How can principals and other school leaders give teachers a safe way to express worries or anxieties, and how does that differ for newer and more experienced teachers?
For Joe Patek, board member of the National Principals Association and principal at Nicolet Union High School in Glendale, Wisconsin, the process starts with providing “authentic spaces” to have an “honest dialogue,” recognizing that this will be awkward at first until you build trust. “You’re trying to build bridges so staff know, ‘We’ll be in the weeds with you.’”
Evelyn Edney, principal of Early College School at Delaware State University and another NPA board member, also centers relationship-building.
“People need to trust you to share [anxieties] with you,” she said, adding that it’s important for them to feel confident that you’re the person they can sit down and talk to. “When you say you have an open-door policy, you’ve got to mean that. Shut the door and [say], ‘If you need to yell, scream and cuss, let’s do it. Then let’s get to the root of the problem.’”
Building trust and promoting an open-door policy provides reassurance that you will truly listen and be solutions-minded rather than simply saying “thanks” and never meaningfully addressing the worries expressed, said Ann-Marie Gleason, president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals and principal of Harpeth Valley Elementary in Nashville, Tennessee.
It means “when folks come to you, they know that you are going to listen to them,” she said.
Once trust is established, principals can prompt teachers to openly share their stressors, both generally and regarding a specific situation or student, and then help address those issues, Patek said. Showing up in classrooms is one key to reaching that point.
“You’d be surprised how many conversations happen at the end of a five-minute [classroom] activity,” he said. “It opens the door to those authentic conversations and brings down barriers between classrooms and the principal’s office.”
Edney said she tries to alleviate stress whenever and however she can.
“I’ve had days where we have somebody practically breaking down,” she said. “I say, ‘You know what? Take the day and go home.’ They’re not going to be able to do school. Sometimes, kids do change your mood. But it’s hard when you have something gnawing at your soul.”
When concerns impact more than one teacher, Gleason suggests having a leadership team in place within grade levels and within academic departments to address those on a more comprehensive basis. That’s partly to provide different options for outlets.
“If a teacher didn’t feel comfortable initially coming straight to an administrator, they would also have that grade-level liaison to express that concern,” she said.
Newer teachers need resources to gain knowledge of local context, including from mentors while they’re onboarding and — if possible — staff who are also parents and can give a sense of how, for example, a certain politically divisive issue plays in the community, Patek said.
“What are the land mines?” he said. More experienced teachers tend to need reassurance that their skills and knowledge remain applicable as times change, he added. “While they’re seeing decades of change happening, it really is the same profession with the same mission.”
Edney said that new teacher orientation at Early College School gives way to monthly check-ins to make sure “newbies” are navigating the role well, which “takes away the angst of being in a new system,” she said.
Veteran teachers are tapped to be mentors, which helps them “feel valued and useful in school, probably even more so because of their experience,” said Edney. “They’ve been there. They’ve seen that. They’ve done that.”
At Harpeth Valley, Gleason said, new teachers and paraprofessionals are paired with longer-term staff, and specialized conversations are designed based on particular contexts and needs.
“Some best practices are the same. Some are unique to the building you’re working in,” she said. “For veteran teachers … when we make a change in curriculum or delivery or instruction or processes, it’s always important for school administrators to explain the ‘why’ behind the change. It can cause anxiety if they don’t understand the reason.”
