Praising to Curb an Early Exit

Today I was talking to one of the most effective young teachers I know. Jason is energetic, intelligent, and always looking for a way to better his practice. But he is a fourth year teacher who almost didn’t make it to a fifth year. That’s because frustrations with new curriculum and a difficult group of students left him wondering if it was worth the pain.

 

Jason’s confession that he had considered leaving the profession came as a total surprise to me – but it shouldn’t have. Attrition of teachers during their first five years is 30 – 40% nationwide.*  I have become increasingly alarmed by the number of early-career teachers who are choosing to leave the profession. Talented peers have become overwhelmed or frustrated and leave the teaching ranks, even though they’ve just invested extensive time and money in obtaining teaching licenses and advanced degrees. Although teachers leave for a variety of reasons, the overall impact is a shift toward a less-experienced profession.** What can coaches do to abate this trend?

 

There are as many solutions as there are individual teachers, of course, but research on teacher retention suggests that many teachers feel underappreciated. Even excellent teachers are rarely made to feel important.**  I think this speaks to why the final phase of the GIR model is so important. Praising teachers’ instructional processes acknowledges their effort and the impact they are having on students’ learning. Praising effective processes promotes autonomy and increases motivation.***

 

If you are as vexed as I am with concerns about lost potential when promising teachers make an early exit from the career, take the opportunity to offer deserved praise.  When early-career teachers like Jason make important contributions to their students’ learning, those efforts should be recognized. I feel certain that such well-deserved praise could help to curtail early-career exits.

 

*Perda, D. (2013). Transitions into and out of teaching: A longitudinal analysis of early career teacher turnover (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

**Headden, S. (2014). Beginners in the classroom: What the changing demographics of teaching mean for schools, students, and society. Stanford, CA: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

***Henderlong, J. & Lepper, M. R. (2002). The effects of praise on children’s intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 774-795.

 

 

 

This week, you might want to take a look at:

 

A video about praising the process:

 

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/praise-the-process-perts

 

 

Making informed decisions when planning for professional development:

http://smartblogs.com/education/2015/06/29/use-data-tech-for-stronger-pd-programs/?utm_source=brief

 

 

Two lessons for teaching theme:

 

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1875

 

 

Posters from World War 2: To use when talking about elements of persuasion:

 

http://americanhistory.si.edu/victory/index.htm

 

 

The reinvention of libraries as places to connect learners and construct knowledge:

 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-libraries-learning-commons-beth-holland

 

 

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

 

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