How Does a Realistic Hybrid Teaching Role Look?

I've written before about wanting--now or at a later point in my career--an opportunity to teach part time and be a leader in education part time.  Sometimes I want that leadership role to be in my school, other times I would like to be an advocate for teachers and students education at the policy level, and still other times, I'd like that leadership piece to be focused around education writing.  At any rate, recent experiences have me thinking about this further. (Also check out Tweenteacher's great post about hybrid roles.)

Part Three of the 2009 Metlife Survey of the American Teacher, which tackles the career pathways of teaching, has some interesting results on hybrid teaching roles.  Basically it finds that 56% of teachers report that some teachers in their building "combine part-time classroom teaching with other roles in their school or district," but only 37% of teachers who took the survey said they would be interested in such a position.  The number was slightly higher--42%--among newer teachers (1-5 years).  

Even though 37% is a very significant number of teachers, I still wonder, why didn't more teachers express interest in these roles, given the variety of opportunities that could be combined with classroom teaching?  Also, on might conclude that teachers who have more experience in public schools more set in their ways and therefore less interested in such roles, but that has not been my observation of the experienced teachers I know.  Many are actively looking for a way to expand their careers.  Some teachers who are approaching ten years experience feel stuck in their positions and mention that their skills are unrecognized in their schools.  This leads me to believe that teachers with more than 5 years experience may not really be less interested in hybrid roles than newbies--rather, they are more wary of how realistic or fulfilling these roles will actually be in practice, based on what they've seen at their schools.

Currently at my school, with six years experience, I have a version of a hybrid role--just multiply it times two--and take away the part about teaching only part time. What I mean is that I am a full time English teacher.  Then, I'm the 8th grade team leader, facilitating of team common planning time and serving as a liaison-to-administration.  Third, I am middle school English department chair. I facilitate regular meetings for both of these teacher groups and meet regularly with admins to make sure team and department work is aligned with school goals. 

I really respect and value the way the administration at my school incorporates teacher leadership into their leadership vision.  However, I am realizing that I will never be able to fulfill the responsibilities--or possibilities--of either of these roles to my own satisfaction so long as I'm a full time teacher.  And I find that when I do consistently put more energy into these leadership roles, my teaching can suffer, because I am attending less to my own classroom and students.  I conclude that this is not a viable way to create a hybrid teaching role.  Leadership responsibilities require time and mental space which eats into any full time teacher's already challenging load.

Here's another example.  A virtual colleague of mine on the TLN recently shared that she teaches part time and is a literacy coach at her school part time.  Sounds like a good idea--she gets to spread her expertise without giving up her classroom practice.  She has the additional credibility with teachers at her school, because she has to keep her methods fresh.  But there's a catch. She also shared that other literacy coaches in her school or district are full time, and do not teach any classes. However, she is pretty much expected to achieve the same results in her part time coaching as the others do in their full time coaching--not exactly realistic.  Job descriptions and expectations for hybrid teacher leaders need to reflect the fact that they are still teaching and have to attend to whole classes of students.  Part time and full time are not the same thing. 

That brings me to a third point.  Even if we get the time issue right, we also need to look at the reality of the learning curve for hybrid teachers.  Hybrid teachers need to maintain and continue to improve their teaching skills--even if they have half the number of students, this responsibility doesn't change from full time to part-time.  At the same time, they need to develop a skill set to support their role as adult educators (or whatever their non-classroom responsibilities may necessitate).  So hybrid teachers who are skilled in both their areas of work have almost double the skill set as non-hybrid teachers.  I propose that in addition to the scheduling and job description issues, we need to think about compensating hybrid teachers for the breadth of their expertise.  

There is plenty of talk about paying teachers bonuses for raising student test scores--an easily measurable result.  What about compensating teachers for developing the skills it takes to effectively lead a team of teachers or mentor new teachers, or develop an ESL program for a school that needs but doesn't have one?  The list could go on and on. The point is that instead of hiring outside consultants, in many cases hybrid roles can be designed for in-house people, who can often do the job better because they understand the context and know the people involved. (Not always, though--it's also important to get outside perspectives at times too.) This would probably be cheaper than hiring consultants, but it shouldn't be free.  

Curious what others think...

[image credit: http://natalie.ukdesignernetwork.com/art/psele.jpg]

Comments

[Elena Aguilar]

First of all, I LOVE the image! And I could personally connect to it, having played a number of hybrid roles.

You raise many important issues and considerations. I appreciated being a hybrid for some reasons - I was a literacy coach and teacher at a middle school where I had not previously taught. I loved keeping my toes in the water and having an authentic opportunity to engage with the kids at that school. However, even though I only taught one 90 minute class, it took a tremendous amount of time to plan, connect w/kids and families, assess - all the stuff we have to do! And I felt like all of it had to be done at a level of mastery. And then there was the coaching job which was not clearly defined and to which there was significant resistance and which was very challenging in the context of a dysfunctional school with weak leadership in year 4 of PI.

My biggest concern, however, is that teachers are often moved (or move themselves) into coaching roles without having any training in what it means to coach, or work with adult learners (as you point out!). I had some training before I started coaching, but not enough. I frantically worked to increase my skill set that first year, but again, on top of the teaching and attempted-coaching it was overwhelming. My concern is that coaching is sometimes dismissed as ineffective (by teachers and principals) and coaching support is ended but I often suspect that the root cause of the problem is that the coach hasn't had enough training or support. Especially if you have been an effective teacher of kids, I think the transition to being an effective COACH of adults can be really hard.

I'm now a full-time "school improvement"/leadership coach, I have acquired a heavy bag of tricks and have a fantastic support system - I'm one of a 6 person team of coaches. I know that the work I do is very effective and there's a big demand for it in my district. I really love the work I'm doing, feel that I can positively impact education for thousands of children, and this work - although challenging - feels sustainable. I like being able to focus on one thing (as opposed to teaching and coaching). That's my two-cents on becoming a hybrid!

[Ariel Sacks]

Thank you for this comment Elena. After writing this post I thought maybe I was just being complain-ey. I mean there are so many teacher leaders who wear so many hats at their schools and pull it off well... I think there is hope for the hybrid role, but as you point out, we need training in the positions we take on that are new to us. I think practicing teachers are in a unique position to serve the needs of their schools because they know students and fellow teachers in a way that out of classroom staff cannot stay quite as in touch with. But I am taking a step back from thinking hybrid roles are any kind of simple answer to the PD and other leadership needs of schools. Whatever role we are in, we need to take the time to get really good at it. And we need the support to do so, so that has to be part of the plan too.

It is really great to hear you are so happy in your position, that you've figured out how to do it to your satisfaction, and that you are seeing the effects of your work on students. Very promising! Thank you again for sharing.