Rocking the Boat in four stages

Jan 26 Feb 22
1.

Skim and review

Task Zero: Write a short review of 350-500 words as a response to the book. This review should reflect a
general understanding of what the book is about and what you understand
Waiting for the book to arrive? Start with the first two chapters here: Rocking the Boat: Tempered Radicals
Chapters 1 and 2.

2.

How am I different?
Task One: In her book, Debra Meyerson identifies three ways you can be different. How far do one or more of
these apply to you? Is there something missing in her framework that you bring in? Write a response
addressing these questions in 350 to 500 words.

3.

Becoming a Tempered Radical

Task Two: Chapters 3 to 7 in this book focus on how Tempered Radicals make a difference. Where do you see
yourself lying on the continuum (see page 8)? Where do you aim to be on this continuum? What goals do you
see yourself setting to move forward? What are some lessons you take form the stories in this book that would
apply to you? Write a response addressing these questions in 500 words.

4.

Facing challenges
Task Three: Debra Meyerson talks about 4 levels of challenges. How do you see yourself dealing with some, if
not all, of these challenges in your work situation? Write a response in 500 words.

Task Zero
Rocking the Boat provides case studies of professional that have challenged the status quo in a way that
is not insubordinate or blatantly obvious for the purpose of furthering a socially-minded goal or
objective. Individuals described include an African-American executive who tries to create equity in the
workplace by surreptitiously recruiting people of color, although that function is not in her job
description. Another manager provides work-life balance to employees with young children well before
the organization institutionalizes the benefit.
The book asks people to become Tempered Radicals in their professional lives. One way you can be a
tempered radical is by Resisting quietly and staying true to ones self through a process known as
deviation amplification. This is when you do something that is against the norm, and then others
follow suit in response to your actions. An example given is when an employee takes off days to
observe Jewish holidays, which then encourages other observant Jews to take off religious holidays.
A second way to be a Tempered Radical is to turn personal threats into opportunities. If you are
threatened in a work situation, you can choose silence, depersonalize the situation, consider that the
threat cuts to the core of your self. You can also provide alternate responses such as interrupting the
timing of the threatening action, naming the issue to colleagues, or correcting assumptions or actions.
A third way to become a Tempered Radical is by broadening the impact through negotiation. This
approach suggestions that a leader should approach difficult situations as negotiations by: stepping
back, looking inward, taking stock of the other persons interests, and using third parties. Through this
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negotiation process, a Tempered Radical must be clear about his/her negotiables and nonnegotiables.
A fourth way of becoming a Tempered Radical is by leveraging small wins. These are small objectives
that are achievable and do little to disrupt the day-to-day workflow of the organization. One example of
a small win for an environmentally minded tempered radical is giving every employee a recycling bin
under each persons desk so they dont have to walk to a larger bin. These wins are small yet they are
powerful because they are doable. Another benefit of small wins is that they can provide teachable
moments for the employees. Lastly, small wins consistently reinforce the philosophy of the tempered
radical and they signal that the tempered radical is not going away anytime soon.
A fifth way of becoming a Tempered Radical is by organizing collective action. This have strategy is
useful when there are ingrained institutional issues that are not easily changed by one individual.
Rather, the organization of a collective group can bring about change more effectively. The advantage
to collectives is that they have greater legitimacy, power, and resources than individuals. Different
routes to organizing collectives include organzing to respond to a shared threat or opportunity,
individual action to ignite collective action, and organizing for personal and professional support.

Task One
In Rocking the Boat, Debra Myerson categorizes individuals who feel they are different from the
majority into three groups. The first group senses that their differences exclude them from the
majority. The second group feels that their differences are cultural in origin and therefore do not
exclude them from the majority. The third group has philosophical differences with the majority and
these intellectual differences clash with the majoritys viewpoint.
I feel that I am straddling the second and third category in terms of my leadership style and the
interactions with my employer. I am 100% Italian and I strongly identify with the Italian culture and
language as a native speaker and the fact that I was brought up by two immigrant Italian parents. My
ethnicity has never appeared to alienate me from the workforce, nor has it appeared to have benefited
me. However, I do find that I try to weave in my culture frequently during my teaching. I sometimes use
Italian words as an attention getting measure, words such as andiamo! (lets go), Silencio! (silence)
and I also like to tell personal stories about my upbringing and my familys experiences as immigrants to
the United States. I also make Italian Christmas cookies and homemade pasta sauce at our schools
potlucks in an effort to integrate my culture with the schools culture. My purpose is twofold: I fulfill
my personal need to share and validate my Italian culture, and I also model to the various ethnic
students at my school, many of who are first-generation Americans, that difference is cool and that
you can succeed in this foreign culture.
I dont think you can be an intelligent, air-breathing human being and not have philosophical differences
with the Chicago Public Schools, so I certainly can relate to being in Meyersons third category. I have
experienced so much in my six years as a CPS teacher that I have considered writing a book about it.
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From my tumultuous beginnings as a Chicago Teaching Fellow, when I was trained for six weeks and
thrown to the wolves as a science teacher in a South Side school, to the subsequent turn-around and
firing of all employees at that school, to working at three different schools until finally finding stability at
a well-managed school in the North Side, I have developed many scars and chips on my shoulder
regarding how CPS treats its employees and students. I am a person that has always had immense
loyalty to my employers and a fierce work ethic, and I am also a person who needs to respect and feel
respected by the leadership that I choose to work for. These values are in direct contradiction to what
CPS has done to its employees through school closings, forcing the CTU to strike, and most recently with
the new teacher evaluation system reducing the art of teaching and your impact on student learning to
a mere number. I am honestly cynical regarding the impact that one individual can have on these
systemic flaws within CPS. However, I do agree that you can make incremental and seemingly innocuous
changes that may affect how a principal exerts her influence and authority over her staff.

Task Two
In reviewing the types of tempered radicals described in the book, I feel that my personality type is
reflected in the chapter Resisting Quietly and Staying True To Ones Self. I am a person who likes to
work behind the scenes and not draw attention to my efforts. I am very loyal to my employer, however,
I also have a defined set of values that will ultimately dictate my actions. There have been times at the
Chicago Public Schools in which I have not agreed with a policy or a mandate from administration.
Earlier in my career, I always passively acquiesced to every order, since I was so afraid of getting fired or
being given a bad review in retaliation. Now that I am tenured and feel that I have a collegial and
mutually respectful relationship with my administration, I have resisted quietly on occasion when I felt
that there was a non-negotiable issue which conflicted with my values or what it means to me to be a
professional teacher.
For example, I was asked once to change a students grade because she was an English Language
Learner. The parents had complained to the administration and asked for this grade to be changed.
Without discussing the issue with the administration or parent, I quietly refused to change the grade. I
felt that the dissemination of grades is the exclusive authority of a teacher, and that no administrative
policy or parental influence should be able to tamper with that. Similar incidences occurred at my
current school, and I still do not waiver in my belief that the grades I give are an accurate reflection of a
students performance. What I do differently now is not change the grade, but I do discuss my rationale
with parents and administration after the fact, if the grades are questioned.
In terms of personal goals, I want to play more actively in this arena of quiet resistance, and I would also
like to think about Leveraging Small Wins for my new STEM position. One of my friends said it best
when she said You dont have to be a goody two-shoes all the time. You can say no and you wont get
in trouble. While I still have trouble saying no, I would have less trouble resisting quietly so long as
there is a rationale that is defensible according to my beliefs. Since I have had this new position, I have
been able to fly under the radar and have a great deal more autonomy than I have ever had before.
Other teachers are constantly inundated with testing requirements, parental complaints, and
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benchmark data, and I dont have that to contend with these issues. My challenge is to continuously
build the STEM program and making my vision a reality for the students. To that end, I plan on
implementing my timeline as described in the DreamIT update, and I will consider these to be many
small wins for me. Another small win will be to present a budget for next years STEM program and
receive funding in advance for my curriculum.

Task Three
Debra Myerson outlines four types of challenges that tempered radicals may face in their workplace.
The first challenge is the difficulties of ambivalence, meaning that a person has opposing feelings
toward their workplace and this ambivalence may cause feelings such as anxiety, guilt, loneliness and
feelings of hypocrisy. The second challenge is the incremental lures of co-optation which has to do
with the seductive tendencies of employers to control employee behavior through favorable work
relationships, promotions and other financial compensations. The third challenge is the threat of
actions by tempered radicals causing potential damage to ones professional reputation. The last
challenge is that tempered radicals may face frustration and burnout when they feel that they have not
done enough to further their cause.
As I reflect on my teaching career and my current workplace, I can say that I have experienced all four of
these difficulties. At times, I have felt ambivalence toward an administrator when I felt that he/she was
not leading in a manner that I found productive or inspiring. As I stated in my earlier section, I have a
character deficiency in that I cannot be led by someone that I do not respect or that I do not
fundamentally agree with in terms of their vision. And at least once a year, I question whether I can
continue to work within the Chicago Public Schools because I disagree with so much that they do, from
student-based budgeting to the teacher evaluation system. While my current principal does verbally
distance herself from the CPS bureaucracy, she is required to implement every policy or mandate, no
matter how asinine it may be. She is a bit of a tempered radical in that she does try to work within the
system to protect her schools best interests. She is also willing to hear opposing viewpoints and does
have an open-door policy when it comes to teacher concerns. I am lucky to finally have an ally in this
otherwise brutal system.
Frustration and burnout are real issues for every CPS teacher, and I almost quit after my first year since I
was so unprepared for what I encountered no textbooks, minimal teacher preparation, students who
were 3-4 years behind in reading, etc. What I have done to mitigate the frustration and burnout is
reflect (almost obsessively) on the small wins that I had throughout the years. One of these stories was
that I positively impacted the life of a student who decided to go to the Agriculture School because my
science class inspired him. Another success was raising the percent of students who met or exceeded
on the ISATs from 45% to 70%.
This year, I cling to the comments by students who tell me how much they love STEM and what a
wonderful teacher I am. One of my first grade girls want to be an astronaut and she and her parents are
so thrilled to have STEM in their elementary classroom. While I dont consider myself a tempered
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radical in terms of changing Chicago Public Schools, I am a bit of a radical in terms of how I run my
classroom, and this has caused friction with my assistant principal and potentially a lower teacher
evaluation score. The environment in my school is that students should be seen and not heard, and I am
a proponent of students learning by talking in groups (sometimes loudly) and having fun in the process.