The majestic horror of an on-call schedule.
[Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone via wikimedia]

SP schedules are highly unpredictable and mutable.

This instability is one of the reasons why we should be compensated well. As I wrote in Herding Cats, "SP work is meant to be flexible, but in reality many schools maintain a pool of 'reliable' (by which they mean 'available') SPs. If you are unavailable too often it can count against you. I think this is a bit unfair for a profession that offers no benefits, security or regular work."

So articles like this one about The Gap, which is rejecting an even worse on-call approach, are of great interest to me.

Empathy is a choice

So many choices.
[Landscape painting in water-colours via wikimedia]

Another followup to my post The Case Against Empathy, where I examined Paul Bloom's argument that empathy was less useful than simple respect.

The NY Times disagrees:

"While we concede that the exercise of empathy is, in practice, often far too limited in scope, we dispute the idea that this shortcoming is inherent, a permanent flaw in the emotion itself. Inspired by a competing body of recent research, we believe that empathy is a choice that we make whether to extend ourselves to others. The 'limits' to our empathy are merely apparent, and can change, sometimes drastically, depending on what we want to feel."

Of particular note for those of us who work in scenarios:

"Karina Schumann, Jamil Zaki and Carol S. Dweck found that when people learned that empathy was a skill that could be improved — as opposed to a fixed personality trait — they engaged in more effort to experience empathy for racial groups other than their own. Empathy for people unlike us can be expanded, it seems, just by modifying our views about empathy."

And once empathy can be a choice rather than a character trait, empathy can be practiced. Even if a learner already exhibits empathy, it is as important to reinforce good habits as it is to instill new ones. As I wrote in The Value of SPs, empathy remains a choice by rewarding the use of it.

Quote of the Day

[Plato and Aristotle in The School of Athens via wikimedia]

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play 
than in a year of conversation."

Plato

SP work is not always taken seriously because it looks like we're being paid to play. But I agree with Plato that "play" is a powerful & unique way to learn about oneself and others.

Irregular standards: SP discipline

These SPs don't understand why they're being fired.
[Adam et Ève wikimedia]

One of the worst parts about being an SP is that because SPs are often temporary or tentative contract workers, SPs can be dismissed for almost any or no reason at all.

But schools handle SP disciplinary issues in a variety of ways. Because these processes  -- and the rules it takes to invoke them -- are frequently unspecified when SPs are hired, it leaves us feeling both vulnerable and confused when an issue arises.

Based on my experience, there are several ways schools deal with SP disciplinary issues:

• No warning: Rarely, a school has an SP they know shouldn't be there, but the supervisor(s) never confront the SP due to a fear of conflict or a limited SP program. 

• No warning: More commonly, if a school decides there is an issue with an SP, they just stop scheduling the SP without directly addressing the issue. If the SP then contacts the school to inquire about work after a gap, it is considered an acceptable response to tell the SP s/he will be contacted when work is available -- but without saying it never will be. That misdirection is disrespectful and keeps the SP from finding another job.

• No warning: Sometimes a school fires an SP without communicating the complaint until the time of the firing. This means the SP is unable to remediate or improve performance for that -- or any -- school.

• 1 warning: Better schools directly address an issue of complaint with an SP at least once before firing them. The issue should be presented with kindness, clarity and an expectation of good intentions. If the SP does not improve, the SP knows they will be terminated. That's a lot of pressure to get it right.

• 2+ warnings: The best schools offer an initial warning about the behavior with concrete recommendations for change and a check-in process. If the SP does not improve immediately, one or more additional remediations may be required, each with a clear sense of changes and consequences, including possible termination.

• Infinite warnings: This is also unusual, but sometimes a school continues to give an SP feedback about an issue but the supervisor(s) never follow through with consequences. This can happen with a small SP pool where that particular SP's demographics are rare. But it is bad for learners and may erode standards for other SPs in the pool.

Since SPs are employed so precariously, the power differential means supervisors have a responsibility to act ethically despite the potential for uncomfortable conversations. Schools should role model the behaviors they expect SPs to exhibit to learners during difficult feedback.

As an SP, I want to clearly understand the process for termination for each school. In addition, I want schools to do more to help prevent SP issues from the start. Working in education creates a higher standard for educating employees. Because each school has different and even conflicting details (e.g.: does an SP give feedback about student appearance or not?), new SP training is crucial to keeping SPs from inadvertently breaking a rule they didn't know existed. Good event training (as opposed to irregular event training) would help set appropriate expectations for every SP, every time. And annual reviews would make sure each SP has a clear understanding of areas of improvement before they becomes crises.

Setting the standard:
Schools should offer new SPs training which includes clear expectations for SP behavior as well as the process for remediation and termination. Annual employee training should review those expectations. Individual event training should reinforce standards the school would find actionable. Once a problem is identified, a school should give at least two chances for SP remediation (though not infinite). The SP should be observed in future encounters and given concrete ways to improve performance. If the SP does not improve, the school can release the SP with a clean conscience.

Sit down

An SP resists a command.
[Tor's Fight with the Giants via wikimedia]

During feedback, the learner was quite upset I didn't follow his instructions during the scenario. When faced with a highly charged situation, de-escalation techniques are essential before asking for compliance, or I will feel all of this all at once:

I want my phone. I want to find the papers. I want my mom to tell me everything is going to be OK. I want my boyfriend to die because if he doesn't he is going to kill me. I want to get rid of this blood and the smell. I want someone to tell me what is going on. I want to help. I want to die. I want someone to call me by my name. I want to know what is going to happen next. I want to scream. I want to disappear. I want to fight. I want someone to understand. 

I need to move. I don't want another person yelling at me. I don't want another man pushing me around, telling me to sit down. I can't hear with the blood roaring in my ears. I can't answer these questions. I feel sick. I don't want Ryan to die. I wish I hadn't come home. I wish I had never gotten involved with him. I don't know how I got here, why I took it for so long, how I had the strength in me to finally hit him back. I can't even imagine the life I should have been living if I had never met him but I want it so bad right now I can taste it behind my teeth.  

Am I a bad person because I hit him, or because I let him hit me? Either way, I'm going to be punished.