Much of the available literature on the value of teachers is missing evidence that reflects the impact of a principal's appreciation for its teachers as a means to promote job satisfaction (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 288). Even when exploring international teacher value experiences, emotional exhaustion has been found to predict job satisfaction levels among Norwegian teachers (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1030), 25 percent of new teachers in the US leave the teaching profession before beginning their third year of teaching and almost 40 percent leave entirely within the first five years of teaching (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1029). From a national perspective, work overload in the teaching profession is strongly correlated with emotional exhaustion among Canadian teachers (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017a, p. 778).
A teacher's worth and value can easily be overlooked when specific factors challenge their professionalism. Factors like the above mentioned emotional exhaustion (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1030), which is retaining low energy and extreme and continuous fatigue. Workload or time pressure (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017, p. 778) consequently affects one's emotional exhaustion. Another common factor that affects teachers today is the development of the sense of fear (Ch et al., 2017, p. 55) that one's principal may not treat them equally to the rest of the school's teachers. Thus, one may develop the fear to discuss professional concerns with their administrators. This leads to additional teacher stresses (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203), which are negative emotional experiences such as frustration and depression. This occurs because of the numerous demands of the teaching profession. Some of these demands include modifying the curriculum daily to meet the diverse needs among students and maintaining classroom and behaviour management within the classroom (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203).
One of the biggest factors that affects one's ability to feel valued in their profession is teacher burnout (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017a, p. 776). Many teachers will leave the teaching profession within the first two years of their career because of teacher burnout. Experiencing long-term occupational stress, along with uncomfortable emotions, makes it difficult to be an effective, confident teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017, p. 776).Teachers might experience a decline in their job satisfaction (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203). If the effects of one's school and classroom environment remain this negative, then it is inevitable that teacher psychological wellbeing, self-determination and efficacy are at risk (Fernet et al., 2012, p. 522).
How are teachers supposed to believe they are valued professionals when they are faced with these factors? Why is it so challenging for teachers and principals to sometimes collaborate in order to create a more cohesive and supportive school community? Based on personal experiences, there has to be a mutual understanding between teachers and principals in order for the above to exist. Being part of supportive work environments is related to a teacher's motivation to stay in the profession longer (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1029). In addition, positive school climates foster trust, cooperation, and open input from staff (Price, 2012, p. 42). These schools will most often have increased levels of trust and commitment among all members of the school community (Price, 2012, p. 42). I believe that all of these characteristics are indicators of healthy teaching environments, where a teacher's value is accepted and appreciated by the principal or administrator.
Our value as a professional shouldn't just be based on the feedback and opinions of our principals or administrators, however this seems to be the root of the problem. Because teachers are likely to support each other before seeking reassurance from their principals or administrators, it becomes more challenging for them to be objective while having conversations about their practices and abilities as an instructional leader with principals or administrators later. I strongly believe that principals or administrators need to pay more attention to their teachers’ sense of belonging, extent of emotional exhaustion, and level of job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1036) in order to develop quality teacher-principal relationships. It should be no surprise that when principals or administrators give little attention to these things, it ultimately has an effect on how the curriculum is delivered to students and in turn, the many ways our students are affected.
Understanding that you are valued as a teacher is different than believing that you are. It's easier to explain to someone how you would like to be valued as a professional in comparison to hearing what you expect to from your principal or administrator. We might be able list the traits of a valued teacher, but then to reflect upon those traits and discover if you believe you possess these traits yourself is a difficult thing! Teachers are often hard on themselves by giving so much additional time, effort, care and thought into others. This might include teaching partners, their students, families of their students and taking on additional responsibilities within the school community. Most importantly, feeling empowered as a valued teacher is something I strive to obtain in my personal professional practices.
When principals or administrators make the effort to empower their teachers, they are helping them "to develop, to train them to solve problems, to give them freedom, and to allow acting without requiring approval for any assignment" (Elmazi, 2018, p. 5). Teacher empowerment and teacher value are very closely related to one another! Empowering teachers means motivating them by providing many opportunities for leading curriculum change in their classrooms and involving them in decision-making in school-wide settings. (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 376). Establishing consistent communication with teachers means principals or administrators will encourage them to want to develop their instructional leadership abilities (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 376).
Teacher Empowerment can be broken down into these elements (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 290):
The most important dimension of teacher empowerment as a predictor for job satisfaction is self-efficacy (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 301).
One theory I have found in the literature related to feeling valued as a teacher is the Self-efficacy theory, developed by Albert Bandura (1997). This theory suggests that individuals are driven toward or away from a particular activity, such as creating change, by the extent to which they feel capable of or likely to performing that activity well (Bandura, 1997) (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1003). Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments”, and "the impact of one's self-efficacy on the degree of effort one commits to a task and how one responds to challenges and barriers; those who feel efficacious are more likely to persist" (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1005).
As an extension of this theory, Teacher leader efficacy is the extent to which a teacher leader believes his or her leadership actions will positively impact the school (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1003). Teacher leader efficacy is rooted both in the teacher leader's self-perceptions and in how those perceptions influence and are influenced by principals’ expectations and leadership behaviors (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1002). As I have learned, possessing positive perceptions of principal leadership behaviours can strengthen feelings of self-efficacy in teachers, and as a result increase a teacher's value and self- worth (Fernet et al., 2012, p. 523).
A teacher's worth and value can easily be overlooked when specific factors challenge their professionalism. Factors like the above mentioned emotional exhaustion (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1030), which is retaining low energy and extreme and continuous fatigue. Workload or time pressure (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017, p. 778) consequently affects one's emotional exhaustion. Another common factor that affects teachers today is the development of the sense of fear (Ch et al., 2017, p. 55) that one's principal may not treat them equally to the rest of the school's teachers. Thus, one may develop the fear to discuss professional concerns with their administrators. This leads to additional teacher stresses (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203), which are negative emotional experiences such as frustration and depression. This occurs because of the numerous demands of the teaching profession. Some of these demands include modifying the curriculum daily to meet the diverse needs among students and maintaining classroom and behaviour management within the classroom (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203).
One of the biggest factors that affects one's ability to feel valued in their profession is teacher burnout (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017a, p. 776). Many teachers will leave the teaching profession within the first two years of their career because of teacher burnout. Experiencing long-term occupational stress, along with uncomfortable emotions, makes it difficult to be an effective, confident teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017, p. 776).Teachers might experience a decline in their job satisfaction (Gray et al., 2017, p. 203). If the effects of one's school and classroom environment remain this negative, then it is inevitable that teacher psychological wellbeing, self-determination and efficacy are at risk (Fernet et al., 2012, p. 522).
How are teachers supposed to believe they are valued professionals when they are faced with these factors? Why is it so challenging for teachers and principals to sometimes collaborate in order to create a more cohesive and supportive school community? Based on personal experiences, there has to be a mutual understanding between teachers and principals in order for the above to exist. Being part of supportive work environments is related to a teacher's motivation to stay in the profession longer (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1029). In addition, positive school climates foster trust, cooperation, and open input from staff (Price, 2012, p. 42). These schools will most often have increased levels of trust and commitment among all members of the school community (Price, 2012, p. 42). I believe that all of these characteristics are indicators of healthy teaching environments, where a teacher's value is accepted and appreciated by the principal or administrator.
Our value as a professional shouldn't just be based on the feedback and opinions of our principals or administrators, however this seems to be the root of the problem. Because teachers are likely to support each other before seeking reassurance from their principals or administrators, it becomes more challenging for them to be objective while having conversations about their practices and abilities as an instructional leader with principals or administrators later. I strongly believe that principals or administrators need to pay more attention to their teachers’ sense of belonging, extent of emotional exhaustion, and level of job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011, p. 1036) in order to develop quality teacher-principal relationships. It should be no surprise that when principals or administrators give little attention to these things, it ultimately has an effect on how the curriculum is delivered to students and in turn, the many ways our students are affected.
Understanding that you are valued as a teacher is different than believing that you are. It's easier to explain to someone how you would like to be valued as a professional in comparison to hearing what you expect to from your principal or administrator. We might be able list the traits of a valued teacher, but then to reflect upon those traits and discover if you believe you possess these traits yourself is a difficult thing! Teachers are often hard on themselves by giving so much additional time, effort, care and thought into others. This might include teaching partners, their students, families of their students and taking on additional responsibilities within the school community. Most importantly, feeling empowered as a valued teacher is something I strive to obtain in my personal professional practices.
When principals or administrators make the effort to empower their teachers, they are helping them "to develop, to train them to solve problems, to give them freedom, and to allow acting without requiring approval for any assignment" (Elmazi, 2018, p. 5). Teacher empowerment and teacher value are very closely related to one another! Empowering teachers means motivating them by providing many opportunities for leading curriculum change in their classrooms and involving them in decision-making in school-wide settings. (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 376). Establishing consistent communication with teachers means principals or administrators will encourage them to want to develop their instructional leadership abilities (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 376).
Teacher Empowerment can be broken down into these elements (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 290):
- Involvement in decision-making;
- Opportunities for professional growth
- Earned status and respect
- Self-efficacy
- Autonomy in the job
- Having an impact on other teachers, students and events that take place in the school
The most important dimension of teacher empowerment as a predictor for job satisfaction is self-efficacy (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 301).
One theory I have found in the literature related to feeling valued as a teacher is the Self-efficacy theory, developed by Albert Bandura (1997). This theory suggests that individuals are driven toward or away from a particular activity, such as creating change, by the extent to which they feel capable of or likely to performing that activity well (Bandura, 1997) (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1003). Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments”, and "the impact of one's self-efficacy on the degree of effort one commits to a task and how one responds to challenges and barriers; those who feel efficacious are more likely to persist" (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1005).
As an extension of this theory, Teacher leader efficacy is the extent to which a teacher leader believes his or her leadership actions will positively impact the school (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1003). Teacher leader efficacy is rooted both in the teacher leader's self-perceptions and in how those perceptions influence and are influenced by principals’ expectations and leadership behaviors (Stein et al., 2016, p. 1002). As I have learned, possessing positive perceptions of principal leadership behaviours can strengthen feelings of self-efficacy in teachers, and as a result increase a teacher's value and self- worth (Fernet et al., 2012, p. 523).