Thriving teachers, thriving schools:A person-centered approach to improving teacher satisfaction and reducing turnover

Meet Kati!

“Some nights I come home and think about quitting. I go to bed overwhelmed with anxiety and frequently wake up between 4 am and 5 am, unable to quiet my mind. Other nights I come home energized and invigorated, filled with hope and conviction. This work deserves no romanticizing. It is deeply challenging, but because of that, it is occasionally rewarding in ways that nourish and sustain one’s self even through the hardest days...I am growing in ways I probably do not yet understand. The greatest challenge so far is keeping an even emotional keel.”

-First-year teacher, D.C

Today

● Build our own conviction and agency: Teacher and staff retention matters for kids, families, and communities.

● Explore the three “core conditions” of person-centered coaching, as a restorative and responsive strategy for supporting teachers and school staff

● Reflect on our most salient identity markers, and how they impact the ways we work, collaborate, and lead

What’s your comfort level with, or proximity to, this conversation around teacher satisfaction and retention?

Current trends: Teacher satisfaction and retention

According to recent research from the Robert Wood Johnson

Foundation, there are four main sources of teacher stress:

● School leadership, climate, and culture● Job demands● Support and autonomy● Teachers’ social and emotional competence

Current trends: Teacher satisfaction and retention

Turnover rates are highest...

In urban districts, it can cost up to to replace a teacher

In 2012, 55% of departing teachers cited ____________ as their reason for leaving the

profession.

True or False: 15% of teachers leave during their first five years on the job.

True or False: According to a national survey, 46% of teachers report high daily stress

during the school year. This is the highest rate of daily stress among all occupational

groups, including physicians, at 45%.

among teachers of color, and in schools with the largest concentrations of students of color

$20,000

dissatisfaction

Carver-Thomas, D. & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher turnover: Why it matters and what we can do about it. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute

Recommendations

❏ Teacher induction or residency programs, to offer ongoing mentorship and instructional training

❏ Competitive compensation packages

❏ Stress management and emotional intelligence training/support

❏ Strengthening relational trust among staff

“Rather than viewing people as inherently flawed, with problematic behaviors and thoughts that require fixing, person-centered [coaching] identifies that each person has the capacity and desire for personal growth and change.”

– Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers’s Core Conditions (Rogers, 1975)

● Connect with compassion and empathy

“I understand you.”

● Speak and act with congruence, or authenticity

“I’ll keep it real with you.”

● Treat each other with unconditional positive regard

“I accept you”

So what does this look like?

Unconditional

Positive Regard

● Reserve judgment

● Manage emotions, reactions

● Mindful body language, tone, facial

expression

Congruence● Vulnerability

● Direct feedback

● Name incongruence when it occurs

Empathy● “Checking perceptions”

● Mirroring, paraphrasing

● Thoughtful questions

Introduction to the 7 Cultural Dimensions

1. Universalism versus particularism.2. Individualism versus communitarianism.3. Task versus relationship4. Neutral versus emotional.5. Achievement versus ascription.6. Sequential time versus synchronous time.7. Internal control versus external control.

Universalism How do we determine what is fair? Particularism

Task How do we get things done? Relationship

Neutral How do we manage emotion? Affective

Internal How do we manage the environment? External

Choose one cultural dimension about which you felt particularly strong in one direction or the other.

•What part of your identity do you think that this comes from?•How has this dimension helped you to be successful in your work?

•How has this dimension been challenging in your work or caused others to misperceive you?

Application

Reflect on a time when you experienced conflict or tension with a

colleague:

Who was that person, and what was the source of conflict or tension?

Which cultural dimension may have been at play?

What, if anything, would you do differently, using your understanding of

cultural dimensions?

Close-out

What was one new thing you learned about yourself, or about the person sitting next to you?

How might an exercise like this impact a staff member’s or teacher’s experience at school?

Close out

● Shout-outs/appreciations

● Survey

● Stay in touch and join a community dedicated to improving teacher satisfaction and retention:

❏ kati@stay-the-course.com❏ Website: https://stay-the-course.com❏ Facebook: @StaytheCourseEDU