It’s the purple polka-dotted elephant in the room—teachers are leaving education. Educators who’ve spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on schooling and certifications are walking away forever. Reasons range from insufficient compensation to concerns about job demands to needing physical and emotional respite. In response, administrators are scrambling to fill the teacher shortage gap.
During a leadership team meeting, despair hovered as I discussed looming staffing gaps. Our school enrollment was rapidly increasing, and positions weren’t being filled as quickly as we’d hoped. At the perfect moment, a leadership team member astutely voiced, “Yes, we need teachers, but most importantly, we need the right teachers for our students.” Those words imbued the resolution to maintain the pursuit of educators who embodied those values wholly parallel with the needs of our learning community. Our team then began the journey of establishing a clear, shared vision about what characteristics would constitute the right fit; developing a process that allows those characteristics to be identified; and always seeking to establish alignment between our team and the candidates about those values.
Vision Establishment
Over time, our team established three non-negotiables we seek in candidates. We first focus on educators who display a deep love for children, teaching and learning. This non-negotiable is the foundation for all the others. Having a deep love to teach children and grow in the art and science of instruction ensures a healthy and effective classroom culture can exist. Additionally, we focused on self-awareness and the willingness to reflect because these characteristics accelerate candidates’ pathways to becoming master teachers. Finally, all our teachers must engage in communication that maintains dignity for all stakeholders. When leadership teams determine non-negotiables for hiring, this helps to ensure new members who join the team only enhance the pre-established organizational culture versus causing it to erode.
Process Development
A clear vision allows leadership teams to set up a process to ensure candidates identified for hire are in tune with those values. The process involves all steps of the hiring process—application screening, interviewing, inbox tasks, and reference checks. The interview is the most important
aspect of all. Develop questions that specifically will reveal candidates’ values and belief systems to gain a glimpse into how candidates will operate as a team member and interact with stakeholders. Listening and observing intently allows leaders to understand where candidates are aligned or misaligned with campus non-negotiables.
Ensuring Alignment
Lastly, before officially inviting a candidate to join the team, it’s important to express the team’s non-negotiables with future teachers to make sure there is alignment, and they are committed to meeting those standards. As Brené Brown famously shares, “Clear is kind.” We always want to provide a pathway to success for our teachers. Explicitly expressing the values and characteristics that will allow teachers to thrive in the organization will accomplish that goal.
It’s vital that school leadership teams establish non-negotiables for selecting incoming teachers. Be sure there is a clear, shared vision about characteristics because candidates need to be a right fit for your learning community. Cultivate a process that allows you to identify those characteristics, and engage in honest dialogue with candidates about the standards for your campus. Be encouraged that you can and will find the right educators to ensure your learning community can thrive!
TEPSA member Dr. Danielle Riddick believes every child deserves an educational system in which they can truly blossom. She has dedicated her 15 years in public education to fulfilling that mission. Dr. Riddick is currently a principal in Garland ISD. She is also a graduate of Southern Methodist University’s EdD Educational Leadership Program.
