| Attracting and Retaining High Qualified Teachers |
6/10/04 9:18 AM |
| Author:
Marsha Ratzel
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In seeking another position I would look for many of the factors that so many have already listed...the existence of a common vision, the belief in a data-driven decision making instructional environment and the resulting professional conversations that derive from those beliefs and a collaborative administration.
But to me all these factors describe one thing...a school culture that is committed in all ways to learning and doing what is best for student learning. I would carefully examine any school to see if there was that untouchable something that you can sense from a community that is committed to each other, their students, their content and their parents. You can feel it because everyone is about the business of growing and learning. It may sound very unrealistic, but it isn't.
Typically places like this have the numbers to back it up and if you'll pause just a moment to listen in on conversations between professionals, you'll hear the culture. Engaged students interested in their studies, teachers who are working on assessments together or wondering about instructional strategies and on and on and on.
Before you dismiss this as some mystical nonsense. Let me tell you that whenever you go to a conference or a workshop or any other professional gathering, if you stop and listen in on conversations....you can tell someone who comes from a school with this culture. We seem to find one another even at the largest NSTA conventions or when the National Board holds its annual convention. And it is a wonderful thing because you talk and talk and talk like old friends because you just have that special something in common----what's best for kids. How do you get there, and how does your school have a culture that promotes thinking and acting like that? I think it was Parker Palmer who even wrote a book about parallel characteristics of teachers so I'm not totally alone in identifying this force.
At least it's something to consider from where I've been. If I were a principal I would emphasize this to a potential candidate. If I were seeking a position, it is the most important thing I would try and detect in my interviews and would be essential in building a high quality faculty.
Posted as a reply to:
Teacher Quality by Bob Montgomery 
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