Beyond the Ivory Tower

From Graduate School to Head of School

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By Susan Basalla May

A Ph.D. in American studies does not typically lead to a career as head of a Quaker private school, but it did for Bryan K. Garman.

Garman worked part-time as a high-school history teacher while he was on the academic job market. I interviewed him in the course of doing research on the book that Maggie Debelius and I wrote, So What Are You Going to Do With That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia. We met many more Ph.D.'s with interesting career paths than we could fit into our manuscript. I recently reinterviewed Garman so that I could relate his story in greater depth for this column.

Over the past 10 years, Garman has transformed himself from a part-time high-school teacher to the head of school at Wilmington Friends, a Quaker school in Delaware. Along the way, he learned new ways of thinking about teaching, managed to turn his dissertation into a published book, and developed a deep appreciation for the Quaker way.

Garman's story is particularly instructive for M.A.'s or Ph.D.'s considering secondary-school teaching as a career because, while he remembers the feeling of being a rookie teacher, he can also speak from experience about the long-term satisfaction of his work, the feasibility of continuing one's research as an independent scholar, and the qualities that hiring committees are looking for in graduate students seeking employment at secondary schools.

Question: Why did you decide to go to graduate school?

Garman: With majors in English and psychology, I had no real job prospects after college graduation. I had this vague notion that it would be fun to wear black jeans and cowboy boots and study American literature. But when I started graduate school at Emory University, I recognized that I had no idea about what I wanted to do or what being a Ph.D. student was about. I had three wonderful mentors -- Amy Schrager Lang, Allen Tullos, and Jonathan Prude -- who were incredibly patient and helpful. My focus shifted to labor history, literature, and music. It was a luxury and privilege to have that time to learn and think.

Question: Why did you decide to leave academe?

Garman: I enjoyed teaching at the college level, but the job market was not great for Americanists. On my first day of graduate school, one of my advisers was brutally honest about that fact and told me to keep my eyes open for opportunities outside of the academy. For me, a career in Quaker education provided that opportunity. Having written about social movements and politically engaged artists, I was drawn to the Quaker commitments to equality and social justice. I was also intrigued by the Quakers' work in international-peace initiatives and environmental stewardship. At the end of the day, the mission of Quaker education and the students I had the opportunity to teach led me to leave the academy.

Question: How did you get your first teaching job, and where?

Garman: I was living in Washington, D.C., and had sent my résumé to a number of schools in the area. I was literally walking in the door from my graduation at Emory when Sidwell Friends called to see if I would be interested in interviewing for a late opening. After a few hours of conversation and a teaching demonstration, the school offered me a part-time teaching position on a one-year contract. I was told there was no possibility that my contract would be extended; I was struck that such a point had been made about that, because at that time I had no interest whatsoever in staying. The only thing I knew about the school was that the Clintons had sent their daughter there. At that point, I was still interviewing for tenure-track positions and was happy to have a part-time job while I revised my dissertation into a book.

Question: How did teaching high-school students differ from teaching college students?

Garman: The adjustment was not as difficult as it might seem. Friends school students are a highly talented, highly motivated group. They work hard, they engage ideas, and they are encouraged to take intellectual risks and think critically. There are small matters that you may need to remind them about -- you may need to talk about basic study skills, to tell them to take notes -- and you will need to present material at a developmentally appropriate level.

Even more important, you are expected to invest yourself in the total development of the children, to know what they do on the stage or the athletic field and to support their work in these areas. And there are times when you need to nurture self-confidence or help them navigate a rough emotional patch.

Finally, you need to be willing to work collaboratively with parents, who are an important part of life at a day school. Because you see the students so frequently and you know them in many different contexts, you feel invested in their growth and development. I loved being in the classroom every day, but I found these nonacademic responsibilities to be equally rewarding.

Question: What's the salary range for a private-school teacher?

Garman: It differs dramatically, depending on the size of the school, the region, and the mission. But the median salary is probably in the mid-$40,000 range. Information about teaching salaries can be found through the National Association of Independent Schools or the Friends Council on Education.

Question: Did you pursue your research -- writing, publishing, attending conferences -- outside your teaching job?

Garman: Well, I managed to finish my book, A Race of Singers: Whitman's Working-Class Hero From Guthrie to Springsteen (University of North Carolina Press, 2000). It was great fun to write. I grew up in a working-class town during the height of deindustrialization, and enjoyed writing about some of the artists who helped me make sense of what I was seeing and feeling at that time. I revised the manuscript before my children were born, mostly in the late-evening and early-morning hours.

I certainly don't have the time to take on another book right now, and to be honest, with two young daughters, my interest in publishing has diminished. But I try to write at least one piece a year. I've done some reviews (they range from being published in Science, of all places, to Backstreets, a Bruce Springsteen fan magazine).

Most recently I did a chapter for a book entitled Music in the Post-9/11 World, which was published by Routledge in June. It's difficult to keep up on scholarship in my current position. Much of my writing, research, and conference-going focuses directly on the school.

Question: How did you end up on the path toward an administrative position at Friends?

Garman: It was not a career that I had imagined, but it is one that has been extremely rewarding. Quakers have a wonderful saying: "The way opens." Those words describe my career path.

When I started teaching in a Friends school and working closely with students and families and together with colleagues, I began to recognize that teachers and administrators could work collaboratively to affect the lives of students in very profound ways. And I enjoyed the challenges of addressing practical, everyday problems. The work was so different from the research and writing that I had been doing.

I enjoyed research, but ultimately found the whole process somewhat isolating. I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to earn a Ph.D. -- I worked with wonderful people who cared deeply about what they did. But I found the relationships and the work I was doing in Quaker education, in particular, and independent schools, in general, to be much more fulfilling than the world of scholarship.

Question: How is being a head of school different from being a teacher?

Garman: The distinction is not as vast as you might expect, in part because I was fortunate enough to continue my career in Quaker education. There's no doubt that I have different responsibilities: fund raising, supervision of personnel, oversight of budget, to name a few. I enjoy the array of responsibilities and the fact that no two days are the same. I miss the everyday work with students in the classroom and am always looking for opportunities to connect with them. I'm hoping that I can make time to teach a class in a year or two.

Question: What qualities and skills would you look for in new teachers joining your staff?

Garman: Someone once told me to hire happy people. That's some of the best advice I've ever heard. So I look for people who are excited about working with students and families. We certainly look for people who have great knowledge of their discipline, who communicate tremendous enthusiasm for learning, who encourage students to engage the world in a socially responsible and ethical manner. For us, teaching is obviously much more important than scholarship. Schools are also interested in finding teachers who can serve as coaches and advisers for such publications as the newspaper or literary magazine.

Question: What advice would you give current graduate students considering teaching at a private school?

Garman: Many graduate students bring a certain hubris when they interview for jobs at independent schools. They need to understand that our faculty members are remarkably talented, knowledgeable, and strong-willed, so arrogance and a recitation on the latest theory are not likely to impress. Candidates who offer engaging and meaningful teaching demonstrations are likely to do well.

But first and foremost, a candidate needs to be able to demonstrate a genuine willingness to work with students and families, and a commitment to supporting the values and mission of the school. When all is said and done, it's not likely to be a happy marriage unless the teacher embraces the mission of the school.