Candy stations are fun. So are school-sponsored lunches from neighborhood restaurants. But in the long run, boosting teacher morale requires constant effort to recognize, showcase, and celebrate how much teachers contribute to a school.
During a recent Education Week K-12 Essentials Forum, Terita Walker, the principal of East High School in Denver, and Tony Cattani, the principal of Lenape High School in Medford County, N.J., highlighted the different ways they recognize their teachers. Cattani, for instance, sends kudos through parent newsletters and even makes personal phone calls to teachers’ family members to praise their work.
At the beginning of the school year, Cattani collects information about what his teachers like—like their favorite candy, drink, and the person they share their proudest moments with, so he knows whom to call when the teacher has excelled at their job.
“I’ve called a [teacher’s] mother who was 70 years old. She said, ‘I haven’t had a principal call since she was 14,’” Cattani recalled. “It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”
Actions like these help teachers feel special beyond the classroom, he added.
Teacher morale is on an upswing, EdWeek Research Center data show, but in classrooms, the challenges around student mental health, absenteeism, and low math and reading scores persist. One key factor that affects teachers’ job satisfaction and morale is the relationship they share with their school’s administrators.
When teachers feel seen and supported by their principal, their morale tends to improve, survey data show.
Christina Colangelo, a math teacher at Lenape High School who participated in the K-12 Essentials Forum, said it helps when principals go beyond the official check-ins to take a real interest in teachers’ lives. Colangelo said Cattani, as the principal, has created a trusting and safe space to talk about both good and challenging things that occur during—and outside of—the school day.
How principals deal with critique
Encouraging candor from teachers or creating a safe space to discuss issues can often bring principals face to face with critique. They may hear about decisions that aren’t popular, or have teachers tell them their new initiative isn’t going as planned.
Both Walker and Cattani agreed that it’s hard not to take the criticism personally.
“There is a part of you that can’t say you don’t take some of it personally,” said Walker, noting that it can be especially challenging for longtime principals.
Principals are invested in the school’s success, Cattani said, so criticism from teachers can be hard to hear.
Involving teachers in the decisionmaking processes helps. Michelle Topf, a teacher at East High School who shares a good personal relationship with Walker, is the teacher representative on the leadership team, which gives her an inside view of how decisions are made.
When Topf doesn’t agree with Walker’s decision or style of implementation, she is quick to give her feedback, she said during the forum.
“I’m invested in seeing the success of our school. I’m also invested in the success of my colleague,” Topf said. “Sometimes these things can compete with each other.”
What grounds her, and helps her broach difficult conversations or give Walker tough but honest feedback, is keeping in mind what’s best for students.
“And I trust she also sees that vision,” Topf said.
To foster that level of professional trust, Walker hosts morning coffee sessions with teachers, or meets them over lunch. She also aims to be as vulnerable as possible to show teachers that she’s also “human,” she said.
Walker said she tries to ask teachers directly what they need, or pick up cues from their personal lives. For instance, upon seeing that many teachers picnic at a local park in Denver over summer, Walker decided to get them charcuterie boards as a gift.
“It’s important as school leaders [to realize that] people want to know that you know them,” she said.
