The Value of Teachers - Tapping into our Greatest Resource in Education

We've all heard about or read the research concerning the power of a teacher on a child's education. Value-added research suggests that teachers have the greatest impact on a child's achievement and success, especially with students who struggle. In reading, the effect is even more paramount. No reading program will ever replace the strength and power of the greatest superhero out there - a quality teacher.

Yet teachers don't always feel their super strength. They are inundated with duties to fulfill, papers to grade, parents to please, d-halls to supervise, deadlines to meet, grades to post, lesson plans to follow, and a myriad of stressful tasks that the calling of teaching comes with. In the midst of all these perceived mountains, we have lost the greatest truth about one of the most noble professions in society - teaching. In a profession where the growth, achievement, and safety of students are top priorities, the teachers are the professionals. Except, most don't feel like the professionals. They feel like the minions in a bigger plan for which they have little input. They feel like the worker bees in a larger system where the power and strength comes from the intangible QueenBee.

So how do we tap into our greatest resource in education? How do we begin to treat teachers as the professionals in this industry? The simplest responses are not so simple to implement, and perhaps that's what keeps most from trying. As leaders, however, we have to embrace our role as supporters. The true professionals, the true executives are in our classrooms every day, doing the best they can the best way they know how. How will we help?

1. Trust your Teachers. I truly don't think teachers show up to the classroom with the purpose of "doing a poor job." Even the most ineffective teacher has the willingness and potential to be better. Trust that the human desire to improve and be better exists in all your teachers. Trust their work when you see successes, and trust their intent when you see risks fail. Trust their spirit, and trust their experience. Trust takes time, but when a student is being influenced by that teacher on day 1, time is not a luxury we have. Take the leap of faith and trust.

2. Grow your Teachers. Teachers are no different than students when it comes to learning, yet often, we provide canned learning experiences and mandate certain training in the name of consistency and standardization. We force them to sit in meetings and attend PD all throughout the year. But unless it's relevant, appropriate, and immediately applicable, teachers don't see the training as beneficial or time-effective. What can be do to promote engagement? To differentiate the learning experience depending on need? To provide consistent and target support on the individualized manner? How can we include the use of formative experiences that dictate the kind of support and growth we provide teachers? This is the magic we ask of teachers every day, so how can we incorporate that ourselves? Let's walk the talk.

3. Give your Teachers a Voice. Teachers have a voice, and it's a voice we must embrace and treat as catalysts in our pursuit of excellence. After all, it is their behavior that mostly impacts the success of education, so why not allow their expertise and knowledge to help dictate the direction of the organization? A leader can only affect a movement when a follower beckons other followers. Followers, teachers, are the true initiators of reform and change. Make their voice matter, and they will engage in the experiences that move learning forward.

4. Advocate for your Teachers. Adapting a student-centered mindset is not in direct contraction to a teacher-centered philosophy. In fact, when learning is the focus, the student and the teacher are the important elements. Create an environment where advocating for teachers is truly putting kids first. Stand up for your teachers, give them a voice, trust their capacity and impact, and grow through formative measures and engaging experiences that directly help polish their craft. That's what being a true teacher advocate is. That's what our purpose becomes. That's how we treat them like the professionals that they truly are.

When a student grows up to become a successful adult in our world, what will they remember from their schooling experience? More often than not, it will be a teacher. But we actually have research that shows the influence of a teacher isn't dormant, remaining latent until adulthood is reached. The influence and effects of teachers can be felt on Day 1. So let's do what we can to make sure it's a positive one. We have a responsibility to support teachers as they do the impossible and connect with learners, address their needs, and mold the mind of our future generations. As amazing and powerful as that responsibility is for school leaders, it's not as great as the power and responsibility that the individual teachers have themselves in the classroom everyday.