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Hi Suzanne,

It is certainly the responsibility of the school leader to engage staff in their continued professional growth. One way is to provide staff with meaningful responsibilty—another is to recognize staff achievement. Your question once again focuses on the importance of developing a process for staff to share knowledge. I cannot even begin to emphasize how important this is as we respond to your question.

Niagara

I think this is a great question! I believe that motivation at times affects us all but I agree it is more difficult to engage those who are nearing the end of their career. I wonder if you were to invite them to participate in the decision making, if they might take more ownership. I believe that they can be like the students in your class who are unmotivated. As a teacher, you might change up the lessons to make them individualized to the interests of that student. You also might give them “jobs” to which you know they will be successful. I think that you could treat the situation with your staff, the same by giving them jobs (not to be mistaken for extra work) that you know they would be interested in.

It is a difficult question to answer. As a leader, trying to motivate unmotivated staff regardless of how close they are to retirement can be a huge task. Often, we as a staff enable those who decide to “retire on the job.” I would hazard a guess and say that we have all come across at least one in our career. The ones who have been in the same room, same grade, and use the same lesson plans year over year. How do we as a staff help that person come out of their funk? We usually just avoid them and cross our fingers that we won’t have to be their teaching partner one day. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a task left solely up to the leader, perhaps it needs to be a more collective effort. Supporting the leader’s efforts when it comes to trying to shake things up, or more enthusiastically sharing knowledge….especially with the unreluctant members of staff would at least get the process moving in the right direction

Hi Suzanne, When I started at my school 2 years ago as a VP I had 2 teachers on staff, some would describe as stagnate, and ready to retire. We have spoken extensively about the importance of building relationships and communication, and I certainly spent a lot of time developing meaningful relationships with these 2 staff members to try to avoid an “early retirement” state of mind.

One of the most effective things I did was communicate. I listened. I asked questions about their past educational journey and their plans for the future. I spoke to them about what I had heard about their impact on this school and others. I asked them questions, although I may have had the answer, but wanted them to see how valuable and needed they were. As Dr. Calzi suggested too, I found out what PD they were interested in and suggested it as though it was a legacy they could leave behind. Last year one teacher retired and I can confindently say did not check out early. This year the other teacher has committed to increasing her knowledge of technology. When I asked her if she was interested in attending a workshop just last month she said that someone else could go. When I responded that was a shame because I think the staff would respond so favourably if she were to come back and share her expertise, she quickly agreed.

People, regardless of time in their careers need to feel a sense of value and accomplishment. Communication and relationships are key. School leaders are instrumental in finding out the needs of their staff and determining the best root to continue to motivate and inspire them. Not always easy but certainly worth the effort for all.

I agree with Karen. All people want to feel a sense of value and accomplishment. I think that sometimes when you get a younger staff coming in, they are fresh and full of change. They often want to change the way things had been done in the past. Sometimes I think it makes some older staff feel like the school is not theirs anymore. Staff that are close to retirement need to be made to feel like they are important and their ideas are important. If they have been at the school for a while, they want to be looked to by staff for ideas and recognized for what they have done. Communication is critical in making those people feel valued and, thus, keeping them focused on the job at hand. Maybe pairing them up with a newer staff member would be helpful or having them lead meetings would also be beneficial.

Well, as an aging staff member myself! yet far from ‘retiring on the job’ I also see the need to keep my older colleagues engaged in what they once did so well and still can. Everyone has something to contribute. It may not be as big as being the director of the spring play, or coach of the football team or teacher mentor of the biotech group but every small effort should be acknowledged and recognized as being part of the bigger, greater picture. I think we need to listen more. Let people speak – not rant – just talk. I think we subconsciously tune out the members of staff who are not the outgoing and more ‘popular’ types (often the aging teaching population). But I do firmly believe that our aging staff members would give more if they felt their efforts were more valued and their experiences more worthy of being shared. I think we just need to listen more attentively – with not only our ears but also our eyes. Again, everyone has something to contribute.

Hi Suzanne,

This is a great question, and I think one that needs to be addressed. I think that as you’ve mentioned, it is crucial for school leaders to ensure that their staff feels motivated (both personally and professionally) and challenged at all stages in their career. I think that the best way to accomplish this is for the school leader to model that enthusiasm and passion. I also think that if the school leader is visible around the school, and in classrooms, that they can find small ways to motivate staff on an inidividual basis. What might motivate one staff member, may not work for another. Leadership is situational in nature. I also think that promoting teamwork among divisions or departments is crucial. We become inspired and motivated when we see what others are doing, and when knowledge is shared. I think that is often fear of the unknown and change that can be intimidating for people. Therefore, providing that professional development for staff is very critical for motivation. Those staff members who are part of the :aging workplace” are often the ones that can be called upon for expert knowledge, so allowing them to assume these positions of responsibility and leadership can also be beneficial.

I think that it is important for people who are older to feel like they still belong and are not being forced out the door or are being replaced. This may happen when new technologies are coming out. Although people are still people and mostly the same, there is now an understanding or at least an unfair generalization that more mature individuals are not as computer savvy as the younger generation. It is no surprise then that there is some sense of uneasiness when people of this younger generation begin to enter the work force. Often the idea is “out with the old, in with the new”. This is not the case. According to D.W. Tileston technology has altered the day-to-day lives of everyone. What should be the common practice is for the organization to invite the younger students to lead a seminar on all the new forms of technology that can benefit both the workers and the industry for the more seasoned who perhaps do not have the same computer savvy. There should not be any fear of loosing one’s job from lack of technological education. Especially, if the education is available and the candidate is willing to learn. If these two things are in place there will be no communication breakdown due to age gap. Unless we are talking about types of music … Who are the Rolling Stones?

Suzanne, this is something that your Board should probably address in terms of succession planning and sustainability. Seasoned teachers have a wealth of experiences that would be valuable to new teachers. Therefore a mentorship program could be set up to engage some of the older teachers. Also, if you can find a specific project for the teachers it would give them something to focus on prior to retirement.

Suzanne, I think Anthony is bang on when he talks about the idea of mentorship. Staff finishing off their career probably want to make a contribution They may not see the value in changing their practice as they have a short time left but they would probably be open to helping a new teacher develop. Human nature being what it is nad as maslow states, we want to contribute to the next generation. An older teacher would also get affirmation from a request to mentor and we all need that sometimes.

As a leader, it is important to recognize that all staff, both those new to the profession and those existing, have valuable knowledge and experiences to bring to their classrooms. As others have mentioned, keeping older staff motivated and feeling appreciated, will go a long way in keeping them engaged professionally.

We also have the “mentoring program” and it is very successful. This type of program where a new teacher and older teacher work together is a wonderful opporunity to gain invaluable knowledge that will greatly benefit the students.

In our school, we all have LCD projectors mounted on the ceilings. One staff member that I work closely with has never been comfortable with the LCD even though she went for the one hour training session. I am constantly sending her stuff and walking her through the steps. She is now becoming a pro at it. But, I have also learned many bits of “science stuff” from her that cannot be found in any textbook.

In the end, we both feel appreciated and valued.

Thank you for your discussions regarding Leading an Aging Workforce. I found them to be enlightening and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. Obviously from the comments, there is a need to generate creative solutions to ensure that teachers and other educational leaders continue to be professionallly challenged during the life of their careers.

There were a number of common themes with respect to the comments. I will try to summarize:

• Teachers with many years of experience should be more intimately involved in decision making.
• We need to celebrate the wisdom of experience and recognize and reward those professional teachers who are in the “twilight” of their careers.
• Experienced teachers need to be encouraged and supported to share their wisdom and to engage with younger teachers – the concept of mentoring
• We need to be a culture of sharing within our institutions.
• We cannot underestimate the importance of communication.

Keeping staff motivated, cultivating teamwork and the promotion of staff morale are some of the greatest challenges for us as leaders in education. Bottom line – I think that valuing others is the common thread. Relationships – relationships – relationships