - I have gained a rep of not necessarily being a team player - it's not a team player - because when it comes to carrying my weight i do and more so - when it comes time to cover some one I do - but when it goes against my moral code or against what I feel is right ( or is right by law!) then I have issue with this - it's not always easy to sit quiet - then i get a bad attitude and feel like I have to speak up - and then because this wasn't a concern to anyone else - I am looked at as a trouble maker - no there was trouble - I was the only one brave or foolish enough to do so. Does any one else go through this

How can I circumvent my personality to keep my job - Don't say just ignore it - it's not that easy - I feel like I am selling out when i do

 

[Isildin]

Hey there - I am a teacher - a passionate one at that ( did I say INFP - stands to reason! LOL) at any rate - If I am left alone to teach I would be fine - but there are times - more than I care to reflect.. that I must play part in the "game" - I have gained a rep of not necessarily being a team player - it's not a team player - because when it comes to carrying my weight i do and more so - when it comes time to cover some one I do - but when it goes against my moral code or against what I feel is right ( or is right by law!) then I have issue with this - it's not always easy to sit quiet - then i get a bad attitude and feel like I have to speak up - and then because this wasn't a concern to anyone else - I am looked at as a trouble maker - no there was trouble - I was the only one brave or foolish enough to do so. Does any one else go through this

How can I circumvent my personality to keep my job - Don't say just ignore it - it's not that easy - I feel like I am selling out when i do

What do you teach?
Im not a teacher, but i play one on t... i mean, im going to teacher school next month to become a history teacher

 

[sky604]

I have found that dealing with social work issues... it is best to pick and chose my battles. I only speak out if it violates my core values. I try to approach the person privately and ask them questions about thier actions or beliefs. I then ask them if they have thought about the issue in the way I beleive. If they become defensive I tell a joke to deescilate the situation and then change the subject to something we both have in common. You will only create enemies if you don't find common ground with people who are violating your core values. You could also find people who feel/think the same way you do and express to them how you feel/think and see if as a group you can challenge/reconcile the people and issues. EGO and PRIDE tread lightly if you truely want change

 

[teddy564339]

Hey there - I am a teacher - a passionate one at that ( did I say INFP - stands to reason! LOL) at any rate - If I am left alone to teach I would be fine - but there are times - more than I care to reflect.. that I must play part in the "game" - I have gained a rep of not necessarily being a team player - it's not a team player - because when it comes to carrying my weight i do and more so - when it comes time to cover some one I do - but when it goes against my moral code or against what I feel is right ( or is right by law!) then I have issue with this - it's not always easy to sit quiet - then i get a bad attitude and feel like I have to speak up - and then because this wasn't a concern to anyone else - I am looked at as a trouble maker - no there was trouble - I was the only one brave or foolish enough to do so. Does any one else go through this

How can I circumvent my personality to keep my job - Don't say just ignore it - it's not that easy - I feel like I am selling out when i do

I'm a high school teacher, and I have an INFP friend who's also a high school teacher. He feels pretty much exactly the same as you do, and overall I feel pretty similar. The difference is that I'm an ISFJ and I don't really have trouble sucking it up and just doing what I'm told. I know morally this isn't good, but I have a really hard time rebelling and going against authority, especially because like you said, I always am paranoid about my job.


However, my friend...he doesn't seem to care what people think. I think he kind of does, but not really, and he never shows it. He seems to for the most part do whatever he wants when it comes to stuff he's passionate about, and he doesn't care if other teachers view him as a "troublemaker".

As far as worrying about losing your job...he's never had to worry about it. I know it varies from state to state, but here, all principals really care about in the end is the standardized test scores. Since his subject, English, doesn't have one, they don't care nearly as much about what he does. I don't think he's ever been in danger of being fired.

Again, I don't know what it's like in your state, but here, once a teacher has taught long enough to get seniority, it's very hard for them to lose their job. Unless they do something totally reprehensible, they can't just be fired...a principal has to go through a long process of intervention, observation, and other stuff, and the teacher still has to show no improvement in order to be fired. So it's not easy for it to happen.

Of course, principals can still make your life hell, even if they don't fire you. So there are still downsides to making big waves with them.


I guess the best advice I can offer is to choose your battles. If something is merely irritating to you and not that big of a deal, it may not be worth it to fight about it. But you don't have to bend to the will of everything someone tells you either, especially if you're passionate about it.


But it sounds like to me that you're worrying more about the consequences than you need to. Most likely you'll probably get some kind of warning before anything serious happens, and that would give you a better idea of what you can and can't get away with.

 

[northernsky]

I'm often speaking up in meetings and asking questions that annoy people! If I think something isn't helpful then I'll tell them. Like when we had to do this ridiculous new assessment system - I told them I thought it was a waste of time and then I didn't do it, a while later they realised I was right and it was a waste of time and they didn't make us do it. Excellent!

Also we were once being talked to about absence policy, the head at that time had a reputation for telling people with illnesses to pull themselves together and get into school. Everyone had been talking about it and moaning. Then we had this meeting and he was saying (in front of "his boss") that he is always very supportive of people when they're ill. I couldn't take this so I spoke up and said that when I'd rung in sick he had told me to come in anyway. Not one person backed me up and he tried to wriggle his way out of it. But after the meeting people came up to me and thanked me for saying it. Why didn't they back me up then? Good news though was that after that meeting he was always a lot more supportive when people rang in sick :happy:

 

[rebornintheglory]

Hey there - I am a teacher - a passionate one at that ( did I say INFP - stands to reason! LOL) at any rate - If I am left alone to teach I would be fine - but there are times - more than I care to reflect.. that I must play part in the "game" - I have gained a rep of not necessarily being a team player - it's not a team player - because when it comes to carrying my weight i do and more so - when it comes time to cover some one I do - but when it goes against my moral code or against what I feel is right ( or is right by law!) then I have issue with this - it's not always easy to sit quiet - then i get a bad attitude and feel like I have to speak up - and then because this wasn't a concern to anyone else - I am looked at as a trouble maker - no there was trouble - I was the only one brave or foolish enough to do so. Does any one else go through this

How can I circumvent my personality to keep my job - Don't say just ignore it - it's not that easy - I feel like I am selling out when i do

I don't know if any advice I can give you will help you keep your job, but don't suppress your ideals to keep your bosses happy. I know it is a fine thing for me to suggest, but if they are unhappy with you to the point where they want to let you go, then find a job at another school.
Public schools are riddled with failed and broken teachers who have tried to make a difference and eventually caved. The only teachers that ever made an impact on me at school were the ones who cared about true education of their pupils much in the way that you say you do. If you are a good teacher, and you impart actual useful knowledge on to your students that is more than just how to pass the next test, then you should let nothing get in the way of your job.

Saying that, it wouldn't kill you to keep your head down sometimes. What others do shouldn't be so much of a concern to you as what you are doing yourself. Focus on being the kind of teacher who inspires her students and can teach them something real about life, something they will hold on to. You will never change the system enough to satisfy yourself, it is the culmination of so many horrible parts of society that if you embark on a solo crusade against it ultimately you and your work will suffer.

There will always be standards and dumb official things that you have to comply with to keep you position, and I don't really see too much wrong with appeasing those above you as long as you ensure that in your classroom you don't let any of that interfere with real education. Clever students realise what a sham most modern schooling systems are, and you will get a lot of respect from them if you acknowledge this yet remain 'firm but fair'; bucking the system but still expect effort and involvement.

Fight the system that you dislike so much not with protests and arguments, but with student accomplishments and results. Show the others that your way works (assuming it does!). I know that nearly all that matters these days are grades on standardised tests, but there will be those of your colleagues that cannot help but respect you if stick to what you think is right, and do a better job of teaching than many others.



Also, interested to hear what levels/subjects you teach.