What Makes a School a Great Place to Work?

I recently read an article by Katie McGrath titled, "I've worked at 2 schools with high teacher morale, here's what they do differently ." It resonated so deeply with me that I felt I should share my thoughts.

Here are some things to think about while reading. Please share your thoughts on these or anything else that comes to mind!

1. What has been your experience concerning the four areas shared by the author?
2. ?Do you work in a school with high teacher morale?
3. ?What might be missing from this list that you are noticing?

I like this article because it clearly articulates what we can focus on to support a healthy school culture. The author Katie McGrath does a great job of distilling what she learned while working at schools with high teacher morale.

I like this article because it closely mirrors my experiences working with schools. As a consultant and professional learning provider, I work across many different types of schools in many countries. And while each school is unique and special, from a leadership perspective, we can notice things that successful schools have in common.

*Speaking of school culture, I wanted to share a book I enjoyed on culture by Dan Coyle called The Culture Code .

A quick aside, I noticed Katie McGrath is an MS instructional coach. She works across departments and levels in this position and sometimes might act as a bridge between teachers and leadership. This position, in turn, would provide her with a unique vantage on the different elements that converge to support a healthy school with high teacher morale.

So, what are the things that high moral schools do? The author suggests just four areas to focus on. In addition to these four areas, the author does a great job articulating what this looks like in practice. Here are the four areas and articulated examples.

#1 Build Psychological Safety

Yes, we know this, right? Why, then, is it so elusive in many schools? One recommendation is to prioritize inclusion for teachers and learners. I see repeatedly that schools that model what they are asking of students do it well. For example, schools that have a high degree of autonomy for teachers often also have high student autonomy. An example shared by the author is offering "choice-based PD." The author also highlights "learning walks" to build community, share and highlight best practices, and build a culture of collaboration.

#2 Protect Teacher's Time

This is the top complaint of many teachers I work with. In addition to feeling like they need more time, they think they need more autonomy over their time to prioritize what they feel is most important. The author has a bold suggestion, but one I agree with; "prioritize, pause, or cancel meetings." A common joke with teachers is, "This meeting could have been an email." The reality is that it is hard to find the time to prepare for and run high-impact meetings. We all know what it feels like to leave a meeting feeling like we've accomplished something. That starts with understanding why we are at that meeting and what is expected of us during the meetings and afterward. There are many great resources for learning how to plan and run great meetings, including The Art of Coaching Teams: Building Resilient Communities That Transform Schools by Elena Aguilar .

Next up is "self-paced professional learning." This is a powerful and straightforward way to honor teachers as professionals.

# 3 Engage in Continuous Feedback Loops

We need to know how we are progressing in relation to our goals! This process must be intentional and well-designed. There are lots of resources on feedback practices. I have learned much from Peter Senge and Justin Reich through their work at MIT. They have some great online courses through EdX .

# 4 Celebrate Together

I'm surprised by how many schools not only don't do this but intentionally don't do it! Strong cultures have an alignment between words and actions. We must identify the behaviors (actions) that express our beliefs (words) and celebrate when we see this alignment.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts!