6/11/2024

Change Happens—What Educators Can Do for Positive Outcomes

As educators, you know one constant in education is change. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, much has changed about teaching, but transitions and new challenges have been part of this profession for a long time.

One of the most holistic changes you can experience is a transition in leadership. Changes like this can cause unease and uncertainty, especially in schools where leaders have established a reliable approach over time. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “Roughly 1 in 10 (11%) public school principals left the profession between the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 school year” (n.p.).

The NCES reported a greater number of principals older than 55 were leaving the profession and an additional 20% of administrators were changing schools. This is a higher rate of transition than was reported five years prior to the 2020–2021 school year.

With so many changes, it is important to remember you have a valuable role to play in supporting transitions and your voices and work are essential for schools to be healthy places where learning happens.

While some changes are outside an educator’s control, there are some areas teachers can hold steady. This work of maintaining quality instruction and a sense of welcome is important for students, families, teachers, and their colleagues.

This blog post serves as a reminder for teachers that they can always find some consistency and classrooms can still be comfortable spaces where learning occurs. No matter what transitions and shifts occur in schools or districts, you can still make positive changes of your own.

The voice of an educator can be a voice of calm when other parts of the school day feel up in the air, and you can rest assured your presence and work is sorely needed.

Welcoming Spaces

Chief among the work educators do, providing a space of welcome and sustained focus is critical for schools to function and for students to feel productive and capable. This sense of welcome is also important for new leaders. Our administrators feel the same worries and uncertainties we do when beginning work in a new place.

You can extend a sense of welcome as you share insight from your experiences at the school level. Teachers and administrators can also support one another during changes. Change is not one sided.

In addition to sharing your insight, you can get to know the vision of new leaders and work to support that vision. It is important to remember administrators and teachers are colleagues working together for the best outcomes for students. Finding connections and areas to support a school vision is powerful work.

Teachers are vital shapers of space at the classroom level and beyond. Part of the discussion around new leadership and the attitudes that become part of daily conversation stem from the educator. While leaders can communicate their vision at times, educators have an important role in shaping the mission of the school and sustaining the work of learning and connecting.

Ask yourself:

1. How am I learning about and supporting new leadership?
2. How am I communicating my professional vision and how it lines up with the vision of leadership?
3. How is my classroom a consistent safe harbor for students in any storm my school experiences?

Recognizing An Educator’s Value

Educators are not easy to replace and should never feel disposable. The training and content knowledge aspect of teaching is only one dimension of what you do. The temperament and human element of classroom work is also vital, to say nothing of the relationships you build with colleagues, students, and families.

While changes can create a sense of insecurity, especially when we are no longer collaborating with people with whom we have long-established professional relationships, teaching is unique and comprehensive work. Teacher communities can provide a sense of coherence in confusing times not only in terms of the social and emotional temperature of a school, but in terms of its academic goals.

Teachers are also instrumental in creating the buy-in for new leadership. You can be a historian and communicator about what works best in your school.

Keeping Literacy and Learning the Focus

In addition to the emotional climate and mission/vision of the school, teachers are the trained experts who work with students each day. Without your expertise, leaders cannot hope to accomplish student learning goals. There is too much work to do for too many students with too many needs for a small group or single leader to accomplish the objectives of a school.

Gathering data, analyzing data, and shaping instructional plans in response to the needs of learners are all just part of what you do day in and day out. Leaders set the vision and educators, including teacher leaders, engage in the work of helping students master skills and build confidence.

By closely examining data and the daily happenings in the classroom, you can feel secure in the knowledge you have a vital contribution to make to school culture, including curriculum. Teachers should have open communication, including the ability to approach leadership with learning-based needs for quality materials that meet instructional goals.

In the face of change, you can focus on (a) what students need and (b) what materials are available/are needed to accomplish instructional goals.

Maintaining Positive Mental Health and Satisfaction

As noted earlier, the relationship of teachers and administrators is one of partnership and collaboration. School and district leaders have the charge of supporting students and families, sharing vision—and creating space for teachers to flourish.

With this in mind, the work of education is not and cannot solely be placed on teachers. Quality educators need support to focus on the work that matters most, and providing high-quality tools to equip professionals is an important aspect of this work. Teachers must also have protected time to build learning experiences, reflect on data, and make use of curriculum and materials.

You should feel you have the space to have honest conversations about the pressures of the work, educational policies, and any concerns they have related to your work. Mental health is more than a buzzword—it is a must-have ingredient for a successful professional and a positive professional environment.

It is important for you to take time for yourself and be informed about sources of support you can draw on, including what districts make available for mental health needs. There is nothing unprofessional about having boundaries and a keen sense of personhood—in fact, these are extremely professional attributes.

Conclusion: In This Together

Schools need quality teachers who can support the vision of new leadership and maintain a focus on student literacy growth. With a healthy perspective from teachers and leaders and a shared vision, school and district leadership turnover can be weathered—you can be prepared and keep the classroom stable for students.

Moreover, you can be confident in your training, aptitude, and the importance of the teaching role—not in spite of change but in support of what can be accomplished. All of this confidence can be a strong place to build on as you keep learning and growing with quality materials and professional development. With all of this in mind, you can be unintimidated by large-scale change—and actually participate in leveraging that change for the better.

As an educator, you are not simply a bystander when it comes to managing leadership transitions, you are a knowledgeable and capable leader in your school and classroom.

It might be argued teachers are one of the most—or the most—important part of school change.