The Teacher’s Principal: Strategies to Lead an Effective, Motivated Staff

By Jen Schwanke, Ed.D., Author, The Teacher’s Principal

When I first started working as an administrator, I vowed to always support teachers, unconditionally and without question. I’ll never forget the first time I was accused of non-support. I’d made a decision about disciplining a student that was outside the teacher’s wishes. No problem, I thought; I’ll just explain my reasoning, my perspective, and my rationale. Of course, the teacher wanted nothing to do with my explanation. He hadn’t gotten what he wanted, so he told anyone who would listen that I wasn’t supportive. I was crushed.

Since then, my understanding of the word “support” has expanded considerably. The word is used all the time in education, and has grown to mean very different things to anyone who uses it. Teachers often say they want an administrator who supports them. What does that mean, though? Does it mean that administrators should always back the decisions of teachers? Always agree? Does it mean we should advocate for them, even if they want something that isn’t reasonable, fair, or helpful to students?

No, it doesn’t. To dig deeper into these questions, I wrote an entire book about how principals can support and motivate their teachers. By writing the book, I hoped to help principals lift the spirits of teachers who are positively motivated and provide ideas for enhancing the contributions of negatively motivated teachers. Teachers are the backbone of our schools, and I hoped to help principals improve their school culture and effectiveness by empowering all teachers.

The span of a teaching career is long. Times change; methods change; children change; technology changes. A teacher today could have started their career in the mid-1980s, and they have completely different job requirements today than they did on their first day of teaching. Outside of work, they may have raised children, changed homes, managed sickness or divorce, or experienced financial changes. But still there they are, working with children, teaching foundational skills and creating learning for their students. Principals are wise to consider three potential reasons teachers are motivated to get up every morning and to find joy in what they do. I liken these three motivators to the roots, trunk, and leaves of a tree. The roots are a teacher’s purpose for teaching; the trunk is the priorities that drive their decisions, and the leaves are the patterns and habits that lead to daily routines.

PURPOSE:

Purpose is a teacher’s root system. Most teachers have a strong, student-centered purpose. Supporting and motivating purpose-driven teachers can be done through positive reinforcement, feedback, and with opportunities for professional growth. They bloom when given professional respect and autonomy. Of course, some teachers have a weak purpose that manifests itself in chronic absences, negativity, and toxic influence on others. Intervening toward positive change requires time, patience, and judgment-free guidance toward professional requirements and expectations.

PRIORITIES:

A teacher’s priorities are the trunk and core of a teacher’s motivation. They shift, change, grow, and adjust with time. Priorities guide a teacher’s daily decisions, including how they plan their instruction and how they implement curriculum. Throughout a teacher’s career, these priorities may ebb and flow. They will have more to give, then less to give, then more again. We needn’t expect teachers to prioritize their work above all else; it is better to offer grace when teachers struggle with priorities to help them get back on track through constant and collaborative conversation.

PATTERNS:

Habits, routines, rhythms—these are the leaves of the “motivation tree,” and they are the most susceptible to outside influences. Patterns motivate a teacher’s day-to-day behaviors. Teachers that are always on time, communicate consistently with parents, and invest in thoughtful instructional planning have developed positive patterns. Principals can help teachers by setting and communicating clear and reasonable norms and by giving teachers immediate feedback when patterns have a positive impact on students and the school community. Similarly, negative routines and habits can be addressed through clarity and manageable expectations.

Understanding purpose, priorities, and patterns is simply a foundational framework to help administrators recognize what motivates teachers. We can improve or enhance a teacher’s work by making sure they are all seen, valued, and heard, and we can provide a multitude of positive reinforcers to lift high-performing teachers to be their best.

Conversely, when teachers underperform or create a negative culture in a school, intervening quickly and with empathetic honesty will not only help the underperformer, it will also garner respect from other teachers in the building who are eager to see signs of fair, consistent, and applicable responses to problems.

And that, I believe, is what it means to be a supportive leader. ■

Jen Schwanke, Ed.D., has been an educator for 24 years, teaching or leading at all levels. She is the author of three ASCD books, including the just-released, The Teacher’s Principal: How School Leaders Can Support and Motivate Their Teachers She has written and presented for multiple state and local education organizations, and has provided professional development to various districts in the areas of school climate, personnel, and instructional leadership. She is an instructor in educational administration at Miami University. Dr. Schwanke currently serves as a Deputy Superintendent in Ohio.