Within the Classroom: Delivering the Curriculum Teachers excel in their profession when they feel as though their efforts are positively affecting students (Price, 2012, p. 41). In return, students find success when teachers and principals make additional time and effort to recognize these learning experiences (Price, 2012, p. 41). Teachers who can describe their principals or administrators
as supportive believe their efforts to be more rewarding and valuable. Teachers are also more productive and experience less job-related stresses when teachers and student well-being is considered each day (Gray et al., 2017, p. 206). Teachers are better able to deliver the curriculum when relationships with school principals or administrators are consistent and reliable. Through quality teacher-principal interactions, principals can address instructional improvements and become comfortable with specifying their expectations for teachers. It's clear that having conversations about instructional methods leads to higher-quality instructional practices (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 365), and therefore expectations for delivering the curriculum are effectively being met. In relation to empowering teachers in their profession, principals who communicate their expectations about curriculum development and delivery makes teachers more aware about the importance of pedagogical decision-making in their instructional leadership practices (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 376). |
Within School Contexts High levels of satisfaction among teachers and other school staff are often found in school environments where risk taking is encouraged by the principals or administrators. This is especially necessary when staff begin to develop school improvement initiatives in a collaborative way (Price, 2012, p. 42). Teachers who believe that their school principals or administrators are committed to them experience increased levels of job satisfaction and will want to strive to improve their performance in action (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 289).
I've learned that having professional communities means principals want to help create a school culture that shares values and expectations among teachers and principals or administrators. Within schools, shared leadership guides the process of identifying and developing school goals in collaborative ways. It is important to highlight that principals and administrators should work alongside teachers as often as possible. This type of cooperation is strongly linked to job satisfaction levels of teachers (Ch et al., 2017, p. 55). The greater the involvement of teachers, the stronger the school culture. The school culture becomes more community-oriented if teachers feel accepted and respected by their principal, along with gaining a sense of belonging and pride in their school contexts(Stearns et al., 2015, p. 6). |
Outside of School Contexts: Personal Professional Development Principals and administrators have the ability to reduce teacher stress in many ways. For example, hosting workshops related to stress management throughout the school year allows teachers to feel comfortable with choosing stress reduction methods that work best for them. This is one way that quality teacher-principal relationships can support teacher well-being (Gray et al., 2017, p. 207) inside and outside of school environments.
Principal involvement in professional development activities that focus on creating school climates that support teacher well-being and student learning is necessary for change (Gray et al., 2017, p. 208). School principals or administrators should embrace the variety of qualities found among their teachers. More than this, consistent communications should be sent to teachers to engage them in additional professional development opportunities (Szeto & Cheng, 2018, p. 370). This should become a habitual practice for all principals! When there is support for teachers' personal and professional growth (Bogler & Nir, 2012, p. 302), one's instructional leadership experiences will become more rewarding. |