SUPPORTING MID-CAREER TEACHERS

Jenel Giles

Background

In the context of my work as division head I work with a number of mid-career educators. In my own personal experience, years 5-10 either at an institution or in your career is a time of both refection and seeking. In schools we often give support to those who are new to education or new to our institutions. Newcomers often get mentorship and feedback at a greater frequency than those who have been in the organization longer. Most times people do not receive that level of support or structure unless they are in need of a performance plan or if there is a structure for cyclical review as part of a growth and development program. It made me wonder if there is something school leaders are missing that would be supportive to mid-career educators. In my own experience, year fve was when I started to explore leadership opportunities. I took curriculum classes in the hopes of strengthening my practice. I also explored questions of staying in independent school and in education all together. Most of my experience was self-directed and not driven by existing programs within my school. I received support for my interests but there were no formal structures in place for me to tap into within the school community. I wondered if other educators experience something similar and how it affects their work and engagement within a school community.

Exploration and Learning

Moorestown Friends does a climate survey every two years. One such survey was completed a few weeks before I started working at MFS. Another was completed in my second year in 2021 and in the middle of the pandemic. There were three areas that stood out to me: recognition for excellent work, feeling challenged to grow, and feeling supported by administrators. All seemed to trend slightly downward after 3-5 years of service. It raised questions for me about the trajectory of support and recognition for faculty and staff after the initial onboarding phase where they most likely receive more support and feedback.

For the next phase of my research, I sought out individuals at MFS who work to support faculty growth and development. I interviewed the Director of Teaching and Learning to learn more about both her experience at our school and other schools. During our conversation she identified three groups of mid-career educators and their needs. The first is people who want to grow in their craft as an educator. They are no longer looking to grow in the basics of teaching but rather they identify a core element of their teaching or content knowledge that they are seeking to develop. They seek out professional development and support from administrators and colleagues to grow in their self-identified area. The second group looks toward leadership. They want to share their knowledge with others, show their skills and potential and/or grow into a role outside of the classroom. The last group sometimes needs some support to take on more challenge or to continue to develop their craft. This interview made me believe that there might not be a “one size fits all” approach to supporting mid-career educators but rather a mix of individualized and structured universal offerings. It left me with questions about what educators would say they need in years fve through ten that would feel supportive.

In February, I attended a webinar about the challenges and opportunities independent schools are currently facing. One topic was teacher retention. They identifed three main reasons why teachers leave school: not feeling fulflled, not feeling trusted and feeling overwhelmed. This program made me think that it is important to situate any discussion around supporting any specifc group of educators within the current social context. We can make avenues and opportunities available to teachers, but if we do not create time and structures for them to take advantage of them, then they will not be as effective or fulfilling.

Refection and Next Steps

My action research has made me wonder how we can best utilize existing teacher growth programs to meet mid-career teachers where they are and give them agency on paths of growth to pursue. How can we create space for those pathways to be meaningful to the educator and have a larger impact in the school community?

Next Steps:

1. Explore the opportunities available through our current Faculty Growth Program to address the needs of mid-career professionals. For example, the school could develop some professional development or project-oriented work that involves leadership opportunities. The project could feed into work that the school needs or that would be recognized in the independent school world more broadly.

2. Continue to speak with other colleagues about what they are doing for mid-career teachers and what the most pressing needs are. There might be additional needs that were not identified in my current action research that could be addressed with further exploration.

JENEL GILES

Lower School DirectorMoorestown Friends SchoolMoorestown, NJ

I came to Moorestown Friends School after 12 years of teaching kindergarten at a progressive school in New York City. In my time there, I also completed a leadership degree at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College. Working with the youngest learners and their teachers and families is a passion of mine. Quaker education pedagogy felt familiar and had many similarities to progressive education. In my time at Moorestown Friends, I have learned more deeply about what it means to be a Quaker school educator, what spirit-led decision making looks like and the benefts of Quaker education for all students.