PART ONE: WHAT IMPACTS MOTIVATION FOR TEACHERS?

Do you have faculty or staff who are not motivated?

The truth is, all adults are motivated, just not necessarily by their work.  So let me rephrase my question.  

Do you work with adults who are not motivated?  

Of course you do.  And you also work with many who are very motivated.  Many things impact motivation, especially low motivation.  These can be placed into three categories:  personal factors, work influences, and outside issues.

Personal Factors

 Adults may have emotional or physical problems that impact their work and their motivation.  It may be their own problem or that of a family member or someone they know. The brother of one of Barbara’s teachers was tragically killed in a car accident, and experienced severe nightmares, anxiety, and depression.  Despite his best efforts, his motivation and his teaching suffered.  Adults may also have low self-efficacy.  This may be due to their own struggles in school or college, vicarious experiences, or negative reinforcement from others.  Finally, adults may little interest in their work. Some people feel trapped in their career choice and can’t act to make a change.

Work-Based Factors

 Besides personal factors, there may be school or classroom-based factors that impact motivation.  Sometimes a work assignment doesn’t match one’s interests, or they feel their strengths are under-utilized.  

 We mentioned lack of interest as a personal factor, but it is related to work.  The majority of Barbara’s teaching was in grades 7 and 8.  Her major interest was in the primary grades.  For her, she found a passion for older students, but if she had not, this may have been problematic.

 A final demotivating work-based factor is the lack of perceived power or control.  Too often, teachers feel powerless, impacted by curricular or instruction dictates and/or state and local policy. They do not feel like they have any power, which leads to a lack of motivation.

PART TWO: WHAT IMPACTS MOTIVATION FOR TEACHERS?

LISTENING: A KEY SKILL FOR LEADERS

Listening is a key skill for every school leader, especially when faced by the need to mediate complex and often volatile issues. School leaders must often navigate these challenges and the ability to communicate effectively is essential. Perhaps the most critical communication skill is listening, the ability to authentically hear what is said, keep an open mind, and despite differences work together on behalf of students.

Barriers to Effective Listening

There are five barriers to listening. They’re always present but are exacerbated when trying to communicate with people who are aggressive or combative or when faced by a volatile situation.  

Indifference

The first barrier is when we are indifferent to the other person, their issues, or their perspective. Repeatedly hearing the same comments, or listening to abusive or volatile language often leads listeners to indifference. Parents, and teachers, will pick up on that behavior and assume you are dismissive of their concern or not taking their concern seriously. Avoid being indifferent by being attentive, not arguing with the person and making direct eye contact. 

Assumptions

Making assumptions also undermines the ability to clearly communicate.  You might assume you already know what a person thinks or how they feel, assuming they have the same background knowledge that you do, or believing they should interpret that knowledge the same way you do. Avoid making assumptions about others. Instead listen for verbal clues or nonverbal action that offers insights into their thinking.

Distractions

A third obstacle to effective listening is distractions.  Distractions include interruptions, multitasking, or anticipating your next comments rather than paying attention to what the speaker is saying. Active listeners focus on the speaker, avoid distractions like calls, emails or tests, and assure their attention is on the conversation. The solution is actually simple.  Stop doing anything else and patiently listen to the other person. Focus on the speaker, not your own needs.

Hurrying 

This actually leads to the fourth obstacle, hurrying the process.  This is particularly true if we aren’t interested in the other person or his or her concerns.  Oftentimes, we want to hurry the process because we’ve already made up our minds about the urgency of the issue or the resolution.  Allow ample time to listen to the speaker. Ask clarifying questions to make sure you have adequate information. As mentioned earlier, avoid distractions and interruptions that convey to the speaker that you are not interested in what they are saying.

Information Overload 

The final barrier to effective listening is information overload.  Sometimes, we simply want to get our point across, and we overload the other person with too much, or extraneous, information. Don’t try to justify a decision by dominating the discussion with long answers or extended rationale. Focus on listening, gathering information and assuring that the speaker feels validated rather than marginalized.

PART THREE: WHAT IMPACTS MOTIVATION FOR TEACHERS?

BEING AN AUTHENTIC LEADER

Every leader recognizes the pressure to adopt certain behaviors or act in certain ways. Once you become a “principal” both teachers, and parents, may expect that you conform to their expectations for the job. Similarly, you may feel pressure from your supervisor to conform to their norms for the job.

So how does a leader develop authenticity? How do you align your action, your decisions, your judgment with your authentic self?

1. Identify your values and live by them

In an earlier chapter we discussed the importance of vision, both your personal vision, and the collection vision for your school. A critical step in developing one’s personal vision is to be clear about the values and beliefs they hold that are central to their life, to their being. If you’ve not done so, spend time thinking about those beliefs. Which are unalienable? Which are so sacrosanct that they can never be set aside? 

2. Identify gaps between values and action Think about your action during the past week and identify gaps between your stated values and the decisions you made. Prepare a list of words to describe actions that align with your values. Then select one to focus on during the next week. Begin the work to align values and action.

3. Communicate honestly 

Good communication skills are essential for every leader. Regardless of the skills, or your personal style of communicating, it’s essential that you say what you mean and are honest when interacting with others. That doesn’t mean you’re brutally honest, saying anything that comes to mind. You can be truthful, and tactful, respecting other’s feelings and needs.

4. Assure integrity 

We often intuitively know when a decision we made was sound, or when it might have been better. Unease about an action often signals that they were other alternatives. When one has integrity they take responsibility for their actions, including things that didn’t work. They are open about shortcomings and work to correct them.

5. Avoid making assumptions 

Rather than making assumptions about others, authentic leaders let other’s actions speak for themselves. When you avoid making assumptions it is often reciprocated by others.

6. Develop Self-Confidence and manage emotions  

An authentic leader is confident in their actions because they are clear that actions align with values and beliefs. Their self-confidence helps them to persevere when others challenge their judgment. And when challenged, an authentic leader always treats people with courtesy and respect. They respect other points of view but confidence in their beliefs helps them remain steadfast.

PART FOUR: WHAT IMPACTS MOTIVATION FOR TEACHERS?

HOW DO I BUILD LEADERSHIP CAPACITY IN MY SCHOOL?

Solitary leadership doesn’t work very well. It can achieve short-term compliance but doesn’t build long-term commitment. When the leader changes, the compliance stops.

A far more effective strategy is for a school leader to systematically build leadership capacity among the staff. Not everyone wants to be a “formal” leader, but everyone can lead. Cultivating capacity among the staff expands participation, empowers, increases collective knowledge, and increases motivation and improve morale (Newton, 2017; Nelson & Dunsmore, 2018). 

Most teachers are motivated by a deep desire to become better teachers, and to work with their colleagues to improve their schools. It’s important to tap into that motivation to support your efforts at improving your school.

What a Leader Can Do?

Expanding leadership capacity doesn’t occur simply by tapping a teacher to head a new committee. Rather it comes from identifying talented people, their interests and strengths and providing opportunities for them to use those talents.

Leadership emerges in multiple ways, and not from being designated a formal leader. It may emerge from participation in targeted professional development, from work on a collaborative team, or from investigating a problem and researching possible solutions.

School leaders can grow and nurture leadership capacity by doing these five things.

1. Know Your Teachers and Their Work

It’s important to get out of the office and get to know what’s going on in classrooms, and at grade level or team meetings. Becoming engaged in the authentic work of teachers, being present when they’re teaching, collaborating, and problem-solving will provide a leader with insight into the frustrations of teachers, the joys of their work, and the challenges they face. Being able to speak from “authentic” experience rather than from your office experience allows you to match talent with interests. Skilled teachers want to work on “real” instructional problems and a principal with “real” experience, able to use the “real” language will be valued.

2. Move Beyond Formal Leaders 

In many schools there are formal, and informal, leaders designated as assistant principals, department heads, or grade level chair. When expanding capacity it’s important to move beyond those formal leaders. Most teachers don’t want to be involved in managerial tasks like ordering supplies or building schedules. What they value is the chance to work on authentic instructional issues. That’s motivating. Don’t assume that the person who is skilled at managerial tasks will be the best fit for every leadership role.

3. Create Welcoming Spaces 

Establish healthy boundaries for communication. Model confidentiality, and respect a teacher’s privacy when they share a problem or concern. Teachers want to solve problems but first the problem has to be identified. Too often teachers are reluctant to share concerns because they worry they will blamed. You want people to step forward and identify problems. That’s the only way they can be addressed.

4. Ask Difficult Questions 

A leader shouldn’t wait for problems to be identified by others. A leader’s job is not just to solve problems but also to identify problems by asking difficult questions. Challenge long standing norms. Ask why instructional challenges are handled the way they are. This can stimulate new thinking and provide an opportunity for teachers to step forward and investigate and address the issue.

5. Provide Professional Development 

Too often professional development (PD) is something done to fulfill a district mandate or contractual requirement. When building leadership capacity it’s important to tailor the PD to the interests and needs of individual teachers. We understand the need for school-wide training on issues, but supplement that with an opportunity for specific, targeted PD. It might involve online activities, or attendance at a conference, or even participation on a district-wide committee. Recognize the power of PD aligned with teacher interests to motivate teachers and improve morale.

Book: Improving Teacher Morale & Motivation: Leadership Strategies for Success

by Ron Williamson & Barbara Blackburn

Published by Routledge Eye On Education

Article: 7 Teacher Supports through Stressful Times

by Ron Williamson & Barbara Blackburn

Published by Middleweb.com

Article: Motivating Teachers in Challenging Times

by Ron Williamson & Barbara Blackburn

Published by Middleweb.com