Social professional relationships with colleagues- 123docz.net

B efore she entered the school, she had been warned about the complications of the internal relationships with colleagues by one of her relatives who had been an experienced teacher :

Previously I was told much about complicated and bad relationships with colleagues, even in educational contexts. My aunt, an upper-secondary

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teacher, complained about problems and unpleasant things by colleagues.

For such reasons as personal conflicts, selfishness, and jealousy, they “play tricks” on each other. Before I entered the school, I was carefully warned to be careful about the relationships with colleagues and she told me that I shouldn‟t believe completely in any colleague, etc. (E10)

When she gained a teaching position there, the image of the local school colleagues was so different from what she has been told that she found herself fortunate . “Now I am lucky because I have willing colleagues who are ready to help from the first days when I am here in this school .”

Nevertheless, the kind of relationships seems to depend upon the age factor. Mai classified her colleagues into two different groups: young and senior. She found that it was easier to form relationships with young than senior teachers. In my two interviews with her conducted at the end of each semester, she confessed:

Yes, relationships with colleagues is a sensitive issue and sometimes difficult to deal with. Because most of teachers in the division are much older than I am. Relationships with teachers who are older than my parents require me to be very considerate and respectful. Most of them are also my former teachers. If I am not satisfied with something, I can‟t say it directly or say it in a soft way. And if the mentor doesn‟t give me detailed guidance like other mentors, I ask her for more details in a gentle way, I can‟t push them. Sometimes I ask other teachers, instead of the mentor. (I.1)

For the colleagues in the English division, they are all older than me and I feel that there is a distance. If I have something to ask, for example, I find out that they are too busy to help and I don‟t dare to ask for their experience. (I.1)

Regarding relations with colleagues, [young teachers] are enthusiastic and ready to offer help. Young teachers are both colleagues and close friends, whom I can ask for help or guidance. I find it more convenient and comfortable than asking the head of division about issues outside the school or procedures for teachers; I find more comfortable to talk to young teachers. (I.2)

Therefore, Mai seemed to focus more on tightening relationships with her young colleagues than with senior colleagues. The relationships with young colleagues were described by Mai as being especially intimate:

Although I am a teacher now, I feel as if I am a student because my colleague is always beside me to remind me of going to a meeting, or filling the teaching record book or going to observe a class whenever I forget about either of these. They are T ,who teaches chemistry, D, who teaches biology and who joined the school staff at the same time as I did, Th., who teaches Civil Education, L, who teaches physics, etc. all are close colleagues. Although they are still young, I consider them as my elder brothers. (E10)

These young teachers, as she thought, played an important role in her induction into the school:

[…] the way they think is closer to mine so everybody feel relaxed sharing everything from professional work to teaching experience, and dealing with puzzling pedagogical situations, how to deal properly with senior hard-to- please colleagues, and with superiors. I have learnt a lot from talks with them and gradually feel more confident in teaching and better engaging in other work, with no more shyness, no more fearing making mistakes or being punished by as earlier. They are real & great motivations for me when I begin my career in QH- a very familiar environment for an alumni like me but too strange for me as a novice teacher. (E10)

Therefore, she felt grateful to them and would want to maintain such a relationship:

„ I do hope that I will keep the relationship good forever. Many thanks to my dear colleagues.‟ (E10)

Although she considered her relations with young teachers as a significant source of motivation, she would really like to expand her relations to other colleagues by actively engaging in any social occasions like a New Year party or a trip out:

A New Year party is scheduled this week, which is expected to be cozy and exciting. I want such an occasion like this because I have a chance to meet

teachers and colleagues, thus understanding them better and having more fun! (E12)

Last Sunday, my school organized a trip to Lao Bao. This was the first time I have been on a trip to a place far away from the school. I felt very happy living in a community with people of different ages and I have found that I need to learn much from them. The teachers that I had been very afraid of when I was a pupil at this school become very friendly colleagues. (E16)

Despite her expectation of good relationships with all colleagues, she was unable to do so in some cases and faced with a tense power conflict. The camping trip that was organized in the middle of the second semester was a critical incident where she was not fairly treated by one of her colleagues. As she recounted:

I was back home from a camping trip yesterday. Because I was not a form teacher, I didn‟t spend time taking care of students. But I was assigned to help students in class 11S, and to be in charge of variety shows. Though, there was nothing much to do because the official form teacher of the class take all responsibilities and variety shows were mainly in the hands of the head of variety shows, and nothing left for the “deputy head” to take care (I hated the head because he had appointed two students from his class judges for variety shows, instead of me). In a word, I had a position but no power at all. (E21)

Then this was what she did at the camp:

During the two days of camping, I wandered from camp to camp, watching students play, recalling my wonderful memories of secondary schools.

(E21)

Her stories about the relationships with colleagues showed how she behaved in different situations. When she was unable to establish a relationship with her mentor because she did not know who her mentor was, she relied on the construction of her relationships with young colleagues for survival. In addition, when she was not trusted by her colleague in the organization of the variety show on the camping days, she relied on students as a source of enjoyment.

However, her stories also showed how she acted to safeguard her beliefs. A critical incident happened at the end of the first semester. In the hope for students to have genuine purposes and positive attitudes towards learning, she refused a request from a colleague to raise the overall score of a student who would like to have the title of excellent students for the first semester despite his/her limited ability. As she recalled:

This is the last week of the first semester. The results of the first semester reflect students‟ studies and my teaching for the past few months. Almost all of the students in my classes have achieved a high rate of credit and distinction (except class 10S with 5 out of 30 students having the average of above 7 and the rest being under the average). This makes me worried.

When I teach classes 10T and 10S, the results of 10T are always higher than those of 10S and I never think that the semester results are that low. Their form teacher has met me and discussed with me the results of some students because their scores of English are under 6.5 and, therefore, they can‟t achieve the title of excellent students. She has said that their families are poor, and that they were in rural schools so their English proficiency was not as good as those in urban schools. She suggested that I should raise their scores. But I refused to do so because I have entered all the scores in the transcript book and they can‟t be changed. Another reason is that I would like them to make efforts in the second semester. If I do, they will be dependent on us and don‟t want to make efforts. Actually I already gave bonus marks to those who were active in class so that their mark can be above 6.5 and I encouraged other students to try better because English is not a difficult subject which requires only effort, not intelligence. These students are good and don‟t indicate that they want their marks to be raised.

[…] I have told them that they should not study for marks because what they need to remember is not scores but all the things that you have learned from the subject. I used to be a student in the gifted school and I know the pressures that they are under. Above all, I want them to have correct purposes and attitudes. (E14)

In this incident, Mai was unable to give the marks that had not been earned, and also she wanted students to have good attitudes toward earning marks.

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