Confronting Superiors

"If you are not prepared to resign or be fired for what you believe in, then you are not a worker, let alone a professional. You are a slave." (Gardener, 2007).
My work year is 202 days so we return to work, three weeks before the teachers. On the first day back to work my supervisor was available for questions and concerns and we even had a brief staff meeting. The second week she did not come to work nor did she return for the third week. She attends a lot of conferences throughout the school weeks (or at least that what we assume) so we thought she was at a conference or workshop. But after after a few days and work related problems would arise, we began to ask the secretary if our boss would be in for the day and the response was, "you can reach her by email or cell phone. If she doesn't answer your call, she will return the call". This went on for two weeks, eventually we began to stop calling and emailing and started problem solving the situations as a department. Once my supervisor returned, the week that school started, instead of praising us for working registration and maintaining the department without her, she began to place demands that had never been placed on us before. For example, if you have to leave for more than an hour (family doctor's appointments, parent/teacher conference, on foreseen situations, etc.) call in half a day.
I found this demand to be odd since she was the one MIA for two weeks. This demand does not apply to her (my supervisor) or the secretary (she is hourly and can make up her hours missed). The problem is that it would be impossible for the secretary to make up her missed hours during a work week. She doesn't clock out for the time that she is away from the office and if she does clock out, it is for the hour that she is at the job and then once she clocks back in, she is gone for the majority of the day (basically my boss and the secretary cover for each other). When the secretary is there is is on the computer, work phone, or her cell phone. Things that we need are not been done (daily mail, filing paperwork, making copies). We never know when our boss will be in the office or not, we share our calendar with her but her whereabouts are secret (between the sec. and herself). Ethically I believe that this is very wrong but who am I to discuss this with my supervisor? Of course we discuss our concerns amongst ourselves behind closed doors but it has been stated that it is really none of our concern. I beg to differ; Ethically, I know that falsifying information is wrong but who am I to have this conversation with my boss and blowing the whistle is out of the question. I read the quote, from Gardner, to my husband this weekend and if I apply my work situation to Gardner's quote, I am a slave LOL. On a serious note, the inconsistent accountability (for all staff members) is really affecting the department and bringing down the moral of the group. I don't feel comfortable and don't feel that I would get support from blowing the whistle so I believe that it is time for me to reflect, pray and listen to God's direction for my future.

Ethics

Howard Gardner believes that an ethical orientation begins at home where children observe their parents at their work and play in civic responsibilities. In contemporary society, peers and colleagues also assume importance from an early age, and the quality of one's peers proves especially critical during adolescence in the development of ethical training. My children know what is expected of them but compare my parenting style with that of their peers parents. I often remind them that I am not their friends mother.
In 5 Minds of the Future, Gardner writes about living in a world characterised by good work that is excellent, ethical and engaging. My children attend a very small school that has a family type atmosphere. If my son had his way; after football practice he would go out to eat with friends, watch the girl's volleyball game, miss Wednesday night church service (because practice was too long), hang out with the football players on Thursday and Friday and on Saturday hang out with friends more. I know his friends and consider them good young men but it is obvious that their parents do not share the same values that I have in regards to school. Because he has rules I often hear, "I'm the only one out of my friends who can't hang out and when will I be able to be a teenager and have fun". His justification for hanging out with his friends is that he makes A's in his classes. I am proud of his academic success but if he is not at home, it is difficult for him to observe ethics and good works being implemented in the home. It is very difficult to teach ethics and morals when they are not practiced by all parents. What I believe is ethical might not be what others view as ethical.

Make time to Reflect

I decided that I would take a mental break from reading my textbooks and just relax and read one of my magazines for pleasure and relaxation. The editor of Essence magazine, Angela Burt-Murray wrote on the topic When things fall apart. To summarize her story; At the onset of her career in media, as a young arrogant and inexperienced employee, she decided to share written information, regarding her boss, with one of her friends. The information got back to the boss and needless to say the boss did not agree with her comments regarding her leadership style; as she was fired. In the article, Mrs. Burt-Murphy states, " sometimes we allow a misstep to push us off the path we're trying to follow. And even if we're able to get back on course, we often don't take the time to reflect and learn the valuable lessons about what brought us to that place of discontent, confusion and sometimes despair". This ties in with the conversation that took place in EDAD 7306. Eventually if we are really true to our selves either now or after years have past, we will replay the scenario in our heads and reflect on what we should have done or how we could have done things differently. Sadly some people let years go by before they come to grips with the fact that if they would have reflected sooner they wouldn't have had to live with so much pain and despair for so many years.

"Most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking is organized as stories" (Pink, 2005). Stories are important pieces of information that allows others to understand our actions, emotions, and knowledge and vice versa. A few weekends ago, unintentionally, I participated in one of the activities in A Whole New Mind, Whip out the tape recorder (without the tape recorder). My husband invited his employees and their spouses over to our home to fellowship. The employees knew each other but the spouses, including me, did not know each other. We started to share how we meet our spouses. The stories (personal information) appeared to create a sense of warmth, trust and hopefully new friendship among the participants.

C4 friends,
Technology is awesome! Within the last six months I have been had the opportunity to experience Prezi, Facebook, drop box, skype, zotero, and now blog. I have heard about this great technology but I never attempted to learn how to apply it to my life. I'm sure there are other resources out there but the only other account that I don't have is twitter...I'm not going to be able to do that right now... I still have to remember my user name and password to the other accounts :).I look forward to blogging with you all.
Happy Blogging,
Gail Mays