Participants 10
Teachers are Tired and are Not Positively Engaged
Christine December 6, 2023
Teachers are Tired and are Not Positively Engaged
Oakland Academy is a difficult school. The school leadership team has implemented a School Improvement Plan (SIP) and has been working with teachers throughout the year to inculcate the High Expectations Matrix, a behavioural management program and attendance incentives.
Instruction coaches have been working with teachers on building their skills and developing strategies to support the SIP. Recent data on behaviour and attendance shows some improvement, but the daily strain on the teachers is evident. There are increasing teacher absences as they are on the brink of burnout, which impacts overall student behaviour.
In the staff room, teachers are starting to complain about the systems that are in place. Many of them decide that they may start missing their assigned duty. For example, Jennifer is supposed to be at the corner of the school cafeteria to supervise students returning the lunch trays. She has a lot marking to do, and decides to stay in her classroom instead since there is another teacher supervising in another corner.
Principal, Lee, is doing the rounds and sees the mounting lunch trays and food on the ground in the corner of the cafeteria. He checks his master duty document and sees that it is Jennifer’s spot that day. He asks the other teacher where she is and goes to find Jennifer in her classroom. Lee asks Jennifer why she is not on duty and Jennifer breaks down saying that she is overwhelmed and that she cannot continue at this pace with all the expectations of her time. She tells him that many teachers are feeling the same.
Teachers are feeling demotivated and are feeling that the continuous improvement plan is a chore. They are choosing to not fulfil some of the expectations and there is a significant drop in improvement results, and behaviour is impacted.