Working with your staff

Without a safety net

Leading change from one model of practice to a new model can be challenging, rewarding and fraught with dangers. For example, many school leaders I work with are looking to move from the punitive model of punishment with all of the blame, stagnant results and negativity that comes with it – to the restorative model, where responsibility, action and relationships are the cornerstones.

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Six ways to keep your teachers

Two alarming statistics have made their way into the national education conversation in recent years. We’ve been aware for some time that many jurisdictions are coping with 30-50% of their teachers leaving the profession permanently within the first five years of service. Alarming as this is, we’ve taken some comfort in the apparent quarantining of that problem to young or inexperienced teachers.

More recently, we’ve been made aware that 20% of ALL teachers have seriously contemplated resignation, not just from their schools, but from their teaching careers in the last term. This damning statistic is a reflection on all of us and should impel us to action rather than blame.

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