ABSTRACT
Very few leaders like confrontation. When principals need to address a problem, concern, or behavior with a teacher, those conversations can be awkward. I cannot imagine any leader who enjoys that part of the job – and actually, many leaders avoid those conversations all together. Maybe students have complained to the counselor that they often felt embarrassed by the teacher, and they are uncomfortable in the classroom. Maybe parents have called about a teacher who was not entirely professional during the parent conference. Maybe the administrator has observed the teacher interacting with challenging students in a manner that escalates rather than diffuses the situation. Are these concerns swept under the rug? Are they handled in a superficial way that simply allows the administrator to claim that they have “addressed the issue?”
