The flower of public education is wilting. New data from the Ed Weekly Research Center and Merrimack College, as well as NCES in 2021-22, reveal teachers are taking more time off and are considering leaving the profession in high numbers. Nationwide statistics reveal:
- 44% of public-school teachers report they plan to leave in the next two years (compared to 29% in 2010) (EdWeek Research Center (Ed.). (2022)
- 72% of public schools report more teachers are taking time off (IES Institute of Education Sciences (Ed.). (2022, August 4).
- 61% of schools report fewer available substitutes to cover classrooms when teachers are absent (EdWeek Research Center (Ed.). (2022).
- 12% of teachers report they are very satisfied with their job (Compared to 62% in 2008) (EdWeek Research Center (Ed.). (2022).
No Excuses - Deal With It: During the past week, I've spoken to teachers in three different school districts who told me that they interpreted the message of the annual staff kickoff theme as something along the lines of "The Pandemic is over. Students are behind; if they stay behind, it's your fault. Deal with it." Everyone told me they wished or wanted to resign or retire.
Another Teacher Training Program: Wellness: It should be no surprise that the for-profit public education support industry has noticed. Teacher Wellness books and programs promise fat paychecks this year. A quick Google Search will reveal how many publishers are jumping on the Educator Wellness program bandwagon. I recently read one published this summer (in time for the new school year) by a significant national publishing house. It details a program of health and wellness routines educators can learn to better attend to their jobs. Like many other tools developed for our current deficit model of public school learning, it contains extensive rubrics and checklists for "progress monitoring.” I was stunned.
On top of everything public school educators are being asked to manage is yet one more "program" to learn - how to be mentally well. Nowhere am I seeing anyone make the connection to the systems that are causing our teachers to wilt. Wellness, it appears, is the teacher's job. Schools can't be expected to create environments where adults can grow and flourish.
Years of excellent research demonstrate the error of that assumption. Staff wellness is fertilized by developing and monitoring healthy learning systems for adults and children. Asking employees to solve their wellness program is like adding more food to the plate that is already choking them. We can't simply ask teachers to "deal with it." Wellness isn't a program. It is the result of sound systems design.
Why We Are Losing Teachers: In my opinion, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the system factors draining our educators and what we know about human psychology. Current school systems make it difficult, if not impossible, for teachers to feel alignment between their core values and what they are asked to do. Decision-making is moving away from the classroom. Professional development is either non-existent or scattered across multiple topics. Teachers can feel increasingly disconnected from their school boards and administration. School boards and administrations, in an attempt to address issues of parental control and learning loss, are mandating approaches to address mental health, inclusion and curriculum. Parents frequently call out teachers for curriculum, behavior, or political issues expecting schools to respond well beyond reasonable working hours. From a research-based perspective, system factors are clearly eroding the healthy self-determination needed for schools to achieve the highest levels of effectiveness (Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017) & Ryan, R. M.; Deci, E. L. (2000). Teachers are losing their ability to have agency, voice, a sense of competence, and healthy attachment to their work and public communities. At the same time, this is happening; the line between what they can and cannot control is becoming harder for them to discern.
Wellness is a System, Not a Program: The soil that fertilizes the growth of healthy learning systems needs a dose of Systems Thinking fertilizer. Years of practice and research reveal what makes educators thrive and blossom (Senge, 1990). Each petal of the logic model is backed by years of research about effective, prosperous, engaged, joyful school design.
The Flower Garden Model of Learning Organization Systems-Thinking:
A Sprinkle of Fertilizer: There are a few easy first steps any school leader and educator can take right now to shore up staff engagement, energy, and sense of self-determination:
Conclusion: These are just a few little coaching ideas to fit inside any effort to address teacher retention and wellness. Our public schools need expert support and coaching at all levels from those with experience and knowledge of good learning system design as well as development of healthy community dialogue. The time to begin these dialogues is now before the rest of our highly talented educators decide to find personal fulfillment elsewhere.
Chris Briggs-Hale is CEO of Waterfall Learning, LLC and a Trained Leadership and Professional Coach. He served public schools for 30 years, 15 of which were as a principal. Chris served as a Senior Consultant for McRel and Marzano and Associates, a site visitor for the National Schools of Character Award (Character.org), and was a Board Member with Eunice Kenney Shriver for the Community of Caring in Washington, DC. He received the 2013 Red Cross Community Hero Award, the 2004 Sally K. Lenhardt Professional Leadership Award from Lesley University, and the 2004 Community of Caring National Administrator of the Year.
To find out how to support your educators, please go to Waterfall Learning, LLC.
References
EdWeek Research Center (Ed.). (2022). 1st Annual Merrimack College Teacher Survey: 2022 Results. https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/WP-Merrimack_College-Todays_Teachers_Are_Deeply_Disillusioned_Survey_Data_Confirms.pdf. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/WP-Merrimack_College-Todays_Teachers_Are_Deeply_Disillusioned_Survey_Data_Confirms.pdf
IES Institute of Education Sciences (Ed.). (2022, August 4). 2022 School Pulse Panel. 2022 School Pulse Panel. Retrieved September 1, 2022, from https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/
National Center for Education Statistics. (2022, July 6). More than 80 Percent of U.S. Public Schools Report Pandemic Has Negatively Impacted Student Behavior and Socio-Emotional Development. IES: NCES National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp
National Center for Education Statistics, I. of E. S. (2022, July 6). Inclusion of Students with Disabilities. IES: NCES. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59
NCES. (2015). National Principal and Teacher Survey. National Center for Educational Statistics. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/tables/Table_5_042617_fl_school.asp
Knox, L. (2022, August 29). Teacher Education Programs Desperately Seek Students. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/29/teacher-shortage-tied-education-programs-enrollment-drop
NAEP long-term trend assessment results: Reading and Mathematics. The Nation's Report Card. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2022/
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1521/978.14625/28806
Ryan, R. M.; Deci, E. L. (2000). "Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being ."American Psychologist. 55 (1): 68–78. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68. hdl:20.500.12749/2107. PMID 11392867.
Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 1990.
Wehmeyer, M. L. (2003). Theory in self-determination: Foundations for Educational Practice. Charles C Thomas.
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