As schools across the country struggle to fill all their open positions, more have invested greater effort in getting employees to stay once they鈥檙e in the door.
Part of getting staff to stick around is creating a positive school culture, where teachers feel valued. But what do teachers think makes a school culture great?
Education Week posed that question on its social media accounts this week. Dozens of teachers chimed in when asked to share their thoughts on the No. 1 factor that goes into fostering a school culture that they wouldn鈥檛 want to leave.
Many teachers who weighed in said having caring administrators in the building who focus on building trusting relationships had the biggest impact. Here鈥檚 a roundup of their thoughts.
Relying on relationships
Some 糖心动漫vlog said that taking the time to build strong and respectful relationships among all school community members鈥攁dministrators, teachers, students, and their families鈥攃an go a long way toward creating an environment where people want to be.
鈥淩elationships!! Admin with faculty staff鈥�. Everyone with students and their families.鈥�
鈥淗uman connections! Starting with the school principal who should model empathy, respect and integrity.鈥�
鈥淩espect between the 鈥榣egs of the stool'鈥︹��. Parents, students and teachers (schools). It鈥檚 simpler than you鈥檇 think.鈥�
鈥淧eople who work there who actually love children. If you teach with love children know and will learn.鈥�
Principals set the tone
Educators also emphasized the importance of having the right person in the principal role, particularly someone who takes the time to get to know staff members and show appreciation for their work.
鈥淎dministration who treats their teachers as the professionals they are and doesn鈥檛 micromanage.鈥�
鈥淎 principal reflects the culture of a school. Meet all new students with parents and be very positive concerning school culture. Meet students in a positive way as they enter school every day. Be positive during morning announcements.鈥�
鈥淎dmin that checks in on you and provides small gems of gratitude like taking your class for an hour so you can grade the tons of assignments!鈥�
Trust your teachers
Strong leadership doesn鈥檛 mean principals are making decisions unilaterally, 糖心动漫vlog said. Instead, teachers should have some autonomy that allows them to prove their expertise.
鈥淭rust. No, wait... Communication. No鈥� can I make a new word? Trust-ication, communi-trust.鈥�
鈥淭rust. Trust staff in teaching to be experts and celebrate their skills and showcase talents. Trust allows colleagues to share ideas. Trust allows feedback to all levels when things are not working, for the collective to feel safe to problem solve together.鈥�
鈥淭rusting relationships and the willingness to be open to change.鈥�
Collaboration is key
Having the ability to collaborate was another theme in 糖心动漫vlog鈥� responses. Schools should be collaborative spaces where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas and experiences, they said. That collaboration can take some of the work off teachers鈥� lengthy to-do lists and ease stress.
鈥淟eadership that works with their staff, respect for time and enough support staff to actually support students and teachers.鈥�
鈥淩espectful Collaboration.鈥�
鈥淐ollaborative collegiality.鈥�
鈥淲hen teachers feel like they can handle what鈥檚 on their plate and have energy in their bucket to give their best for that day.鈥�
Always show appreciation
Sometimes, much of what it takes to make staff want to come to school every day is consistent and genuine appreciation for their hard work, some say.
