By Matt Thomas
Early Spring can be a time characterized by anxiety for administrators. The workload seems to increase across the course of the year. Constant attention must be paid to expectations for increased student achievement. Enrollment numbers are evaluated almost daily. But, what might be among the greatest stressors administrators face as the school year begins to near its conclusion is the mounting pressure to fill open positions. This can be daunting, if not overwhelming. In a recent national survey, for example, 40% of public-school principals described the current retention issue as “severe or very severe.”
At the BCSL, we believe that applying the Collective Leadership model can be a key factor in retaining leaders throughout your school. We know that teachers who perceive they are being developed by their school are more inclined to remain at that school. Because of the emphasis that Collective Leadership puts on teachers and administrators working together, people more than programs are developed. In the context of Collective Leadership, school improvement is really about people improvement. Our perspective is that the best way to improve your school is to focus on people who are doing the work.
Consider the following suggestions to promote teacher retention through Collective Leadership.
3 things administrators can do to personally foster conditions where people are the focus.
- Model what you expect.
Administrators are busier than ever. Unfortunately, this busyness has unintentionally encouraged administrators to create expectations for others that they do not have the perceived bandwidth to practice themselves. Schools, where everyone is being developed, are the best use of resources and lead to greater organizational prosperity. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey build a strong case that when an organization creates an environment that seeks to develop people’s capabilities, you design a culture that contributes to the process of human flourishing. This idea, whose roots go back to Aristotle and the Greeks’ concept of eudemonia, describes an experience of meaning and engagement in relation to the satisfaction of experiencing one’s own growth and development. This is what people improvement is all about. The key is to start. Start by pursuing professional development opportunities, write articles, invite peer feedback, or write a blog about what you are reading and learning. Model what you expect.
Administrators who prioritize their own development and seek to become the person they were meant to be create an environment where teachers will want to remain.
- Be present.
In general, teachers want access to administrators. For the reasons noted above, this isn’t an easy problem for administrators to solve. However, when administrators take steps to cultivate an environment where they become available to provide support for evaluation, feedback, training, mentoring, and collaboration, a teacher’s decision to remain increases. Teachers want to work with administrators who are present on campus and who make themselves available. Jon Eckert’s research bears this out. He notes that “every one of the teacher leaders he interviewed cited administrative support as key to their development.[1]” Why? It’s simple. When someone knows that another person has made the effort to be available, that person is uniquely affirmed as having significance. Everyone wants to feel significant.
Administrators who model genuine availability create an environment where teachers will want to remain.
- Stay longer.
The average tenure of a school administrator is approximately 3-5 years. So, does turnover matter? It does! It affects student outcomes, school culture, shapes the commitment of families to the school, and discourages teacher retention. When teachers observe a revolving door with administration or when they perceive an administrator is more committed to career advancement than the well-being of the school, teachers can become cynical. When administrators remain, cynicism generally diminishes.
Administrators who model a commitment to the school through longevity create an environment where teachers will want to remain.
2 things your school can do organizationally to increase teacher retention.
- Systematize collaboration.
Teacher isolation is a real problem. The pandemic only made it worse. Richard DuFour rightly said, “principals must not mistake congeniality with collegiality.” DuFour was stressing that schools that improve are schools that create environments for teachers to practice collegiality, to truly collaborate with one another. Environments that intentionally allow teachers to talk about learning, to watch each other teach, to plan together, to design together, and to offer feedback to one another are rare.
Schools that intentionally take steps to ensure this behavior is normative will likely create an environment where teachers will want to remain.
- Partner with schools that are also developing their people.
One of the unexpected outcomes I have personally witnessed watching schools commit to work together in Networked Improvement Communities is that people development exponentially increases in these schools. When your school works with others schools to solve problems, all schools involved improve. That improvement is not just observed by the solving of the identified problem but also evidenced by the development of those within the entire school[2].
Schools that partner with other schools to solve problems of practice create an environment where teachers will want to remain.
Schools that improve are schools that provide opportunities for people to improve. If you would like to improve with other schools in this area or you’d like to learn more about how your school can practice Collective Leadership, join us at the Academy on June 13-14, 2022.
[1]Eckert, J. Leading together: Teachers and administrators improving student outcomes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 149-150.
[2]Ibid. 189-91.