Valuing Teachers: Four Easy Pieces

The status of the teacher sometimes seems prestigious, sometimes common but it comes down to a matter of culture and values. The teaching profession enjoys certain privileges that make one envious (two months of vacation, job security) but also obligations (difficult students, fussy administration) that on the contrary discourage even the most motivated.

A great deal of research on the most successful schools, initiatives, and educational systems almost always identifies the same elements of success, and these elements revolve much more around organizational and value factors than materials and money. It makes you wonder if anyone ever reads these results or if they end up in the hands of school principals or policymakers.

In the face of governments leaving no stone unturned in cutting education costs and whose primary strategy is to devalue education and then succeed in getting the public to accept cuts in services, politicians can be brought to their senses with some fairly obvious arguments: devaluing education is devaluing one's future: ignorant people achieve very little.

Valuing Teachers, only Right to Do

Valuing teachers attract better ones, increases student success, and society as a whole ultimately benefits. Now, how do we value them? Money is not a significant factor beyond an average socially accepted threshold. What is valuable can take many forms: professional training, public recognition, improved equipment, support, encouragement, challenges, etc. All activities certainly require money, but not infinite sums, sums that are often already present but allocated elsewhere. The key lies elsewhere.

Four Easy Pieces

Management Commitment

Happy teachers cannot be bought. A teacher who is happy to teach is likely to be happy more often if they have the support of the principal. A teacher who is aware of the principal's commitment to teaching knows that they can count on support. What makes them happy is shared. This is the first piece. Even if the money isn't necessarily there, other solutions are possible, with management support.

Control and Participation

A competent teacher who cannot control his or her environment will quickly become unhappy, frustrated, or cynical. Competent teachers extend their control to their physical as well as the administrative environment. Hence the need for teacher influence and participation in decisions about the school. Some call it "local control," others "participatory democracy," the point is that if a teacher is to be recognized for their value, they must be allowed to control what affects them, at all levels.

Collaboration

An isolated teacher may be more easily overwhelmed by difficult students, complicated technology, poorly formulated administrative demands, etc. In an institution where collaboration is encouraged and facilitated, life is easier. For example, in France, it is exceptional for teachers to share classes, whereas this practice is much more common in other countries, whether European, American, or African. It doesn't cost much and it enriches everyone. Not to mention all how teachers can collaborate virtually.

Recognition and Appreciation

There are a lot of awards for teachers and their innovations in education. But there's no need to enter national competitions; being recognized by peers, loved ones, parents or the local community is often more rewarding and lasting. Is a teacher doing something right? Acknowledge it at professional or public meetings, tell the local newspaper, post it on a sign, etc.

There are dozens of ways to value positive actions, through training, dedicated support, desired equipment, advancement, a simple thank you in some form or another. Anything that feels like progress and improvement, sharing, or help can bring the joy of teaching closer.

What we value is what unfolds. If it is the wrongs that are emphasized, no doubt there will be more. So, we should know what to nurture.

Not just about Money

Valuing is achieved through actions and commitments that translate into action. These actions demonstrate that value is being placed. The four easy ways don't necessarily cost a lot of money but direct action, create a mood, make life easier, and allow everyone to be involved.

So this is it about teaching, and a very nice profession it is.

Illustration: Rawpixel- Shutterstock

References

OECD: The Urgent Need to Value French Teachers
François Jarraud - Café pédagogique
http://www.cafepedagogique.net/LEXPRESSO/Pages/2014/06/25062014Article635392908675861819.aspx

Evaluating to improve and value teaching
Bruno Ronfard - Directorate of Learning and Pedagogical Innovation (DAIP) - HEC
http://expertise.hec.ca/daip/evaluer-pour-ameliorer-et-valoriser-lenseignement/

Competent but depressed: what's going on?
Denys Lamontagne - Thot Cursus
http://cursus.edu/dossiers-articles/articles/19127

Conseil sur le perfectionnement professionnel des enseignants et des chefs d’établissement.pdf
"Yet, Research arrives at a consensus: School leadership represents, through its influence on teacher motivation and school climate, an essential factor in improving academic results (Pont et al. 2008)."
http://www.missionfourgous-tice.en/missionfourgous2/IMG/pdf/Rapport_Mission_Fourgous_2_V2_-_210-218.pdf

Prize rewarding

• Teachers
• Professors
• Pedagogical Innovation
• Pedagogy

Add to my playlists