One of my biggest gripes about the education profession has been that it breeds stagnation because it is not set up to embrace or even account for movement of people between schools/districts/states. As someone who has worked all over the country, I've taken 18 different licensing tests, I've spent hundreds of dollars (actually, more in the thousands) on licensing and testing fees and in some jobs I haven't gotten paid for all of my years of experience. In other career fields, movement is a sign of professional growth and hiring someone from a different organization is seen as a positive thing. In the places I've taught individuals may have felt this way, but the systems were set up to discourage it.
Moving to Minnesota was more of the same. The applications for the Minnesota Department of Education and Minneapolis Public Schools didn't have the drop down menus and check boxes to account for my experiences. The system felt set up for people who never left Minnesota. Bigger picture, I know schools like to hire internally for many positions and so I figured it would take a year or two before I would have a chance of getting anything beyond a teaching job.
Today felt different. Today I went to an information session at the district office, advertised for people interested in becoming principals and assistant principals. They made a point of saying they want to build a diverse applicant pool and so they are not looking for people who know the way things are done in MPS. For example, they explained that applicants will watch a video of a teacher teaching and then be asked to give feedback. However, they will not be asked to use the observation tool the district uses because they want to account for people from outside the district and they want applicants to be on equal footing.
This is the exact opposite of how we were coached for job interviews in Utah. In Utah it was made clear that we should know the lingo for each district and be prepared to use it. They were not looking for fresh voices, they were looking for people who were on board with the way things were already being done.
I have no doubt that knowing people in MPS is helpful for getting a job... but I left today's meeting feeling like being an outsider can be an asset of a different sort. When I asked if it was possible for me to apply from New Zealand they acted like it was no big deal. This makes me happy personally and it makes me happy because it means they are more likely to get a more diverse applicant pool. I'm not sure it results in a more racially diverse applicant pool, but it does hopefully bring in educators with a broad range of experiences. Such simple, little changes seem like a no-brainer to me.
Moving to Minnesota was more of the same. The applications for the Minnesota Department of Education and Minneapolis Public Schools didn't have the drop down menus and check boxes to account for my experiences. The system felt set up for people who never left Minnesota. Bigger picture, I know schools like to hire internally for many positions and so I figured it would take a year or two before I would have a chance of getting anything beyond a teaching job.
Today felt different. Today I went to an information session at the district office, advertised for people interested in becoming principals and assistant principals. They made a point of saying they want to build a diverse applicant pool and so they are not looking for people who know the way things are done in MPS. For example, they explained that applicants will watch a video of a teacher teaching and then be asked to give feedback. However, they will not be asked to use the observation tool the district uses because they want to account for people from outside the district and they want applicants to be on equal footing.
This is the exact opposite of how we were coached for job interviews in Utah. In Utah it was made clear that we should know the lingo for each district and be prepared to use it. They were not looking for fresh voices, they were looking for people who were on board with the way things were already being done.
I have no doubt that knowing people in MPS is helpful for getting a job... but I left today's meeting feeling like being an outsider can be an asset of a different sort. When I asked if it was possible for me to apply from New Zealand they acted like it was no big deal. This makes me happy personally and it makes me happy because it means they are more likely to get a more diverse applicant pool. I'm not sure it results in a more racially diverse applicant pool, but it does hopefully bring in educators with a broad range of experiences. Such simple, little changes seem like a no-brainer to me.