In this post I propose a solution to the problem of teacher burnout that is plaguing education. Obviously, there’s no magic elixir to be ingested to make all our problems go away. But this idea would be easy enough to implement and could also be quite impactful. I hope you agree…
It’s a rather simple idea really. And honestly, I’ll even openly accept your feedback on it. I’m not married to the idea, and I’m certain it can be improved upon (that’s where you come in right?).
Nevertheless, I’m going to make my case for it and let you determine what you think.
If you’ve read my stuff before, you know that I was yet another casualty in the slew of teachers burning out and looking for greener pastures.
You can read about it here in my post The #1 Reason I Burnt Out Teaching.
In essence, I make the argument that teachers are far too overextended with massive quantities of extra tasks and trivialities, that have accumulated over time in the teaching profession. As a result, they cannot dedicate the necessary amount of bandwidth to their core responsibilities of prepping, teaching, providing feedback and creating a safe learning environment for all of their students to thrive. This lack of success coupled with the frazzled, unrelenting, overextended struggle to keep your head above water, ultimately takes its toll.
These core responsibilities in a class of 20+ (sometimes 30+) students from differing households that are at differing places in their journey through this increasingly complicated world, should be more than enough.
But it’s not. Not even close.
So, of course, this got me thinking. And when I get thinking, trouble is soon to follow. Nevertheless, here is what I have so far…
My Solution for a More Sustainable Existence for Teachers
It seems to me that data and test scores reign supreme in today’s educational world. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and we are all (mostly) beholden to the scores to prove our effectiveness.
In national rankings of schools there’s always some algorithm that factors in math, reading, and now Science standardized scores. It then fuses these with all sorts of other data that result in what determines “a good school”.
But there’s other data out there as well, namely the rise in teacher burnout rates and the decrease in teacher enrollment rates. I’m no math genius, but with more teachers leaving and less teachers coming down the pipeline, somewhere in that equation there’s severe lack of teachers.
That can’t be good.
My idea also stems from the idea that each district has to publicly post their standardized testing scores. In theory, this tells you which districts are good and which are bad.
Well, my idea is this:
I think every district should have to publicly post “Teacher Happiness Scores”,.
Yup, that’s it. Have every school posts their teacher happiness scores. Make it public knowledge. Then, let the storm ensue and see where the dust settles.
I believe this simple idea could have far-reaching ramifications in education and would ultimately change it for the better. Let me try and explain.
The Argument for Teacher Happiness Scores
Basically, my argument is based on a few incongruities that I see in the educational system that are forcing teachers to either go against the current or succumb to the warped system of which they are a part.
Problem 1 – Teachers are Overworked: If teachers are overworked than they are spread too thin. This means they can’t dedicate nearly enough of their time doing their core responsibilities.
So who suffers? Well, obviously the teacher suffers. But equally (perhaps more) importantly the students suffer. They aren’t getting the quality lessons or the feedback they need to meet them at their level. Because the teacher is spread too thin, a resultant directionless feeling can be sensed by the student and they may begin to check out.
Taking it further, if students across the land are not getting what they need than neither is our future as a nation. Overboard? Maybe. But these are the far-reaching ramifications I speak of.
“Workload” would definitely be a metric in my Teacher Happiness Scale.
Problem 2 – An imbalance in Power
Power is a tricky one. If you’ve watched or read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (spoiler coming) you know that Frodo, after the most epic journey imaginable, finally reaches his destination and couldn’t bring himself to do what he had set out to do (destroy the ring of power). The power was just too tempting.
The way I see it, the scales of power need to be equal in order to maximize one’s path forward. We see imbalances everywhere in society, and we are certainly seeing it in our schools.
Right now, teachers have precious little say in what is taught despite their years of teaching wisdom.
My idea would reveal which schools actually let teachers teach. It would reveal which pastures are greener. Once teachers from barren wastelands start heading to these greener pastures, schools and districts would be forced to adapt.
This would give some power (autonomy) back to the teacher and allow them to do what they do best. It would also force schools to reconsider what measures (read: time-wasting activities) they would want to implement and what they should leave out (or better yet subtract).
Add “Teacher Autonomy” as a metric to the Teacher Happiness Scales.
Problem 3 – Test Scores:
With so much money and so much pressure on testing scores alone, education has tipped dangerously towards the acquisition of better scores by all means necessary. As a result, practices are put in place which eschew best teaching practices and attempt to jam test-taking knowledge into a student’s brain.
This goes against the teacher’s nature and forces them into a box as well. It also deemphasizes all the other aspects of a healthy classroom that can’t be tested.
In short, it’s a complete imbalance in what it takes to educate a complete, well-rounded future citizen.
My Teacher Happiness Scores would factor this in by ranking how much your school “teaches to the test”.
Problem 4 – Teachers are Under-supported/Underappreciated:
Unless you are a teacher, you are not going to fully understand what the job entails. This is true for any job I suppose. But my suspicion is that, society as a whole, has no clue what actually goes into the occupation.
From the outside looking in, with summers off and vacations every few months, it looks like a glorious job. But if that were the case teachers wouldn’t be dropping like flies now would we?
This one is admittedly a little more nebulous in nature, but a teacher knows when their hard work is appreciated. When this is the case, it often makes the teacher want to work even harder because they know what they are doing is valued. It is, after all, a big reason most people get into the profession in the first place (to help).
So, with this metric the teacher can wrap in how valued they feel by administration, families, and all the rest. All people want their hard work to be appreciated. Teachers are no different.
Add “I feel valued and appreciated” to the Teacher Happiness Metric.
What Else?
Honestly, I could come up with more , but I also want to hear what you would put on this scale. If you come up with one, put it in the comments below.
I also want to try and keep this metric as simple as possible. It will be an overall grade, if you will, of a teacher’s conditions in a specific school.
The Specifics of the Scale
I was thinking it would be a 1-10 number system for my Teacher Happiness Scale.
Teachers would give scores (1-10) of what their overall impression is of the school/district/community that they are a part of.
So far, here are the metrics that teachers would be ranking.
- Workload
- Autonomy
- Teaching to the Test
- Feeling Valued and Appreciated (by Administration and Community)
The simple premise (again) is that as the scores came out, the balance of powers would have to shift. The conditions would then have to change in order for districts to retain their valuable teachers.
Remember, teacher numbers are being depleted, so we are becoming harder and harder to replace.
The resultant shifts in power would allow teachers to focus their energies on where it belongs; the students.
As a result, the teacher happiness scores would go up right alongside the overall health of the students.
This, in theory, would eventually lead to less burnout and would probably increase the teacher enrollment numbers (as word trickled down that the profession was actually sustainable once again).
Eventually I would even love to see these incorporated into the equations that give us these ubiquitous “best schools in the state/nation” articles.
I know it sounds lofty, but a person can dream can’t they?
What About Money/Salary?
This is just my humble opinion, but in the court of public opinion, it feels as though teachers don’t always come out on top with regards to money.
As such, when teachers go on strike, the only message that seems to permeate is that “teachers just want more money.” It’s not right, but it’s the world we live in.
So, for the greater good, I just assume exclude any discussion of money in these scales. That way it can’t be used against us.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize that so many teachers are grossly underpaid. I absolutely do, and it’s certainly a huge problem.
I’m just trying to see how to make the biggest impact possible on the teaching profession. I think money too often obfuscates, for the outside world, the other real issues that we’re facing.
Also, most school salaries scales are public record so you can still access the information and factor into your personal equation (insert wink emoji here).
Potential Pitfalls
What could possibly go wrong with a Teacher Happiness Scale?
Ha! In a way it sounds so childish (Yay, let’s all live in happy land where everybody’s happy!). Part of me feels foolish even writing this thing… (But I do believe in it). The name needs work though…
I suppose there are many pitfalls that I’m not considering as well.
Right now, I see the resultant teacher migration as being a potential problem. As teachers change schools for greener pastures they are potentially creating that situation where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
There would be an influx of talented teachers vying for the “good schools” and it would leave other schools begging for scraps. This would trickle down to the students and most likely broaden the growing learning gap.
One thought is to give schools 3 years to get their “acts together” before the scores are made public.
My sense though, is that this migration is already happening anyways. I think it has a lot to do with some of the conditions created by schools that are desperate to increase their test scores.
Another potential problem is a shift in power too far towards the teachers (If only). Doubtful, but it could happen I suppose. Nevertheless, I would rather that a teacher have power over a student’s future than some of these other forces.
Let me know (kindly) if you have other thoughts on this matter.
In Summary
There you have it. I guess I just wrote a post that features a “Teacher Happiness Scale” as a cure-all for all the ills in education and society as a whole.
Take it with a grain a salt I suppose, but don’t ignore its merits!
Who knows the students best (besides parents)? The teachers.
Who knows where their energies should and should not be spent in order to educate the whole child? The teachers.
Who got into the profession to help our youth grow up into well-rounded citizens (and not just good test-takers)? The teachers.
Who just wants autonomy and a little appreciation for this important work? Let’s all say it together. The teachers.
Make the Teacher Happiness Scale public knowledge. Give these scores weight and integrate them into the national school ranking system. Make the districts and schools adjust and put education back in the hands of the teachers themselves.
Only then will be begin to approach the balance that we so desperately need in education.
Thank you all for reading! This post was a little experimental in nature but I think it has its merits. If you agree, I DEFINITELY want to hear about it. If you disagree, I also want to hear from you (as long as you do so kindly). You can reach out and contact me any time. I also invite you to subscribe (right margin or “contact me” page) so you can have each post “hand-delivered” to your inbox.
Leave a Reply