Verbal Judo

Are There Problems in Your School?

Updated 16 Oct 2006

Evaluating Schools

Are there problems in you school, but you're not sure where? The questions listed below may help you better understand the nature and sources of the problems. Many of the questions are based on former State Superintendent Saul Cooperman's book, How Schools Really Work.

3. Verbal Judo: Getting Answers
See, also, Verbal Judo with Educators

Ÿ Defense: It's not our fault.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ Parents don't take time to work with their children.

Ÿ Parents do not set limits.

Ÿ Children come to school with behavior problems.

Ÿ Children watch TV rather than read.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ People often have the ability and responsibility to correct problems they have not created. Is there something we can do make an improvement?

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Ÿ Defense: Things are not as bad as you might hear.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ We have recently started a new program that . . .

Ÿ A student recently won an award for . . .

Ÿ We have been recognized for . . .

Ÿ We offer more . . .

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ Every school--good, bad and indifferent--has its successes and its failures. Successes surely do not keep us from addressing our failures.

Ÿ What do you perceive the problem to be? What is being done to correct it? What goals do you have that address the concerns being raised?

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Ÿ Defense: Other schools have more problems than we do.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ Comments on student, teacher, administrator behavior in other schools.

Ÿ Stories about places where employees used to work.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ Can that be a reason for not taking care of the problems we have?

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Ÿ Defense: You get what you pay for.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ People's ability to learn and perform well in their jobs does not depend on the size of their pay check. Everybody is motivated by something in addition to money.

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Ÿ Defense: Admitting problems.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ We're working on it.

Ÿ There's always room for improvement.

Ÿ We can't rush into a change.

Ÿ There are a few problems, but criticizing won't help.

Ÿ We have a committee looking into it.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ No response is necessary if a genuine effort is underway to resolve the problem.

Ÿ Ask if you can help solve the problem. If everything is under control, ask when a solution is expected.

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Ÿ Defense: Helplessness.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ 90% of our budget is mandated by law.

Ÿ The union contract says that . . .

Ÿ We don't have the tax base we need.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ If you are helpless to do anything about it then we are all helpless. Try to show them how it is in their own self-interest to do something despite the claim of helplessness.

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Ÿ Defense: Negative labels.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ Ignore them.

Ÿ Turn the negative label to your advantage.

Ÿ Suggest that tolerance and diversity require a something more than negative stereotyping.

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Ÿ Defense: We've always done it that way.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ Whatever the reasons were for doing it that way when we started it, many things have changed within the past 10 years. Technology, culture, the political and economic climate, society, knowledge, and many other things have changed. Shouldn't we take another look at the way we do this?

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Ÿ Defense: We're the professionals.

Ÿ Typical forms.

Ÿ How to respond.

Ÿ As professionals you have control over the process of education. However, in the long tradition of public education parents and citizens have always participated in, if not controlled, the substantive decisions of education. Education is for the public good and only the public has the right to determine what that education should be. Education professionals have the right to determine how that education will be accomplished. They do not have the right to decide what the public must know, or should be taught.

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