Teachers at turn down higher-paying jobs to work at a Texas school that "supports professional growth, values staff input and celebrates their successes," writes Denisa R. Superville in Education Week.
Colleyville Middle School, in an affluent town near Fort Worth and Dallas, is a high-performing school and, apparently, a pleasant place to teach.
Principal David Arencibia, who's also turned down offers to go elsewhere, sets clear expectations and hires teachers who fit the school's priorities, writes Superville. Teachers say they're trusted and their creativity is encouraged.
Every month, students "nominate a teacher who’s gone out of their way to help them," writes Superville. Some submit videos. “Our staff and students love that," says Arencibia. In staff meetings, "we lift them up, and say, ‘This is what students are saying about you.’ ... We’ll have teachers crying because we are hearing straight from our kids.”
Lauren Jones, the head school’s band director, says teachers usually hear a "yes" to their requests "when we are trying to do something that’s in the best interest of our students and the community . . . It’s always, ‘Let’s brainstorm and figure out a way to make it happen. Just think big picture.’ There’s never a roadblock, and if there is, it’s like a team effort to talk about it and find solutions and do what’s right for our kids on a daily basis.”
Building teachers' self-efficacy -- their confidence in their ability to achieve their goals -- will prevent burnout and demoralization, writes Sarah Caroleo, a former teacher and instructional coach and now a Ph.D student, also in Education Week.
Instead of encouraging "self-care," which puts the burden of stress management on individuals, schools should give them the training, mentoring and collaboration time they need to be effective.