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b e t t e r s chools | F EB R U ARY 2 0 2 3
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