ECI 508

Dr. Robinson

Marion County School Board Meeting Observation

Report

March 15, 2017

I observed a board meeting by watching a video of the Marion County School Board

Meeting which hold on February 28, 2017 at 512 SE 3rd street, Ocala, Florida. The

meeting lasted about one hour and forty minutes. The meeting was so organized and

all the steps are very clear. The early part of the meeting is recognition, they Provide

recognition and thanks for the professionalism of the Dunnellon High School staff for

their actions during a serious health crisis at an athletic event. Second recognition is

given to top two winners of the 2017 Marion County Public Schools' (MCPS) Annual

Spelling Bee and they will represent Marion County at the Regional Spelling Bee in

Orlando. Also Recognize Mr. Ryan Bennett, Principal of Shady Hill Elementary

School, for being named the 2017 Florida Music Education Association Administrator

of the Year. I really like this part of the board meeting. I think its an excellent way to

encourage both teachers and students perform better in the future. I always believe

that people should be complemented to build their confidence. Because my own

experience was I did really good at the subject which my teacher complimented me

such as English but had a very poor performance on math because I feel the math

teacher doesnt like me and never smile to me. As a result, I hated to take math class

and always got very low grades for math and could not catch up on it. So, I always

say to myself I will give a lot of compliment to my students after I become a teacher.

Also I like the part that the board recognized the students in front of all the audience

and students parents. In chapter 11 of 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, we talked

about the strategies to improve teacher's relationship with parents. From this board

meeting, I learned that help parents know how outstanding their children are and
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make them be proud of their children is a good way to improve the relationship

between teachers and parents.

Another part I paid more attention to watching is some people addressed in the

meeting and delivered some advocacy. One of a teacher said that she feel she lack

job security. A story happened in her real life is a teacher who can teach so well but

was fired by the principal because she doesnt agree with a decision made by the

principal. That was shocked me because I thought that wont happen in America. I

thought the education system is very healthy and teachers are well protected by the

education system. I always compare the Chinese education system with America. I

hope one day the education system could become very mature in China. I remember

we talked about the topic that teachers not only should good at teaching but also

should know how to get along with leaders and colleagues in the class. I do agree

that teachers should know how to get along with colleagues and how to work with

them efficiently. But I hope they will pay more attention on works not on how to make

everyone happy. That is wasting their energy on meaningless things. Like the lady

described in the board meeting, the teacher just makes the principal unhappy and

she lost her job. If every teacher has to worry about whether or not they made the

principal unhappy and will they lost their job, how can they focus on teaching?

I cannot help to comparing education in America with China. In China, I never heard

there is a board meeting in a district or a city. All the decisions which are released to

school are decided by the leaders in the education department. They are government

officers, they dont go to school oftenly and they dont talk to teachers and students

oftenly. I love the board allowed teachers present what kind of activities or programs

they conducted and what result they got. Thats a good way to encourage educators

to come up with more good ideas to develop the education system. In addition, they

also encourage educators to point out the weakness part of the education system
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Dr. Robinson
and discuss it if they should take some actions and solve the problems. Another

aspect of board meeting I like most is it open to public. It gives everyone a chance to

get involved in the education of their district. Parents can know how and why some

decisions related to their childrens education are made. They will understand these

decisions and have a good cooperation with school and teachers. I hope China can

learn this approach from America and develop the education system better.