Faculty behaving badly: a primer for administrators.

They're everywhere: the personalities that can turn a collegial atmosphere into a war zone. Perhaps you've even run across them in your workplace.

Dr. Barbara Brock, associate professor in the department of education at Creighton University NE, knows a lot about bad apples in K-12 schools. But the rotten fruit can also be found in the halls of higher learning.

Brock presented the results of a study on difficult personalities and leaders' responses to them at the University of Nebraska's conference on Women in Educational Leadership held in Lincoln in October. It's part of a book she and Dr. Marilyn Grady, professor of educational administration at Nebraska, are writing for publication by Corwin Press.

Difficult people impair collegiality

"A collegial learning community and cooperative effort toward goal attainment are essential to school success," Brock began. "When we have difficult people in our buildings, the behavior of difficult teachers impairs collegiality, disrupts goal attainment and threatens school success." It happens with K-12 teachers as well as higher ed faculty.

Brock and Grady studied 20 elementary and secondary school principals. Twelve were female; eight were male. They ranged in age from 30 to 60 and had from one to 25 years of experience. Study participants were chosen for their reputations for knowing how to run a school. They gathered their data using a narrative instrument/personal interview.

Between three and 15% of the teachers were classified as difficult. "Although it's a small population, they have a big influence," said Brock. This comes as no surprise to women faculty who have to live with colleagues who make a Neanderthal look attractive.