Liberty, Unity and Charity in Supervising Teachers

One of the most challenging dilemmas in leading our Catholic schools is striking the right balance between giving our employees discretion to make prudential decisions related to their jobs, and our obligation as employers to supervise employees,  especially in light of our legal liability. That balance is getting harder and harder with the preponderance of lawsuits. 

It's very tempting to give in to "template-thinking," where each of the component parts is treated exactly the same, and we insist on the same set of practices, with very little individual decision making.  But if we wish to attract and sustain the employment of  talented and smart people, leading in this manner is a sure fire way to fail. 

"In essential things, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." This prayer, attributed to St. Augustine, is in my view the goal for all principals, administrators and persons in authority.

I am reminded of this prayer each summer as I revise our faculty handbooks for the coming year.  In the way we craft our policies and procedures--where we insist upon uniformity, and where we leave it up to faculty discretion--we tell others our philosophy of leadership. Handbooks cannot "gloss over" these distinctions with ambiguity. 

Here's the introduction to our handbook this year, and the way I've tried to articulate this balance:  

Introduction to St. Michael's Faculty-Staff Handbook (2021):

The purpose of our faculty handbook is not to dictate, to the smallest detail, how you should run your classroom, or how you should grade, or how you should handle your students in every situation. Indeed, the wisdom of our social teaching tradition, following the principle of “subsidiarity,” is that things are best handled at the lowest level possible. You know your students as individuals, you know what makes them “tick,” and we want to give you broad discretionary authority, within parameters, to lead them. 

At the same time, we are part of a community of scholars and a people of faith, and not merely “independent contractors” who operate in isolation from each other. What are the philosophical, practical and procedural practices that unite us? The purpose of a faculty handbook is to lay out these general principles and create parameters that give us a unity of purpose, even while trusting you to apply these general principles to the specifics of your classrooms with grace, wisdom and care for your students. 

The handbook, written specifically for teachers, staff and coaches and revised every 2-3 years, should be read alongside our Parent-Teacher handbook, revised every year, for a full presentation of our school’s policies. 

Our handbooks can never fully encapsulate all that we aspire to achieve together as a faculty, and our policies are always a “work in process, “ subject to change, as we forge our identity and the traditions which define St. Michael Catholic High School. 

I ask that you read both handbooks carefully and abide by their directives. In post year faculty meetings, if there are things we should change, we will discuss them and decide together how to go forward.

Faustin Weber

Principal