Prompt: Have you witnessed staff acting in an unprofessional manner? If so, what can you do to avoid pitfalls associated with unprofessional behavior?
The extent of my personal witness of unprofessional staff behavior is limited to observations of inappropriate attire and comments during faculty meetings. The norm for our school is that Fridays are casual, although I do find from time to time that some faculty members dress casually any day of the week. The most upsetting behavior I have observed occurs during faculty meetings every Friday where teachers complain about students, school policies, and other random nit-picky items in a very malicious (although apparently sarcastic) manner. There are side-conversations, some teachers are on their phones, and the topics on the agenda trail off into different tangents.
To avoid such unprofessional behavior, it is important to understand why such behavior is unproductive (and in some cases, counter-productive). Additionally, norms need to be set AND consequences for not following the norms. All stakeholders should be invested in the norms (i.e. they should be part of the norm-creation process) and all stakeholders should understand and practice the procedures for addressing a violation of the norms. This norm-setting will not only improve the professionalism of faculty meetings, it will improve school climate and culture.
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