Dialogue > Article > The Gift of School

You may have seen it on YouTube: spoken word artist and teacher Taylor Mali responds to the lawyer who dares to ask him, “What do you make?” Mali concludes his angry, yet powerful, response with the words:
“I make a difference!”

There is a perceived divide between teaching and, well, all other careers. Society understands that in forfeiting earning potential to reap more intangible rewards, teachers have earned the right to claim a kind of freedom from having to “serve the man.” In exchange for their commitment to a life of benign servitude, teachers are freed from the shackles of the business world and empowered to get on with the business of teaching.

For those of us in the independent system, this is sheer folly. We have come to find ourselves having to manage the business of teaching in a very different way than our public school counterparts. That’s because our workplaces are, first and foremost, businesses. That’s not to say that our product is a tangible one; we all agree that schools, like churches, are process driven, founded on idealism and the notion that we can build a better world. But if we look to the bottom line, just as churches are dependent on the revenue donated by their congregations, our schools are dependent on tuition, and finding parents who are willing to pay this tuition can be extremely challenging. The problem comes into sharp focus when you consider that tuition at Canadian independent schools has increased by roughly 30 per cent over the past decade, significantly surpassing the rate of inflation and corresponding increases in family incomes.
As a result, independent schools are looking to the business world for models that can help to ensure their sustainability. This, in turn, has resulted in a shift in the stakeholder dynamic, from the conventional teacher-student-parent triad to a new “student-client-teacher” model in which attending to parents has, at times, taken precedence over serving students.

These clients—our parents—are a demanding bunch. As consumers, they expect a high quality product, a recognizable brand and accountability at every level of the process.

How, then, do we remain accountable to parents for a product that is, at times, immeasurable, while remaining true to our students?

The problem is that much of what happens at school cannot be quantified, and, unlike conventional businesses, we cannot offer a money-back guarantee when things don’t turn out exactly as planned. Furthermore, some issues can be unsavoury or uncomfortable, and yet we have a professional duty as educators to tackle these issues head on. Take, for example, the challenges many school leaders have faced as they address the prevalence of learning exceptionalities within their schools; there has been, understandably, a slow but crucial emergence of learning resource centres across the country. It’s a relatively recent phenomenon. Administrators have been able to convince parents and alumni of the need for programs to serve the unique needs of all learners. What facilitated the turnaround on this issue? On one level, universities were leading the way, offering more in the area of accommodations—this certainly made it an easier sell, particularly for those who touted themselves as university prep schools. But perhaps the more significant reason can be attributed to careful, planned communication with parents, board members and alumni so the stigma surrounding notions of “special education” could be put to rest.

In real estate, the mantra is “location, location, location.” In independent school education, it’s “communication, communication, communication.” Faculty and administration have had to significantly improve communication links to their communities. School websites, online marks, e-mail, various promotional literature and support for parents associations are all examples of the kinds of tools being used to enhance school-parent communication. While these are the relatively common methods used to ensure all parties are in-the-know, there are also a variety of initiatives that may not be as obvious to parents.

Marketing has become more prevalent at independent schools. Consider the significant rise in the number of employees within independent school advancement offices. Behind elaborate marketing campaigns is always a reliance on the branding of the school’s perceived “product.”

With the recent opening of many new private/independent schools, parents now have the luxury of choice. And so schools have begun to pay particularly close attention to how they brand themselves, and how they can set themselves apart from the competition. Coke and Pepsi are both colas, but each has done a tremendous job of distancing itself from the other. The same concept is applicable to independent schools today. Each school is eager to fill a niche that the other cannot.
Of course, an hour on the phone with a parent is one less hour spent with the student. While we need to communicate with and educate our parents, we cannot lose sight of our real clients—our students. Part of the message we must send to our parents is that their kids are tougher than they appear, and they can handle all of the varieties of constructive criticism, guidance and challenges they will face. We need to move our parents to a place where they have confidence in a teacher’s ability to get the job done. We then need to respectfully request the space to get on with the business of educating their children.

Overall, teachers and administrators are becoming cognizant of their unique role as both teachers and managers of the business of education. Most teachers are naturally hesitant to view our profession in these terms, and so it becomes a challenge for school leaders to help their teachers understand the dual role they now play within the community. Our parents, on the other hand, must be reminded that schools are complex—they are not merely retail outlets with a definitive product. When managed carefully, the relationship between parents and schools can be overwhelmingly positive and supportive. When this is truly the case, the beneficiaries are, quite rightfully, our students.