CRACKING THE CODE FOR TEACHER WELL-BEING
Continued from page 3
“ Sure ,” she said . “ We ’ re not losing people . Nobody left during the pandemic . Nobody wants to go anywhere . Our Head has done an extraordinary job listening and responding to us . We ’ re like a family .”
She proceeded to explain how when the stresses rose in the beginning of the pandemic , and continued throughout the fall , Mrs . Schuler engaged in listening tours . She found that teachers wanted workdays to catch up on curricular planning when no students were around . She added them . She provided massage days , catered breakfasts and lunches , social outings . When teachers expressed a desire for a more welcoming lounge , she upgraded the furniture , art , and décor , transforming it into what is now affectionately called “ the bistro .” She opened the coffers even more , providing retention bonuses in November for the past two years .
‘ I know that if I take care of the teachers , everything else will take care of itself . They are the beating heart of this school . Happy teachers lead to happy students , which leads to happy parents .’
“
”
“ We don ’ t have the resources of a lot of our area schools ,” Kate Jacobson , my cohort participant , told me . “ But people feel listened to . We know we matter .”
When I spoke with Mrs . Schuler , I was struck by the simplicity of her school success formula . “ Ted ,” she told me , after I had summarized what Kate had said , “ I know that if I take care of the teachers , everything else will take care of itself . They are the beating heart of this school . Happy teachers lead to happy students , which leads to happy parents .”
I love the mathematical logic of that phrase , don ’ t you ? It ’ s a formula that should be widely circulated to every Head , every donor , every politician making educational policy : Happy teachers > happy students > happy parents .
I asked Nancy to tell me more about her approach , and she moved from one telling case after another . When most of the students came back in person to school during the pandemic , teachers began to express concern about running effective hybrid lessons . “ They said if they focused on the kids in person , they ’ d lose the five who were online , but if they focused on the five online , they ’ d lose the kids in front of them .” So Nancy , who at the time was functioning as the Assistant Head , restricted what was offered online .
“ Our teachers need voice , and I spend a lot of time listening and problem solving .” One of her latest additions was the creation of office hours . “ They can drop in to talk about
Page 4 Spring 2023 CSEE Connections