#2021Inquiry 07a - Teachers are humans too

Hi Hey Hello, 

How do we set up sustainable systems to retain teachers? 

This is a wee bit of a prelude to the next blog post focusing on this week's theme of Systems. 

The full blog post will be in this week's #EEEMagazine coming out on Friday with Guest Blogger David Lee. 
 
I wanted to do this intro post because we started Season 5 of Empathetic Educators this weekend with Karl C. Pupé (@actionheroteach). 

While preparing for this session, I was rereading his amazing book - The Action Hero Teacher. Such a great read! 

And while reading it, it sparked a connection in my brain after finishing Season 4 discussing School Systems and before continuing Season 5 focusing on Perspectives that I want to share with you.....

,I have always loved how George Couros spoke about his thinking with the #InnovatorsMindset and how it connected to the work of Carol Dweck with a different perspective. 

While reading Karl's work all about how we can set the learners in our classes up for success, it got me thinking about how we can set our teachers in our schools up for success too. 

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with a range of leadership styles and this has got me thinking about what styles I do - and sometimes definitely do not - want to take into my toolkit as a teacher, learner and leader. 

As Karl states - 'It is easy to forget but beyond our classrooms; our students have incredibly rich inner and outer lives'. 

As a teacher sometimes I have been made to feel forgotten about by some of the not so productive settings I have worked in. 

At times being asked to do a range of different training sessions, prepare lessons, teach classes, write reports, attend workshops, take part in meetings before and after school, etc and a lot of the time I have been left asking why?

Why did I get told to do that training? Why did they tell us to attend that meeting? Why was I told to complete that task, what does it mean for me or my team or my learners?

Teaching in a range of countries, training for an MMA fight, setting up Empathetic Educators, I think I may be a wee bit addicted to challenging myself. 

But there have been moments in my life where I have felt completely unmotivated and not wanting to get out of the bed in the morning. 

This got me thinking, how can I be soooo excited and not want to turn the laptop off at times, actively seeking my own learning experiences in my own time, with no monetary incentive. But other instances,  the place I am getting paid for my time, I am watching the clock to see when I can leave. 

What is the difference in these settings - why have I stayed voluntarily way past my 'salary hours' in some jobs but in other settings I have been running out the door at the end of the day? 

And this I believe is an area I really feel Empathetic Educators gravitating towards. 

Imagine all the teachers across the world, across all the countries and imagine all the learners they are positively or negatively impacting depending on their choices. 

Now let's take a step back, imagine all the leaders who are responsible for those teacher learners and student learners. How are the leadership's choices positively or negatively impacting those in their care too? 

As Karl talks about 'The Student Triangle' being made up of Environment, School and Person. 

I plan to delve deeper into 'The Teacher Triangle' in upcoming sessions and blog posts. 

In this introductory blog post I want to break down these three areas:

Environment
- How are teachers being set up for success no matter what stage they are at in their career? 
- What systems are in place to foster trust in the settings across the team? 
- How is staff voice valued and encouraged? 
- How are crucial conversations modeled and scaffolded by leadership to ensure teachers feel safe to discuss challenging topics? 
-  How are leaders aware of teacher aspirations to be part of their journey, encouraging and scaffolding growth? 
- What opportunities are given to teachers to experience the 'future of education' to navigate the unknown together? Leaders modeling being learners too.
- Teachers are held accountable for the growth of their learners and rightly so. How are leaders held accountable for their actions and the growth of the teachers in their settings?

People
- What skills and qualities are teachers bringing to the team? 
- What traits and personalities work well together? How are differences understood, valued and encouraged?
- How are people supported to reflect on their current situation and strive to be the best they can be for themselves and those around them?
- How are the team encouraged to develop themselves as well as develop as a team?

Experiences 
- How are cultures and life experiences valued within the setting? 
- What can the individual add to the team based on their passions or interests? 
- How are teachers encouraged to try a variety of experiences to broaden their perspectives and in turn help broaden the horizons of the learners?
- How are we helping teachers deal with the unknown so they can walk alongside their learners dealing with the unknown? 


This is just the beginning of 'The Teacher Triangle' and my initial thoughts in this area. 

I am excited to keep learning with you and would love to hear your initial thoughts in this space so I can refine and adjust as we move forward together. Let me know in the comments or you can message me on Twitter @naomi_toland.

This season is all about Perspectives and I have already taken away so much from Karl's book - The ActionHero Teacher. You can see our initial conversation above where Karl talks more about 'The Student Triangle' and I connect this to my thinking relating to 'The Teacher Triangle'.

​I can't wait to hear your takeaways during our #Empathetic_Educators chats in upcoming weeks!! 

This 'wee intro blog post' has turned out to be a bit longer than I initially set out but that's okay :) 

Hope you all have a lovely week. 

And remember - 

Our choices have an impact - what impact are you going to have?