On the front page of CNN’s site this weekend was a full blown story with this title: Teachers are leaving and few people want to join the field. Experts are sounding the alarm. After 15 years of research, writing, and work within the field of workplace improvement in schools and educator job satisfaction, I guess that makes me somewhat of an “expert.” And I guess I too am sounding the alarm.
The reality is that none of the workforce numbers show any trends that look very promising. Too many people leaving. Not enough people entering the profession. I’m a pragmatic optimist and I have to accept that things are bleak.
Guess what? I’m still hopeful. Alarmed? Certainly. Anxious? A bit. But I’m also full of hope because for the past year all we’ve researched is… HOPE. We’ve learned that we can measure it, tend to it, strategically and organizationally design for it, learn it, pass it on, and use it as the primary driver to combat burnout.
I’m not talking theory here. We’ve researched and designed accurate measures of hope and burnout. We have strategies in place that can change the tides. We’re doing it. Already. With the schools we are fortunate enough to work with. What’s emerging is a bold and simple truth: HOPE IS A STRATEGY.
In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll be sharing more and more about what we’ve learned but more importantly what we’re doing. That’s what this post is actually about. It’s about doing something. “Sounding the alarm” is a start. We have to own that our cherished profession of teaching is in a collective bad place, but we cannot meet that challenge with superficial responses or even bold pronouncements. We must rise and meet these challenges with rigor, passion, and HOPE. I know this works at the individual school level. However, our attention is now squarely focused on how we design hope at a systems level. We can measure it and that means we can improve it.
I’m referring to the next four months as “The Great Re-Recruitment.” Schools have four months left this year not only to think about recruiting new staff but, WAY more importantly, how to retain the staff they have. This has gone far beyond thank you notes or Taco Tuesday. This blows “self care” out of the water. We need to act with intention to provide a future to teachers where they want to stay and thrive.
One upcoming opportunity to dig deeper on this is to attend a webinar I’m leading through my friends at Seesaw about growing hope and decreasing burnout. This hour long session will give an overview of our emergent research and resources to make schools hopeful and vital places to work.
Here is a link for you to use to sign up.
Let’s GO!!!!