Meeting Woes

Why can't school meetings be short and sweet? Meetings are supposed to be a good platform for teachers to share their views on anything concerning the school, and to coordinate projects or school events. At other times, each of us are busy with our own work: teaching, marking books and endless paperwork. Well, some of us do find the time for gossiping about other colleagues, but that's hardly productive discussion...

But I digress. If meetings are handled properly, they can be very productive. However, reality is always very cruel. In all my 7 years of teaching, I think I've attended close to 100 meetings, out of which less than 10% of them are actually informative or effective. Most of us end up being bored during meetings, surfing Facebook on laptops with wireless connections, doodling on our notebooks, marking students' work (out of sight of the chairperson, of course)... and the list goes on.

The thing is, these meetings almost always ends without concrete solutions in sight. We bring up and discuss a range of problems, but the administration, including the principal, always promises to "look into it", which means that "it will be forgotten after a week or so". At the end of the day, after hours of meetings, things are still the same around the school.

Another bad point about school meetings is that people always digress. Worst still, if the chairperson gets carried away and doesn't stick to the agenda. My principal always does that. He tends to go on and on about something, and even repeats a lot of what he has said earlier. Somehow, he is also under the impression that the meeting is just a casual chat among friends over a cup of coffee. Maybe he makes casual comments to help us feel more comfortable around him, but he actually ends up making us more stressed. From our body language, it's not hard to tell that everyone wants him to get to the point, and quick!

The worst thing about all this is that we, the teachers, have to sit through this agony, which normally lasts for two hours. Some of us really do try hard to concentrate, but there are also others who couldn't care less. These are the ones who have their laptops open, and we know they are not looking up things pertaining to the meeting. One of my colleagues always bring a book to pass the time. A few others would mark books discreetly.

But before you think any less of us teachers, I assure you that despite what we are doing in the meeting room, our ears are still pricked to catch any important information that we need to know. Yes, we have mastered the art of multi-tasking. We only phase out when the discussion is irrelevant or insignificant to our scope of duty.

For my part, I try my best to put on my best behaviour during meetings, but sometimes, I do get distracted as well. What do I do during those times? Doodling and chatting with other colleagues... Well, I'm keeping all my fingers crossed that the day will come when we can have short and sweet... oh, and productive, meetings.