From New America Blog Post
Is rethinking how we staff schools the secret to a more sustainable, rewarding teaching profession?
By Melissa Tooley
Talk to anyone who has ever sent a child off to school, and they will tell you how important teachers are to their child’s learning and overall happiness.
And talk to almost any teacher, and they will tell you how rewarding their job can be. The potential to influence the next generation of thinkers and doers, to see the proverbial lightbulb click on in a student’s mind during an activity, cannot be overstated in its ability to motivate and inspire current and would-be teachers.
Unfortunately, speaking with teachers it also quickly becomes evident that this intrinsic reward has to be pretty large to outweigh several ongoing challenges of the profession, that go beyond the much-discussed issue of compensation. Novice teachers with insufficient preparation who feel they are drowning trying to lead their own classroom with little support from colleagues. Seasoned teachers who generally enjoy their jobs, but feel isolated from their colleagues in the “one teacher, one classroom model,” or who feel their school principal doesn’t have the time or the expertise to help them continue to grow their skills in their grade and content areas. Veteran teachers who don’t want to leave the classroom but are pursuing school administration, because it’s the only real career advancement opportunity available. And since COVID’s onset, increasing numbers of teachers who see similarly college-educated professionals getting increased flexibility about where and when they work, while they still struggle to find a way to leave their classrooms when they need to use the bathroom.
Is it any wonder why we increasingly struggle to staff schools with the diverse and talented educator workforce that students want, need, and deserve? Luckily, there are smart ways to provide teachers with better support, collaboration, compensation, advancement, and job flexibility opportunities to address the source of their discontent with teaching and put the job back on par with other college-educated professions.
One of the best ways states and districts can do this is to rethink how we staff schools.
Read the full blog for six synergistic approaches to doing this, BARR is highlighted in strategy #5. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/rethinking-teaching-to-make-the-job-more-rewarding/