In any school or school district, teachers are the single largest employee group. Listen to teachers for the health of any school.

Listen to Teachers PIN

Do you listen to teachers in your school or district?

How are teachers Developed?

Not everyone will professionally develop themselves, but that does not mean everyone is not worth developing. The expense of a new teacher exceeds the cost of developing the teachers you already have (see interactive graphic below).

If identifying professional learning which suits all teachers is an issue, consider allowing teachers to select their own professional learning. Small stipends for the teachers to spend creates an agency within teachers, specialists within the school community and can drive down costs of one-size-fits-all professional learning (2010).

How are teachers Valued?

Teachers are valued when they are invested in. Those investments can vary by teacher, but often include salary, advancements, meaningful/personalized training.

While this could be problematic for buildings or district looking to create a larger movement or theme, consider choices or topics to guide self-selected choices.

A negative value to those hiring is when teachers leave and need to be replaced:

SOURCE: https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/the-cost-of-teacher-turnover

A good rule of thumb is to value a teacher with more than just another title and more work for the same pay; consider actual movement on an organizational chart. While old-fashioned organizations might not hold much for innovative teachers, forward-thinking districts consider creating new roles as needed in their org chart {Read: Can you see TPACK in your Org Chart?}.

How are teachers Retained?

Teachers not valued for their perceived contributions will leave.

If you want to retain them, value them in the currency which they value. The trick is to listen to them to find out what their preferred currency is.
Why Do Teachers Quit? (2013)

How to Attract and Retain Excellent Teachers: Exit Intereviews (2016)

How to Attract and Retain Excellent Teachers: Reduce New Teacher Workload (2016)

 

 

Listen to Teachers