Five Systemic Shifts That Signal Teacher Appreciation All Year Long

Around the country this week, schools are celebrating teachers. As K-12 leaders, you know that the teachers are the lifeblood of your schools, and they deserve to be on the highest pedestal. Taking a week to celebrate our nation’s educators is generous and authentic. It’s also not enough, says Carole Basile, dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. “I always think about how teachers would feel if we truly appreciated them 52 weeks a year.” 

Recently, we ran a poll on New Leaders social media pages, asking about ways to boost teacher morale. Unsurprisingly, increasing teacher pay and creating better working conditions were at the top of some of their responses. This isn’t anything you don’t already know as a school or district leader. Pay increases and better working conditions are a very real and legitimate way to value teachers. They’re also things that may not always necessarily be in your control.

Taking a week to celebrate our nation’s educators is generous and authentic. It’s also not enough, says Carole Basile, dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. 

But Basile’s comment gets to the root of what true teacher appreciation really is: making a commitment to long-term, systemic strategies to appreciate teachers and help them be the best they can be all year round, not just at a moment in time. Here are five impactful actions that can get to the heart of this kind of change:

Avoid one-size-fits-all PD

Teachers crave autonomy, and for good reason: they know their classrooms and students better than anyone else. Because of that, they want to be able to make decisions about what’s best for their students based on their own knowledge. 

The freedom of teachers to direct their own course is especially critical when it comes to their own professional development. Not only do teachers want professional development that can truly make a difference in their learning—and by extension, that of their students—they also want an opportunity to harness and grow their own creativity and innovation. 

Not only do teachers want professional development that can truly make a difference in their learning—and by extension, that of their students—they also want an opportunity to harness and grow their own creativity and innovation. 

Here’s the familiar rub: we know one-size-fits-all, “sit-and-get” teacher PD isn’t the right approach. On the other side of the spectrum, it’s downright impossible to co-create individual PD plans for every teacher in your school.

So, resolve to meet in the middle. When you meet with your teachers about PD plans next year, ask them what they’d like to achieve both through the lens of their teaching and what they’d like to enhance or master for the sake of their own careers. As they’re talking, take note of special interests. Maybe one of your teachers has always had a dream to put together an initiative that brings expertise of your community members to the classroom, or has thoughts on how to better strengthen relationships with parents and families. Consider the ways they might be able to bring this vision to life as part of their professional development work. 

Give time back by limiting meetings

Every educator wishes they had more hours in the day—you included, most likely! This is especially true of teachers. Jennifer Gonzales, former teacher and creator of the Cult of Pedagogy blog and podcast, says it bluntly: “Historically, teachers have never had enough time to do their jobs well.” She continues by saying, “The chronic lack of time in their lives means there’s zero margin for error…the clock is ticking and they have a mile-long to-do list so all that good, deep stuff will have to wait.”

In a national survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center as part of its “The State of Teaching” project, over 1,400 teachers said they spend close to six hours a week on meetings or administrative tasks: four hours more a week than they spend on PD.

A recent piece in Education Week went into depth about one of the culprits: meetings. In a national survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center as part of its “The State of Teaching” project, over 1,400 teachers said they spend close to six hours a week on meetings or administrative tasks: four hours more a week than they spend on PD.

While completely doing away with meetings might be unrealistic, there are ways to limit the number and duration of meetings. Make sure meetings have a clear purpose, with defined start and end times and an agenda on what teachers can expect to discuss. Have them on the same days and times, so teachers can plan around them. Cancel the meeting when there’s nothing to go over. If possible, use meetings as times for discussion, rather than for informational updates. One principal sends an informational newsletter each week, which helped him to reduce his weekly meetings with teachers from 60 to 30 minutes. 

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Learn the feedback your teachers like most

When school leaders give intentional and impactful feedback to teachers, they send a clear message that they believe in their abilities and want to help them further their craft. But what does truly meaningful feedback entail? 

While surveying teachers for a research report, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development determined five main characteristics teachers are looking for when it comes to feedback, a few of which we dig into here:

They want feedback on student learning: Much of the feedback teachers receive focuses on their actions and behaviors while teaching. This is important, especially in the context of most district evaluation procedures, but what teachers are really looking for is their impact on students: Do their explanations make sense to students? Are reluctant students engaged and catching on? Do all students feel like they’re part of the class? 

‍They want feedback in a non-threatening way: Feedback often gets a negative connotation not so much because of what’s said to them, but how it's being said. Relaying feedback to teachers isn’t so different than what we know about offering feedback to students: beginning with something positive, describing what might need improvement or reflection in a non-judgemental way, asking questions or offering guidance on how to improve, expressing confidence in their success, and offering a chance to revisit or discuss after the teacher has had a chance to reflect or implement. 

Know when it’s more than “burnout”

Everyone who works in education—teachers, staff, and leaders—needs to take care of themselves. But we also know that self-care alone is not enough to combat what’s often truly needed in schools and in districts: deeper, systemic changes that signal long-term solutions.

Researcher and author Doris Santoro says that what we often categorize as teacher “burnout” is actually “demoralization.” Demoralization happens when teachers encounter consistent and pervasive challenges to enacting the values that motivate their work. When she’s asked teachers what makes them tired, the teachers’ answers are almost never about the students, or teaching itself. “They are about bureaucracy,” she says. 

Researcher and author Doris Santoro says that what we often categorize as teacher “burnout” is actually “demoralization.” Demoralization happens when teachers encounter consistent and pervasive challenges to enacting the values that motivate their work.

Consider how you can make changes alongside your teachers that will contribute to long-term job satisfaction. Are there:

• Actions you can take to strengthen and streamline communication with teachers to ensure they’re getting timely and consistent information about school changes? 
• Ways for teachers to voice their opinions about new initiatives and programs before they’re implemented?
• Working sessions or audits you can hold with a team of teachers to work through all your school policies and determine if they are clear and equitable?
• Opportunities to ask, “What does it look like for you to engage in good work? What’s preventing you from doing so, and what can we change right now to move us a little closer?”

Create visible paths to school leadership

There are most likely several aspiring school leaders among the teachers in your school. Similarly, you might have teachers who might not see their leadership potential quite yet, but you have. You’d like to introduce them to the profession through a “shoulder tap”—where you not only tell them about the potential you see, but take an active role in helping them develop their leadership. 

No matter which type of potential principal candidates you might have, helping them navigate the waters of certification and education requirements, principal training programs, field experience, and leadership capacity is a great way to show that you care about their future in education just as much as you care what’s happening in the present. 

Perhaps you have teachers who’d like to broaden their impact beyond their individual classroom, but aren’t sure of the next steps to take. Ensure you’re supporting future teacher leaders by distributing leadership opportunities, such as leading a professional development or programming initiative, or by heading up a data team. 

Systemic change isn’t easy, but it's necessary

During Teachers Appreciation Week, honor your teachers with thank you notes, gifts, and activities. Those celebratory actions are important, necessary, and most of all, joyful! 

At the same time, let’s do what we can to affect long-term change for teachers and keep them excited and motivated to do what they do best: make a difference in the lives of our students, families, and communities. 

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