HOW TO IMPROVE TEACHER RETENTION

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #50 – May 15, 2010

Each year in California, over 18,000 teachers quit the profession. This poses a serious threat to the quality of education.provided for our children. A survey by The National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) revealed, one of the main reasons for teachers not quitting was, in spite of all the difficulties, they had the support of the administration.

Many college graduates enter the teaching profession with hopes of being challenged and making a difference in the lives of children. However, somewhere during their first year, they face reality. They consistently feel defeated and systemically undervalued and under-appreciated. How can principals inspire teachers to want to stay in the profession?

Even new teachers enjoy intrinsic rewards from the job, but all teachers yearn for some extrinsic reassurance they are doing a good job. Principals should make it a priority to recognize teachers’ efforts by offering positive feedback, both publicly and privately. Memos, e-mails and staff meetings are all great forums for recognizing special contributions teachers are making.

Here are a few suggestions to keep your teachers encouraged and motivated:

Principal Observation
Principals should make a point of observing every teacher at least twice a month. These should preferably be unscheduled visits. The principal should make at least one or two positive comments, write them on a post it, and leave it on the teacher’s desk on the way out. If there is a specific problem noticed, the principal can set up a meeting to discuss that at a separate time.

Professional Development
Good principals should encourage their teachers to attend professional development and workshops. Principals should work with other principals to arrange collaboration and professional learning communities among their schools. Principals should be the Instructional Leaders of their schools. They should be willing to roll up their sleeves and show their teachers how it’s done. Encouraging professional development contributes to teachers’ sense of self-actualization and is extremely rewarding.

The Mission Statement
Work with your staff to create a mission statement for your school. Make sure it is meaningful, genuine and something the entire group believes in. Then, as teachers contribute to progress toward the mission, you can specifically praise individual teachers or the entire team as they complete targets and goals toward achieving the mission statement.

Provide Positive Feedback
People are far better motivated by the use of positive feedback. Rather than focusing on weaknesses, focus on strengths and praise them whenever praise is deserved. School leaders who identify the specific reasons for success when they present positive results at staff meetings, and who are able to temper success with the recognition that there will always be challenges ahead, can inspire the faculty to continue working to improve their practice. When mistakes or poor performance happen, harsh criticism may result in an inhibition of motivation and growth. Instead, use constructive criticism, and modeling with the intent of helping the teacher to improve. Let teachers know you are confident in their ability to improve and let them know they are valued. Principals must offer support, tangible help and guidance for their teachers.

The simple act of recognition by a principal is often just enough to keep a teacher motivated to continue and not become a NCES statistic. There are several ideas listed above but please continue to come up with your own. For example, school leaders can also demonstrate care by giving recognition for a job well done in a card or an announcement in the weekly bulletin. It also won’t “break the bank” to provide a nice breakfast each quarter for your teachers, just to show how much you care.

Author Pearl Buck said it well:

Only the Brave Should Teach
Pearl Buck
Only the brave should teach.
Only those who love the young should teach.
Teaching is a vocation.
It is as sacred as the priesthood;
as innate a desire,
as inescapable as the genius which compels a great artist.
If he has not the concern for humanity,
The love of living creatures,
The vision of the priest and the artist,
He must not teach.