Holding onto Millennial Teachers: Planning for Post-Pandemic Adult Culture in Schools
Lauren, a New York City middle school teacher in her 6th year of teaching and her 2nd year of teacher leadership, recently shared some of her thoughts about the importance of developing relationships between and among teachers with me. She said, “I’ve seen schools where everybody’s like, behind closed doors, and they just do their own thing. And it works for them. But it doesn’t work for me. I want to see a bunch of teachers with the students working with them, or just sitting together and eating lunch — having a community beyond just the classroom. If there’s no community and culture between the teachers, you can’t possibly have a really strong culture with the students.”
I have heard this from many teachers. The informal relationships forged at the teacher level and between the teachers and leaders seem to create staying power. These relationships are, in fact, highly motivating. Who doesn’t want to work with their friends? Who doesn’t want to laugh and feel taken care of and heard and seen in the workplace? If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we are, above all, humans. And humans need connection.
It’s been a time, this last year and a half. We’ve all been traumatized. We are all exhausted. And we are all itching for social connections, opportunities to be with others in person, chances to collectively heal. This will be especially true as folks return to school buildings in August and September, eager to discover what “normal” looks like now.
Lauren’s insight that, “if there’s no community and culture between the teachers, you can’t possibly have a really strong culture with the students” is more important to consider now than ever before. Integrating trauma-informed pedagogy is critical for our students, but to do that well, we must take care of our teachers.
Let me say that in another way. To effectively care for and develop our students in ways that truly increase outcomes, we need to effectively care for and develop our teachers. Beyond Teacher Appreciation Day, beyond end of year awards and acknowledgements, there must be a baseline level of care and ongoing professional development to support and replenish teachers on an ongoing basis. Creating community and fostering relationships between and among teachers is paramount if we really want to start the 2021–22 school year strong. Paying attention to this will help fill their buckets and build emotional reserves that are necessary to meeting this year’s student outcomes.
Previously, I’ve shared powerful retention practices that focus on reflection, positive adult culture, and developing teachers as leaders. Here, I will discuss a practice geared toward building and maintaining community through relationship-building. By fostering community wherein teachers enjoy, trust and lean on each other, they will feel more supported and more prepared to dive into the new challenges this year will surely bring.
Powerful Practice #12: Community-Building from Day One
As we welcome teachers back and launch our summer institutes, new teacher onboarding, and professional development days that precede the student start date, let’s prioritize community building in our planning. Consider including the following opportunities to foster connection between colleagues:
- Launch each day and/or session with an “icebreaker” that gets people engaged and gives people information about one another. For example, Stand Up Sit Down is a quick, low stakes get to know you activity. It can go something like this: Stand up if you love to travel. Sit down. Stand up if you have ever been to South America. Sit down. Stand up if you have a dog. Sit down. Stand up if you have one child. Two children. Three children. Sit down. Stand up if you love ice cream. And so on. (This activity can be easily modified to be Hand Up Hand Down or Hat On Hat Off for accessibility.)
- Provide opportunities for people to work in pairs and small groups. Always start group activities with a community-building introduction: “before you dive into the task, share with your partner or in your group 1) your name, 2) your role/grade level/content area, and 3) a fun fact about you.” Then, after the task is completed, have a few people share out some of the fun facts they learned about their colleagues to the large group.
- Build in time to process content through discussion. A think/pair/share, Turn and Talk or Elbow Partners model, allows extroverts to think out loud while simultaneously creating opportunities for introverts to connect with one person at a time. These 2–3 minute unstructured conversations really contribute to informal relationship-building and deepen the learning about the content at hand.
- Carve out a respectable amount of time for lunch. And PLEASE — Provide lunch to your staff! This is money well-spent! Some of the best community-building happens over meals. Earmark 45–60 minutes for lunch on these days and have it catered. This will help make teachers feel taken care of and professionalized! Label a few affinity tables (Dog Lovers, Working Parents, Runners, Bakers, etc) for folks who are looking to meet people or don’t yet have someone to eat with. Leaders, make yourselves available for informal conversations during lunchtime as well by choosing an affinity table to sit at or by simply being present in the room.
- Conclude each day and/or session with shoutouts! Circle up and practice collective gratitude. Shoutout specific people, departments or small groups, or a particular learning/takeaway from the day’s content. Modeling kindness and appreciation in this way may feel uncomfortable at the beginning, but as it becomes a regular and consistent practice, people will begin to voice gratitude early and often. Gratitude builds trust, connection and community.
By intentionally weaving community building into these all staff days, leaders show support for and prioritize adult culture and adult relationships. These relationships motivate teachers to stay. If they feel invested in from the get go, they will be better equipped to invest in their students from the get go as well.
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