SUCCESS VS. FULFILLMENT
Factors that influence teachers’ relocation include school location, salary and schooling of their children, to name a few. I often hear that there are not enough candidates in the pool which could be a potential match between our and their preferences or needs. Then we hire teachers who are not always ready to teach using interactive approaches towards the holistic development of human. There is nothing wrong with that, if a newly hired teacher has an open mind and a strong willingness to develop, and we have a great support development program for them to participate in. Telling them what we want as a school is not enough, we need to show them and guide them with care.
Metaphorically to Newton’s first law, the majority of the teachers will remain in their old patterns of behavior unless compelled to change their approach by external stimuli. Offer them help in the transformation, but also explain them in advance, that if they do not adjust to the new settings, they must leave. Otherwise we are risking losing the spark of new teachers, their energy as they might easily become frustrated, falling to the pattern of older teachers who are unwilling to grow out of their passive teaching styles, going against our fundamental vision. The vision does not have to be printed on the posters placed on every wall around the schools – one or two are more than enough. The true shared vision is unique, coming from the mutual understanding and from the hearts of every qualified teacher and thus must be felt in the dynamics of the institution.
What is crucial is asking the right questions during the interviews. This way you will create a sieve through which only the right candidates pass. Asking a couple of “why?” questions helps you to look into the deeper levels of the mind of such educator. Why have you become a teacher? Don’t ask only how they want to motivate youngsters to learn, but also WHY they you want to do it? Try to find out how aware these teachers are and how they may connect and interact with the students in or out of the classroom. After they describe a successful lesson to you, ask what new things they have learned recently, what class or workshop they attended? Only a teacher who keeps learning and growing can understand the true transformation of the mind that the students are going through. Empathy through action occurs if a teacher starts learning a new language or any other skill, and suddenly they realize how it feels not to know, how it feels not to be the best, and maybe also experience the difference in the style how teachers approach their students – if there is an understanding and genuine care, or if there is a distance and coldness. In addition, having a choice, I would recommend choosing bilingual teachers – because they will be able to relate to ESL students at a much deeper level.
More than 1 in 4 Australian teachers suffer from emotional exhaustion after starting their careers and expect to leave the profession within the first five years of teaching. Many great teachers leave state education systems, because they are overwhelmed. They do not have time to live their true mission as they need to follow meaningless bureaucracy. Even in many international schools the contracts are offered blindly based on the maximum teaching load – often not considering the number of different subjects a teacher will teach, different preparation or number of students in each group. There is a big difference whether the class has ten or twenty-five students. Although the preparation time might be the same, the grading and report time surely is not. Also, there is a huge difference in teaching one or two subjects to 4-5 parallel groups having a couple of preparation or teaching four different subjects to four different group of students. Teaching hours will be the same, but preparation will take much longer in the latter case. The number of different preps, students enrolled in the group along with the difficulty of the subject should all be considered when talking about the so called “full load” of a teacher.
I believe that financial benefits are not the only factors in retaining the best educators. Basic salary, thirteen salary, travels or living allowances are or should be the standards. Having these in place will surely create long waiting list of interested candidates out of which you will be able to choose the best ones. Yet, no finances in the world will make the true educator happy for long, unless they feel their time is meaningful and they are appreciated. Especially the teachers and leaders in their middle age who are more settled, and finances are not the priority for them. They might often feel the life is passing by too quickly and thus they want to spend the time in a job that is interesting, meaningful and fulfilling. Surely, finances provide them a stability, but based on what has been said, I see two areas that could help to retain these teachers for a longer time.
Firstly, offering a space and freedom for the teachers’ grow and their development is crucial. The true educator will never stop desiring to grow, to learn and to develop. Language courses or generous PD allowance that can be partially used for the workshops or books of teacher’s choice and educational interests. If these educators feel their freedom and time to create is being taken away or chances to develop are somehow limited, you will lose them.
Secondly, building a caring and well-being plan in your school might contribute to higher retention rates. International healthcare, some contributions towards spa packages, cultural events (theatre, movies, concerts) or physical and outdoor activities (hiking, yoga, etc.) might be included. When speaking to teachers internationally, most of them find the schools with pension schemes much more attractive – research the options of implementing a pension scheme, where both a teacher as well as the school contribute on the monthly basis certain percentage of the wage. At the end of the employment, teacher can take the whole lump sum and invest it to their private retirement insurance or scheme. Another idea might be paying off the non-used sick or personal days. Alternative could mean to build a bank of personal days, which can be taken after three years either as a paid leave or as a financial bonus; this could also motivate the new teachers to stay longer with you. One or two longer weekends with Friday or Monday off, which teachers must take during the year on a basis of signing up for them at the beginning of the year also create some space for well-being and recharging the energy with some weekend getaway.
Furthermore, using the potential and implementing flexible schedules that permit different arrival or departure times can also help to balance the demanding tasks teacher solves every day. At the end, it really does not matter if you do grade your papers in the class, or in a favorite book store or a coffee shop after you had a chance to go to the bank or get some things done, which you don’t have time for otherwise. All of these with providing the chance to engage in the social groups or workshops where they can share their views and learn more about themselves can help teachers to cope, to feel happy and consequently it can help you to retain them. And if you find someone for whom well-being is important, it is probably because they have empathy towards others. And then they can cultivate empathy in your students too.
The true educators don’t need only the traditional success – they need something of a much higher value. They need fulfillment… And what is a difference between these two? While fulfillment always includes feeling of a success, the success does not always have to include fulfillment.
Imagine the pictures of two ladies. One would display the woman in business dress, with nice jewelry, driving a new car. The second lady would be a cleaner, doing her job with enjoyment. Which of those two would we describe as successful? Majority of the society would describe the first lady as a successful woman. Having expensive diamonds, jacket and car, those are the symbol of so-called success in our minds. When we look at the paycheck of the second lady many would surely not say she is successful. Yet I disagree, because this formula does not always work as we are overlooking the importance of our inside worlds. I recently met both such ladies, and after observing them for a longer time and speaking with both of them, I felt that the lady with diamonds in spite of all materialistic security felt an incredible emptiness and loneliness in her golden cage.
On the contrary, the cleaning lady earning a little money was always smiling, bringing joy to people around while supporting her only daughter in her studies. One time she told me, that her daughter was shy to speak about her mother’s job and did not want to say that her mom is “only” cleaning the hallways in some school. Her mother hugged her and said: my dear, you do not have to be shy to speak about my job – I am doing the best I can to provide you with a better future. And I do it with love. This lady taught me what fulfillment means – she was fulfilled and content because she matched her current abilities with the opportunities offered to her. She has given a meaning to her job, doing everything to the best of her ability. And doing it with Love. That is why I would describe the second lady as a successful woman, because in spite of not having diamonds, cars and big house she owned something of a much higher importance – she could feel fulfillment
You may say, that this has nothing to do with the retention of the best educators. On the contrary, I believe, that this is the key stone. If you build a school, where they can feel challenged, fulfilled and intrinsically satisfied, while having the opportunities to develop further, they will not leave after a year or two because of school related disappointments. They will stay longer and really contribute to creating a happy and purposeful place. Deep understanding of us being alive and of our Life, is not measured by the numbers and we will not find it in “having” – to have what we need is enough and leads to modesty, empathy and sharing. To have what we want leads to selfishness and a feeling of entitlement. And the line between “to need” and “to want” is a very fine one. The true appreciation is in “being”, going through a variety of experiences, reflecting upon them, trying new things and learning from them, and so grow.
That is why I always tell the students I desire them to have A*, I desire them to have great stable job with a good salary, I desire them to have what they need; but more, much more than any of these I desire them to be fulfilled human beings which feel happy, satisfied and joyful, which experience the joy and contentment throughout their Lives. Because it is quite infectious – and spreads on and on. In spite of all of our differences we do desire the same thing – we all desire to give meaning to our Lives and then Live it. And let’s face it, every single human finds the contentment through an eye to eye conversation, when being hugged, cared for, feeling safe, fulfilled, simply being Loved.
So, if you truly want to retain the best educators at your school for a couple of years – provide a space for them to contribute to the direction of the school, create a place and plenty of time for them to interact with their students and among each other, so they could get inspired. If a true educator finds no one inspiring, they start to feel like in a cage. Give them enough opportunities to create the meaning and find fulfillment through the service they provide to your students… Let them learn, let them grow, let them live their purpose by helping their students. And appreciate their contribution NOT by email, memo or a message, but by reaching out to them and engaging in an eye to eye conversation in their class or by a cup of tea.
Start small, then go big – not the other way around; otherwise you are risking that you lose a third of the students within a year or two – they will not feel supported, they will not manage and so they will not grow. The proper development needs time. I am aware that in the past two decades we have got used to quick solutions – what sometimes have taken a few days, nowadays we can get done within the minutes. To get the flight ticket, there is no need to visit travel agent, it is a few clicks and minutes away. Do we want to send the update to a friend on the opposite side of the planet? Just connect, click and it is done, received instantaneously. Get the shopping done, look up some quote, books, getting in touch with someone, etc. We got used to quick and short solutions expressed within a few characters of a SMS, tweet or post.
But this does not work in the education. There are no shortcuts, and yes it does take time. But if you put your heart into it, students will feel the genuine interest of yours, of their teachers, of the school. You will not need a strong marketing to fool parents. Your satisfied students and fulfilled teachers will be your best marketing tool – they will spread the good words; you will have more students interested than places available and you will be able to choose.
Then you start to feel success not only via good finances and revenues the school will generate, but through soaking in the feeling of fulfillment of a higher purpose. And teachers will often stay 3, maybe even 5 years at such school, because they will not only teach the content knowledge, they will educate their students while growing and developing at the same time as well. They will be satisfied, fulfilled and content. They will feel they live the unique mission of their Life… Mission, that is not just printed on the big posters, but primarily embodied in every cell of their hearts: Enable the students to learn with deep understanding, improving so the overall growth of a human.
(RB, 5.11. 2019; Guangzhou, China)
- Acel.org.au. (2019), (Marshal 2013; Milburn 2011) Teacher Wellbeing – About. [online] acel.org.au, Available at: http://www.acel.org.au/ACEL/ACELWEB/Programs/2019/Teacher_Wellbeing/About.aspx [Accessed 23. Sep. 2019].
- Paul, K. (2019) Microsoft Japan tested a four-day work week and productivity jumped by 40% [online] theguardian.com, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/04/microsoft-japan-four-day-work-week-productivity [Accessed 10 Nov. 2019].