We talk a lot about engagement – of families, students, and teachers. It might sound like a buzzword or catch phrase, when, in fact, it is the foundation for student success.
Teacher engagement refers to the extent to which teachers are passionate about their jobs, are committed to their schools and students, and put forth discretionary effort in their work. Engagement is commitment, dedication, and involvement.
And it’s not easy right now.
Why does teacher engagement matter?
Teacher engagement is, for lack of a better word, everything. Engaged educators:
- Are enthusiastic and committed to their students’ learning.
- Are more likely to put extra effort into creating lesson plans to meet the needs of diverse students and learning abilities.
- Motivate their students to become active in their learning.
- Foster more responsive and inclusive learning environments.
- Are invested in their continued education to improve their subject-matter knowledge as well as their teaching abilities.
- Are more likely to stay in their jobs (reducing turnover), providing their school with more expertise and experience.
We can bet that everybody has a “favorite teacher” story … a teacher that made you feel seen, who challenged you, who opened their classroom to you during lunchtime, who inspired you. Hollywood is filled with examples of excellent educators (and they make it look so easy!). Consider John Keating (Dead Poets Society), Miss Honey (Matilda), Joe Clark (Lean on Me), and Sergio Juarez (Radical). We’d argue that these examples of teaching brilliance (two based on true stories, two fictional) are complicated because all of these educators faced nearly insurmountable odds, from incredibly dangerous social contexts to horrifying administration (Miss Trunchbull). Good teaching and teacher engagement require hard work. And it takes a village — a community — to provide spaces for teaching and learning to happen. It shouldn’t have to be up to one bright light in the darkness.
According to We Are Teachers, three-fourths of school districts struggle to hire qualified educators, and about 18% of teachers say they won’t (or might not) return to a classroom next school year. Teachers are experiencing mass burnout: large classroom sizes, heavy administrative work, high-needs students, a lack of support from administration, shifting priorities, and compensation are all factors that impact teacher engagement.
Engaged teachers are the cornerstone of student success.
Teacher engagement is, as we said, everything.
How to measure teacher engagement?
There are many indicators you can use to better understand how your teachers are feeling and whether they are engaged. Through observation and by looking at the data, you can gauge whether teachers are engaged or not. Some data includes:
- Sick days and personal family days
- Student test scores
- Turnover
- Classroom observations (noting classroom disruptions, instructional time, time on task).
To dig deep and understand not only whether your teachers are engaged but also what you can do to improve engagement, we recommend you administer a Teacher Engagement Survey.
What is a teacher engagement survey?
CustomInsight for Schools can help you identify, understand, and fix engagement problems. It goes beyond the whether and provides you with the why and what. (And, with our in-depth survey analysis, you can even get the how.)
With the staff survey, you can gain insights into engagement, leadership effectiveness, and cultural alignment. The results will equip your school and school district leaders with the data they need to boost morale, reduce burnout, and effect meaningful change to improve organizational performance.
What’s next? Improving teacher engagement will reduce turnover, increase student learning, and improve your educational institute’s overall school climate. Next blog, we’ll discuss how to improve teacher engagement.
