Madeline Will (Education Week), Dear Administrators: Here Are 7 Things Teachers Want You to Know (May 24, 2023) 

In this short essay, a K-12 teacher identified seven things teachers want their administrators to know. As a former administrator returning to full-time teaching, all seven resonate, although they play out differently in law schools. The article begins:

Take some duties off teachers’ plates. Listen to their concerns, and work together to find solutions. Avoid too many new initiatives at once. Don’t fall back on clichés like, “It’s all about the . . . [students].”

Those are just some of the ways that teachers say administrators could better support their mental health, according to a new nationally representative survey.

My favorite set of recommendations from the article are under the heading “Be an empathic leader. Among the recommendations, presented as quotations from real teachers, are:

• “Treat teachers like the professionals they are. This includes tone of voice, respecting the teacher in conferences, and not assuming anything negative about a teacher until you get the full truth.”
• “Treat all of your staff members fairly. When meeting with a teacher who has behaved unprofessionally, ask them if they are OK, or if there are things going on in their personal life that are pushing them past their limits. We give this grace to students, but not always to adults . . .”
• “. . . Just telling teachers that they’re appreciated makes a huge difference.”