Administration

This semester during my observations  complained about the administration a great deal. According to my teacher there was a new principal brought into the district in order to "crack down" on the teachers. A few years ago the basketball team was doing really well and since the teachers wanted to see their school succeed, some of the teacher were allowing the players to slide by on the grades in order to be able to participate in after school activities. Some of the boys that were on the team, consequently did not do well in college since they were used to sliding by and not having to do any work. Those boys then decided to gather and sue the school. The principal at the time was offered early retirement in order to save him from being fired. The new principal that was brought in is apparently being very hard on all of the teachers. The teacher that I observed with as well as many others felt that this isn't fair because not all of the teachers were responsible for the basketball scandal. I presume that no matter where I end up teaching I will have to answer to a higher authority who will want to change my curriculum. I left with a feeling of unease about how much freedom I will have in my classroom. Art teachers are inherently creative and it would be such a shame to squash that creativity by assigning a rigid curriculum that one must follow. After watching the lessons in class I am inspired to create my own lessons and curriculum but I am afraid that I will not be able to do that.