Confessions of a Quiet Quitter part 3

Last week, we looked at three concerns raised in an anonymous letter from a teacher that listed various grievances about leadership in her school. This teacher stated that she would be “quiet quitting” until she could find another job elsewhere.

If you missed that post, you can find it here. The original letter can be found here.

Even though educational leaders are often just as overworked and overlooked as the teachers and staff they lead, you must do your part to preempt any of these common concerns.

Your organization’s culture is at stake, and the impact of your actions and attitudes is mediated through your staff onto your students’ success.

In today’s post, we’ll look at the final three concerns mentioned in the “Quiet Quitting” letter and how to address each issue.

Leaders don’t offer specific praise to staff and students.

General praise is generally useless. At best, general praise is weak. When your leader says “great job,” what does he or she actually mean? What was noticed?

At worst, general praise is harmful. Teachers may get the idea that the leader doesn’t actually know or care what the teacher is doing, and he’s just giving lip service to the teacher’s hard work. General praise can be seen as the leader just checking a box.

Consider the difference between these sentences left on a sticky note after a brief classroom visit. Which would you prefer to receive?

“Great job on your lesson today! I enjoyed it!”

vs.

“Excellent student engagement! Your questioning technique of ask-pause-call kept 100% of your students ready to answer.”

It doesn’t take much more time to deliver specific praise. Thoughtful positive feedback does wonders for teacher morale.

Elementary teachers have figured out that specific praise given to one student is more effective for classroom management than individual correction. “I like how Christina is sitting up quietly at her desk with her pencil in her hand” helps everyone to be quiet and ready for the lesson.

The same is true for adults: if you say “Mrs. Smith has really moved the needle by pulling in low performing students during recess,” you can bet on a handful of other teachers providing extra remediation. You’ll always get more of what you specifically praise.

Leaders inconsistently hold people accountable.

People notice who gets special treatment. Everyone has an unconscious fairness monitor that keeps track of their place in the pecking order. Even leaders with the best intentions should keep an eye on the overall organization when giving out rewards or reprimands.

It’s the leader’s job to treat everyone fairly and to provide resources equitably. Most people understand that a struggling teacher or student needs more support than one who hits goals consistently. The problem comes in when leaders fail to address performance issues.

I have heard this complaint lodged in many different ways. “XXXXXX shouldn’t get a pass just because he’s incompetent. It puts more work on the good teachers.” “I feel like I’m being punished for doing a good job, while someone else is getting rewarded for doing a poor job.” “Of course XXXXX always has the best results in the district; she gets the ‘smart’ kids every year.”

Don’t let anyone get away with bad behavior. Correct people behind closed doors, and if the issue continues, take further steps including disciplinary action.

Over the years, I’ve changed my mind about giving preferential treatment to certain teachers. Doing so creates a sense of entitlement in the individual and harms the culture of the school overall. It’s better to put incentives in place that everyone can work towards than to automatically reward people for tenure or test results.

A strong team with a positive culture working towards a goal trumps any one superstar with jealous teammates.

Leaders fail to celebrate wins.

There are natural times in the school year to celebrate with teachers and staff. Mid-year Christmas celebrations and end-of-the-year retirement and awards celebrations are common. But what about when a teacher or team completes a major goal or hits a high target? Is that treated as just a matter of course?

One of the best things you can do as a school or district leader is to work towards creating a culture of data-driven instruction. Partner with teachers to set challenging but attainable goals based on measurable results, and check in with them periodically to gauge their progress.

And then–this is the crucial part–celebrate publicly when teachers reach those goals. Did a teacher set a goal to include vocabulary instruction in every bell ringer? Make a note to mention it when you see that vocabulary question in her lesson plans. Did a teacher reach a goal for 70% of her students to show proficiency on the third district benchmark? Celebrate!

Data-driven goal-setting may be a part of a cultural shift for your organization–that takes time to implement and constant adjustment. But creating that culture shift allows you to keep your team motivated by focusing on specific targets that move over time.

Hopefully, if you strive to implement these fixes to your leadership, you’ll never have a “quiet quitter” on your team. Remember, no matter how much paperwork you have to manage, you are primarily a leader of people. Lead them well, and your organization will be successful.

What about you? How have you been able to incorporate specific praise, effective accountability, and effective celebration into your leadership?

Let me know in the comments below!