Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Dear Administrators,

Please listen to your heart. You’ve been wondering why your teachers keep quitting. You keep losing teachers. Transfers, resignations, and complaints keep coming your way. You’re concerned about not just your job, but about the person you’re putting on display causing others to run the other way.

Before blaming your teachers, let me ask, Did You S.A.T.?

Did You Give Support?

Not giving teachers real support is one of the reasons why your teachers are quitting.

Calling meetings twice a week, putting them on a Personal Improvement Plan, and doing monthly walkthroughs are not teacher supports. They need you to become familiar with their classroom culture, not just the lesson plans or where they should be on the pacing guide. Do you know who they are and what they value as teachers in your school, or have they become only a number and a body to you?

When your teachers call and ask for help, it’s not because they’re weak. You don’t need to hold a professional development about classroom management. Go into their rooms and observe EVERYTHING, including the students. Notice the ones who give them grief continuously. Then, sit down with that teacher and create a system that works for everyone, including your teacher.

When parents come to the school with a problem, don’t throw your teachers under the bus. Education is a partnership. You must remain a team at all times, and that includes covering and protecting us from outside influences, like district workers and parents of our students.

Lastly, be available. Don’t disappear into meetings every few hours. If you are busy, set up times when your teachers can come and see you…and then stick to those times. In times of panic or chaos, please go and check on them, or at least send a follow-up message. This lets them know you care, even if they were in the wrong.

Did You Show Appreciation?

Lack of appreciation is a big reason why your teachers are quitting. We’re not talking about monthly handshakes and a pat on the back. This isn’t about gifts or prizes. This is about you communicating through words and actions that you appreciate not just what your teachers do but who they are.

They know you can’t give them a brand new school, brand new computers, behavioral support on a daily basis, and pencils every week. That’s not what your teachers are expecting or even want. No matter what school they work in, there will always be broken pencils or Windows 98 computers, or at least one kid hanging from the rafters.

But when your teachers come to work in the morning, are you there to greet them a few days out of the week? When they speak up at a meeting, do you value what they’re saying or do you blow it off? If they have ideas, do you pull them to the side later for deeper insight, or just write it in a journal, never to be heard of again? When you go to their classrooms, do you smile when you watch them teach and interact with their students? Do you compliment your teachers in front of their students? Have you pulled them aside to talk about lesson plans or anything they’ve handed into you?

Your teachers want to be seen and heard and acknowledged, not just as a teacher, but as an individual that brings something to the table.

Did You Create an Environment of Teamwork?

As teachers, they know you receive a lot of directives from those above you. Many of them seem like impossible tasks, but your teachers are there to assist you, not hinder you. Together, you can handle the challenges.

It’s the moment that you try to handle everything yourself, ignore and disregard their thoughts, and toss out demands that they begin to feel like children and not adults. Your “Do It Or Else” attitude makes you look like a dictator, not a leader. There can be much more peace and harmony in the school if you chose to walk alongside them when faced with daunting tasks. Your unspoken rush to get things done only stirs up the ever-present anxiety your teachers already possess.

Hopefully, you remember what it’s like to be a teacher and have a million things dictated to you at once. Didn’t you ever get anxious? Overwhelmed? Burned out?

A Personal Favorite

My favorite administrator was like a hero to me. I was tired, burned out, and trying to remember why I got into this profession in the first place. When I met her, I heard the passion in her voice for not just the students but her teachers. She always greeted them with a smile or at least a handshake.  I didn’t have to guess if she was at school. I didn’t have to take a chance to visit her in her office. If I had an idea, she wanted to know more. When she came into my classroom, she would smile as I taught and never left the room without reminding my students how lucky they were to have me.

She complimented how I carried myself as an educator. Even though she used the “strong teacher” method on me, moving me in the middle of the year to deal with a tougher class, I didn’t mind. When I made the transition, she was standing next to me. She promised she would support me, and she did. I honestly would’ve done anything she asked because I trusted her. I knew she wouldn’t give me too much…and even if she did, I trusted the support that she would give me if the load every got too heavy. Within the time I worked for her, I probably received ONE physical gift. But if I’d never received that gift, I wouldn’t have missed it.

You have teachers in your school with the same zeal but because you haven’t S.A.T., you don’t know who they are or what they’re capable of. It saddens me when amazing teachers fall into the hands of an administrator who doesn’t support, appreciate, or work with them. These teachers shrink down and end up doing the bare minimum, when in reality, they could help turn the whole school around.

So during your #TERSchoolFreeSummer, I’m asking you, as a teacher who has the capacity to “go all in” to think about how you can S.A.T this upcoming school year.

I promise you won’t regret it.

Editor’s Note: If you enjoyed this article, please become a Patreon supporter by clicking here.

S.A.T.

With a deep commitment and passion for all things youth, Allyson began her teaching journey in 2014....

Join the Conversation

13 Comments

  1. Awesome article!! I have yet to feel valued as a teacher by an administrator. All administrators need to read this.

  2. Interesting article. The main reason many teachers leave is because they have bullies for bosses, who go all out to put in place all the latest gimmicks and training ideas given to them by successive useless governments who ahve no respect for teachers and their qualifications & abilities. I left teaching because of my HT and know so many others who have similar reasons. This must cost the country millions in lost training; and sick leave!

  3. This is 1000000% true. My last job at International Education Services in Brisbane was HORRIBLE for this. They hired admin who had no clue how to manage and were 100% threatened by senior staff who knew how things worked. They micromanaged and then bullied staff to quit. You can’t hire some jockey schmuck with a music degree to lead people. The Deputy Directors played obvious favourites and did nothing to encourage teamwork. Everyone in admin has a DO IT OR ELSE attitude. I have never felt more bullied and disrespected in my whole career. IES has a horrible work culture.

    Now, I have a job where I feel more valued and more respected. I receive positive feedback and I am encouraged to do better. A little respect goes a long long way.

  4. I am commenting on behalf of my wife, which is, in my honest opinion, an awesome teacher. She has been teaching for 20 years and has learned quite a bit about herself throughout the years. She has also influenced a great many young minds. So much so that almost on a weekly basis, a current or former student or parent or both, have walked up to her and greeted her with so much love and appreciation. It makes her smile from ear to ear and it makes me VERY PROUD of her as well as make my admiration of her grow exponentially. She has a hearing deficit in one ear and still manages to get the job done even in some not-so-favorable conditions. This year, she has 23 students, I believe. However, her classroom is only meant for about 14 to 16. This change came about this year when a new principal took over and made some “changes” around the school. These changes have not been welcome, to say the least. And they have made some of the teachers extremely uncomfortable as well as caused much higher stress for them. Almost on a daily basis, she tells me about a teacher or two who are seriously considering other jobs instead of working with this current principal. About 90% of the teachers have complained verbally and in writing to the superintendent of the school but, as of yet and most likely never, nothing has been done to address these concerns. My wife has been there for 6 years and has been voted Teacher of the Month a few times. Her reviews and evaluations have all come back with excellent notes from the principal, assistant principal and other teachers. It is crystal clear to me that the issue is not her or any of the teachers there…it is the main man in charge that has caused the rift. This school was a Blue-Ribbon school 2 years ago under the previous leader. Unfortunately, she had to retire due to medical issues, leaving this current man in charge. I for one, want to go to the school to give him a piece of my mind. Not because of the way he runs the school, although that is certainly something he seriously needs to alter and improve. But because he has caused my wife to come home so stressed that she sometimes does not eat dinner or sleeps well at all. Due to the working conditions, she brings work home almost every day of the week. Many a night, she has stayed up past midnight to get things done so the principal does not complain about this or that with her. Although it would not affect me at all to mention this man’s name, it could cause my wife some trouble if I do, seeing as how the internet can be a source for those folks who like to spread things around. I will end my comment with this. The school I am speaking of is very close to losing 25 – 40% of its students JUST BECAUSE OF HIM! If that occurs, it will most likely be closed soon after, leaving her without a job for some time. It would not be fair to anyone of her co-workers or herself that the school closes simply because of one man’s approach to running this great school into the ground. I hope this comment lands on someone’s desk who can read between the lines and know that one man needs to go before several teachers and students quit.

  5. I had a horrific past year, while my mother was visiting she became very ill and was in and out of the hospital from December until June. All while taking care of my epileptic husband and autistic daughter. In April of that year he said he wanted to change my grade level. I explained what a stressful year I had and couldn’t really handle that right now. A month later he said, too bad, this will take your mind off what is going on at home. He obviously has no concern for me or what I am going through on a personal level.
    We need leaders who have compassion and show humanity.

  6. All Adminisrators and Teachers need to work together and put children first. It gets down to some basic communication, authentic appreciation, realistic expectations, working together as a team, and common sense. As a retired educator of 32 years, I believe I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to both teachers and administrators. I am from a state that respected educators and was always in the top ten nationwide, regarding teacher pay and benefits. I started as a teacher to gain knowledge at every grade level, before becoming a Principal. Whenever I posted an opening, I consistently got 25 to 50 applicants, so I got the cream of the crop. I received awards at the local, state, and national level for my work with fellow educators, children, parents, and grandparents. Don’t lay the blame on administrators!!! There are excellent Principals and Teachers out there!!! There are also some very lame Principals and Teachers, as well. My recommendation would be to start with excellent pay and benefits and eliminating tenure. Pick from the best, work with and for the best, and eliminate those who aren’t worth it.

  7. One of the best administrators I had worked the cafeteria line. She knew the name of every student. She walked the halls and told teachers that students loved being in their classroom….because she knew the students. Again, because she KNEW the students. She was visible and she cared.

  8. The best principal I had in my 38 year career was caring, honest, open to mew ideas, supportive, demanding (while listening and helping). He is//was loved and respected by teachers, students and patrons. I could give lots of examples, but the one thing that proves his dedication, support and appreciation was the fact that every few years (4-5) he scheduled a class to teach himself. It was always a regular class in his area (math) and he taught it for a year. He said he wanted to stay in touch with what his teachers and kids were dealing with.

  9. Education has become as competitive as sports organizations and school districts feel they need to run them as their own teacher fantacy leagues. No time to develop teachers in the pros, just snatch one up in free agency.

  10. God bless you for sharing our disappointments with our educational leaders. Many do not understand because they were not in the classroom long. Many want to lead but cannot follow. That is the problem!

  11. I am very pleased to you after reading your article.God bless you for sharing our disappointments with our educational leaders. Many do not understand because they were not in the classroom long. Many want to lead but cannot follow. That is the problem!

  12. Not all of us are quitting. Some of us are being railroaded due to being older. Once rid of us, the district can hire two for price of one.

  13. My principal doesn’t even know my name or speak to me in the hallways even though my scores were top in the district.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.