Ten (10) Ways of Motivating Teachers in Their Career

Students of today bring a lot more than just pencils and textbooks to school; many harbor behavioral or family issues, learning disabilities, and more. Teacher motivation is vital to the growing and evolving field of education, yet it is not investigated enough. Sinclair (Sinclair, 2008) defined teachers motivation in terms of attraction, retention and concentration as something that determines 'what attracts individuals to teaching” Need for rapid growth of higher education, issues in compensation, developments in information technology and dearth for teaching and technical skills brought teacher motivation to the center stage.It takes patience, passion, resilience, and a lot of commitment being a good teacher.

Here are a ten (10) ways to motivate them and inspire their best.

Encourage Teacher-Student Relationship

Here, teachers are to be encouraged to go close to student, know more about them and create good teacher-student relationship. This will give students the chance to view their teachers as helpers and motivators instead of seeing them as no-go area. With this, students feel free to talk to teachers about their problems at both school and home as well. This make teachers feel good because, at the end when student problems are solved, they are seen as problem solvers.

Organizing Trips and Family Fun Days

Organizing and taking teachers with their families to sceneries in order for them to enjoy recreational activities such as hiking and camping, skating, hunting and fishing canoeing, kayaking and rafting, sailing and motor boating, cycling, rock climbing, Horseback riding etc, motivates teachers a lot. In so doing, participation becomes beneficial to their health. Being out and enjoying the natural world provides physical as well as mental health benefits.

Publicly Praise Teachers

If a teacher feels valued, you won’t need to worry about motivating them. These teachers will know how to stay motivated. Making each teacher feel valued can be as simple as including an announcement in the morning thanking the teacher for something that he/she has done recently. You can also make this a larger gesture by organizing a staff lunch in which you personally thank teachers for outstanding contributions to the school.

Give Teachers a Voice

Teachers who are being left out of an important decision or meeting that affects them is the easiest way for a teacher to lose motivation. Many teachers would love to be involved in these decisions if you gave them the opportunity. Invite a teacher from each grade or department to be a representative during board meetings to get their opinion and learn about their proposed strategies. Also, consider holding “open-door” meetings, where every teacher has the option to attend and listen during meetings, even if they are not directly involved, motivates and give them satisfaction.

 

Provision of Teaching Materials

If teachers want to find new ways to reach all different types of learners, they need well-stocked supply closets and realistic student-to-teacher ratios. They need materials that can appeal to tactile, auditory and visual learners, and time to evaluate and work with each student. This will make teaching run smoother, which in the end make teacher happy.

Organize Workshops

Most teachers learn more from teaching than studying and live off the attention of standing up there at the front and getting approval, so giving workshops can be an even better way of coming up with new ideas. Informal education such as resource sharing or conversations among teachers about professional concerns and formal education in the form of workshops and seminars make teachers benefit much in learning new things in their field.

Feed the teachers

Celebrate the end of a busy week by arranging to have the cafeteria staff prepare a special continental breakfast such as beverages and muffins, rolls, or coffee cake every Friday morning. (Even once a month would be enough). Here, they’ll report to work with enthusiasm, even though Friday seems to be the last working day in the week and may wish to take excuses to be absent.

Being Rewarded

According to several authorities, the proper approach to work motivation lies in a careful distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards surrounding a job such as salaries, fringe benefits, and job security and intrinsic rewards of the job itself such as self-respect, sense of accomplishment, and personal growth. Focusing more on intrinsic rewards are more satisfying and motivating.

Improve Teacher Autonomy

Advocates of greater teacher autonomy argue that because teachers are in the best position to make informed decisions about a student’s education, they should be given as much autonomy as possible when it comes to choosing instructional strategies, designing lessons, and providing academic support. Such is more important, making teachers independent. When all these are not considered, may limit the professionalism, authority, responsiveness, creativity, or effectiveness of teachers.

Provide Growth Opportunities

Teachers must be provided with some opportunities to grow in their field of work. Challenge them to go to enriching, paid seminars that teach them how to integrate technology, or academic coaching and pursuing a higher level of education in their career. They can then use this knowledge to teach their colleagues. Research shows that when teachers are presented with opportunities like these, we become more invested in own jobs.

Behind many successful adults is a teacher that helped contribute and shape those students’ foundations for the future. If the goal is to keep our top teachers motivated and happy at work, an environment where we feel valued must prevail. Once this is established, not only will you have created a positive work environment for us teachers, but also one where students are motivated and inspired as well.