Joe Gietzen

PLC 4
Case Analysis 1
The problem in this scenario is that a teacher, Leonard Bennett is being harassed by a group of
students, and has an idea, but is uncertain which students are involved. He speculates who the ringleader
may be and reports it to the Assistant Principal, Mary Davis, who is trained in these matters. She needs to
resolve the problem without offending the teacher, and indicting the wrong student. The Assistant
Principal, as a Human Resources representative, has a duty to make the school a safe, and comfortable
environment both teachers and students. She also has to worry about suspending the student due to word
of mouth and spreading rumors that the boy got suspended for calling Mr. Bennett names, making Mr.
Bennett a victim yet again.
This is a very interesting and difficult situation for Mary Davis. She finds herself trying to
support her staff, avoid litigation, and stop the problem from continuing. My thoughts began to move
towards the reading for the week. According to Grazeck, Administrators should not overlook their
nurturing, supporting, even ministerial role (373). After reading Grazeck, if Mary Davis allowed for this
issue to be overlooked, and did nothing further, she would be Driving a wall between she and Leonard,
which would allow for the teacher to feel unsupported and possibly initiate other teachers to feel the
same. By taking the time and putting in effort to resolve this issue, Mary would be serving the teachers
and would gain their trust and respect. She would also educate her students on being respectful and
developing relationships, which are 2 of the Pillars of Catholic Education.
According to Rebore, The goals of the human resources function are to achieve the objectives of
the school district and to help individual staff members maximize their potentials and develop their
professional careers (17). Since the role of the administrator is to help the teacher be successful, Mary
Davis needs to implement some school-wide structures that align with the schools mission and educate
students to respect one another to understand the importance of acting in a manner that coincides with
how God calls us to act. For instance, Mary could have addressed the situation indirectly with the entire

student body by instituting an anti-bullying campaign within the school. This idea serves a dual purpose
of teaching kids to respect one another, and teaching them to look out for acts of disrespect in the
building. It also should focus on respecting other people dignity. Perhaps it would correct the issue, and
prevent another issue from arising, while reinforcing the mission of the school.

It also aligns very nicely

with Vatican IIs tenants of Catholic Education Dignity of the Individual. Students need to understand
that reporting bullying is another way that they can follow the Churchs teachings, to love one another. It
also reinforces how to behave correctly, as God intends.
One of the risks with idea is that it does not address the problem head on so, it may not fix it.
The good part about this is that even if it does not solve this problem from continuing, it still educates the
student body about respecting one another, and living in the image of Christ. Another area of concern for
implementing this idea is that it could reinforce the idea that Leonard Bennett is the reason for the
campaign, which could do more harm than good. It would take some careful planning and maneuvering
to make this idea happen in order to keep the focus on preventing bullying, rather than raising the
question of who cried to administration to get this implemented?
Another Idea that Mary could take is to attack the issue head on by consulting the Principal, and
the parents about the situation. This would allow for her to get a 2 nd opinion on the situation, and allow
the parents to help reinforce proper behavior at home. Since parents are the primary educators of their
children, this method will allow the child to be reinforced in the proper behavior both at school, and at
home. This idea is risky because it runs the risk of publicizing the sensitive issue, which can damage
relationships within the school staff. It also runs the risk of parents siding with their child and getting
upset with the school for accusing without proof. This idea is probably not the one I would choose. I feel
that there is too much harm that could come from this idea.
The final idea Mary could try is to investigate a little deeper on the situation and let Leonard
know she will be doing so. She could also inform the other teachers of the school to be on the look out
for bullying and disrespectful comments towards anyone, as this has been a growing concern of many of
the parents in the school. Parents may also be informed to talk to their students about respecting all people

and being Disciples of Christ. She should then ask all teachers to report any disrespectful comments to
the office in order to get a witnessed identification of students involved. By having a witnessed account,
Mary can make the phone calls home and move forward with the process of disciplinary action against
the students. This confronts the issue head on and asks for the support of the parents in the matter. It also
asks the teachers to focus on keeping hallways safe for all people.
It does run the risk that it may put Mr. Bennett in the spotlight as a teacher who gets bullied by
students and make him appear to be the reason for the newsletter. This has to be rolled out carefully to
make sure the message does not get blurred, as well.
My preferred approach is a combination of a couple of the ideas above. I would combine the
anti-bullying campaign, with the idea of Mary investigating a little deeper with teacher assistance. Some
of the benefits of this combination are that it would allow for students to be educated on how to respect
other people, and empower each teacher and student that they deserve to feel comfortable and respected
in the school. It also aligns closely with the school mission to To build Eucharistic Disciples of Christ
through service, sacrifice, and sacrament. It also attacks the problem head on, and allows for the parents
to be on the look out for social media posts and behavior outside of school.
Of course there are risks to this combination of methods, which include the appearance of a
witch hunt and possibly indirectly putting the bullying of Leonard in the spotlight and making him to
blame. I feel that if Mary could get Leonard on board with this, and get the students to understand that
reporting bullying is ok, it may establish a culture of respect in the school and force those who are
performing the bullying to change their ways, or leave the school. I feel that this is the best way to
initiate change, solve the harassment problem, and avoid litigation.