In the short-sighted perspective, a school is just like any other business and teachers are just employees. However, the definition is not as simple as that. Teachers are the people helping you to shape a generation of literate students in different disciplines. This is exactly why they need to be supported by their school administrators to bypass things like
- Stress
- Burnout
- Anxiety
- Bullying
In this article, we are looking at the real actions you can take to support your teachers in order to enable a smooth sail of their careers;
1. Create strict rules for students
One of the best and simplest ways that you can support your teachers is keep the students in check. Setting strict rules and regulations for your students will protect your teachers from things like;
- Verbal abuse from students
- Physical assault
- Sexual abuse from students to female teachers
Even though some of those sound extreme, they’re real in so manyrural schools. In such an environment, teaching activities won’t thrive because teachers will be traumatized by such experiences.
Therefore, the valid way to prevent that is to set and execute unbreakable rules and regulations to govern students.
2. Show that you believe in them
Teachers don’t have to feel like they’re serving an ungrateful king that only prioritizes himself over everyone else in the place. Teachers have to know that you believe in them, and the following will happen;
- They’ll become more passionate about teaching students
- It’ll make the students positive about learning
- It will become easier for teachers to follow their schedule and rules
When the right teachers are in such an environment, it becomes easier for them to become more productive and efficient.
3. Collaborate on decision making
It’s hard to be the only one in school that makes the decisions. Especially if you’re that kind of person that never takes suggestions from any of your teachers, it becomes extremely hard for you to make the right decisions.
Therefore, involving teachers in the decision making process will improve your judgment – and keep the teachers at peace because most of the suggestions are theirs about improving the workplace.
4. Lead by example
As a school administrator, you wouldn’t want to do things that you don’t want your teachers to do. it’s not just about setting the strictest and toughest rules for them.
If you lead by example, you’ll encourage your teachers to follow your lead and do the same things for the betterment of their careers.
5. Create a reasonable workload
Teachers are humans – and you have to always remember that regardless of how much you’re compelled to forget it. By this I mean teachers don’t have to work too much to the point that it’s unhealthy, because it will cause things like;
- Health problems like heart disease
- Burnout
- Stress
- Fatigue
If you feel like every teacher has to do a lot of work, that’s a simple sign that you need to hire more teachers to manage your workload.
6. Reduce the number of meetings
No matter how much you feel like you want to talk to your teachers, (and trust me I know how important it is), they need a break sometimes.
First off, there’s that tense atmosphere inside of a meeting room and a feeling of uneasiness when the boss stands up to speak – and it’s hard to get used to all that.
7. Give credit
It really won’t kill you to give your teachers credit where credit is due. So many teachers work their butts off to deliver as much as they can – and complimenting them doesn’t seem necessary because you’re paying them already. However, it makes them more motivated and sometimes, they over-deliver – which pays you in the end. You can give them credit in ways like;
- Complimenting them
- Giving them pay raises
- Raising their ranks
- Giving them a few bonuses to their payments
8. Tone down on your criticism
Of course, criticism is very important as far as handling employees is concerned. This is because it helps keep your staff in check and keeps things moving. However, too much of it can lead to stress – and before you know it, resignation letters are entering your office.
Therefore, reduce on the unnecessary criticism in order to create emotional balance at the workplace. Also, you don’t want to look like a monster in the eyes of your staff.
9. Encourage saving and investment
Saving and investment are the cures to poverty, and almost every one of your teachers knows that. However, some of them get too comfortable after getting the job and forget about all that. You can encourage saving and investment among your teachers by;
- Promoting financial literacy
- Forcing them to save and invest
- Helping them create their own investment club
In most cases, many school administrators don’t teach their staff anything about investing because they’re afraid of losing their skilled labor. However, a teacher will resign if they plan to resign, and there’s no way around it.
10. Medical insurance
This is really expensive, and you don’t have to feel bad if the school fees you raise aren’t enough to cover for that. However, doing it gives your teachers the sense of security, thus increasing the passion with which they teach their students.
This is because so many teachers face health problems due to being overworked and underpaid.
11. Holiday programs
Usually, teachers don’t have much to do during holidays, and this can be something you can leverage to make sure that your teachers put it to good use. This is through things like;
- Finance seminars
- Minimal work and payment
- Parties and get-togethers
Selfish as this might sound, you’ll keep the teachers around you, thus giving them little space to seek employment elsewhere. This will help you reduce chances of facing a staffing shortage.
Conclusion;
In this world, everyone judges right or wrong according to their own perspective and standards. There are sometimes that teachers just want more than fair treatment from the administrators. However, you have to do what you can and don’t exceed your limits.