their own children. Sometimes, in doing so, an error is made. That’s why
the principal is available to correct such errors. But, despite such mis-
takes, it is important to keep the school safe for all children. Most parents
will fully agree.
In the preceding paragraphs, you may have been taken aback by the use of
judgmental language: good, bad, nice, criminal, incorrigible. We all know
that such terms apply to the actions of the students, not to them as persons.
However, let’s also be honest with ourselves. In the real world this doesn’t
make a difference: People are judged by their actions. No matter how good
a school or how good its staff, there will always be unsolvable problems.
There will always be problem children who cannot be reached. The best the
school can do is minimize the negative influence of these students. If the
school does this, there will be fewer situations in need of defusing.
Another important strategy that leads to defusing and resolution is having
ladders of response. Some may look at this negatively and call it layers
of bureaucracy. Problems are best solved at the lowest level. If a student
comes to the principal complaining that he received an unfair grade, the
principal should ask if he has spoken to the teacher. If the answer is no,
she should advise the student to do so. If the answer is yes, she will ask if
he spoke to the assistant principal in charge of the subject area. If the an-
swer is no, she will advise him to do so. If the answer is yes, the principal
will look into the matter.
This illustrates the ladder of response. At the teacher level, there is no
administrative interference and the teacher has the opportunity to review
the grade and provide the student with an explanation. If the student still
thinks the grade is unfair, he can appeal to the intermediate supervisor,
who will also seek to resolve the matter.
Few teachers want to have a supervisor involved in such matters, and
no principal has the time to resolve every issue that arises in a school.
That’s why there are assistant principals, deans, counselors, social work-
ers, programmers, and so on. It is the task of each staff member to resolve
issues at his or her level. Only the most problematic are referred to the
next level. Of course this means that the problems that do come across the
principal’s desk are usually the most difficult to resolve.
There’s another way to look at this. If all issues were immediately
brought to the principal for resolution and the aggrieved party disagreed,
22 Chapter 2