The Office in Your School Part 2: The Teachers' Lounge

Many teachers hear the phrase "stay out of the teachers' lounge."  The reason being is that this area has moved away from being a place where teachers gather for fellowship, and it has become a central gathering place complaining, naysaying, and bickering.  While I am sure this is not true in every school, I would be willing to bet it is more common than not.

Sticking with the theme from the hit NBC show The Office, here are three characters you may run into in the teachers' lounge.

Angela Martin--Angela is the person in the office that seems to be a condescending rule-follower, but we all learn this is not the truth.  In the television show, she uses her position on the Party Planning Committee to order others around, and she rarely holds back when giving opinions to others.  However, while she judges others, she participates in activities that she would rail against if engaged in by others.  Her reaction to Pam and Jim seems hollow considering her relationship with Dwight.

We all know a few Angela's in our school.  We know the teacher who looks down at nearly everything others do, a teacher who does not seem as if fun should be had at school, a teacher who preaches professionalism, only to try to build herself up while putting others down.  Where will you usually find this teacher?  In the teachers' lounge.  The problem with Angela's is this type of attitude can destroy a staff.  It is very easy at first for new teachers to see an Angela and agree with much of what she says.  Many times, an Angela is seen a star teacher in a school because of a willingness to strictly follow school policy.

Phyllis Lapin--On the show, Phyllis is someone who usually acts nice to everyone, but loves to gossip and can be mean to others.  Phyllis is also often the target of derogatory comments made by others, especially the boss, Michael Scott.  Phyllis also has moments where she seems to be much smarter than we give her credit.

Again, this is another character that we all probably see in our school.  Think about the teacher who seems to be nice, but you are not shocked when they say something awful about someone else.  Many times, this teacher will be someone who finds certain teachers to be nice to in order to have a social circle to spread stories.

Creed Bratton--On the office, Creed is one of the strangest characters on the show.  An older character, it seems that his past experiences and his age give him the ability to not really worry about what others think.  Her does not care about rules and regulations (like the time he didn't inspect paper for a year), and he proves this when he talks about his job to others.  He also has a problem with remembering names of his coworkers.

The Creed in our school is probably someone nearing retirement, and someone who has a devil-may-care attitude.  In fact, we probably find ourselves wishing we had more of that attitude at times.  However, we also find that we question a fair amount of the things this teacher tells us, and we notice that this teacher is also usually self-absorbed.  This is probably a teacher who signs in just on time and leaves a minute or two early.

When you think about your teachers' lounge, do you see these characters?  Are you one of them?  To a degree, each of these characters have strong qualities that are important in a school.  Angela believes in professionalism, Creed takes chances with some rules, and Phyllis is able to pull things out when no one counts on her.  However, when these characters are taken to their extreme, we see many negative affects in a school.

Here's a challenge--How you can find a way to make the teachers' lounge a positive?  How can you find a way to take the Creeds, Angelas, and Phyllises in your school and make them positive players in your school?  If you are one of these three, how do you make yourself a positive force your school?