萝莉网

By Ann Levett

The newest employee of my school district鈥檚 central administrative team was wide-eyed as she walked into our annual Central Office Super Bowl celebration. While familiar with such team-building activities during her years working at the school level, she never expected to witness something of this nature at the central office.

This employee would come to experience a workplace environment unlike any other she had encountered in her previous district office roles. Team building was a routine part of department meetings, and department retreats were annual events.

She would participate in Pi Day luncheons, art lessons, dress-down days and the all-time favorite Kick Back and Relax Day, which included food, games, karaoke and spa services. She even joined the after-work Zumba class.

She and her colleagues continue to report, years later, that these activities made them feel seen and appreciated.

Raising Morale

Should these bonding activities be more common in district offices?

School system administrators understand that a district鈥檚 success hinges on the performance of all its units, including the central administrative offices. Central offices can be high-stress environments due to the expectations and demands placed on staff. Though these administrative employees are essential to school district operations, their wellness needs may not always be adequately addressed in the workplace.

During my tenure as superintendent of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Savannah, Ga., I made it a priority to address the morale and well-being needs of the central-office staff. My leadership team and I focused on hosting activities regularly to support and encourage team building and collaboration. We also provided new opportunities for employee growth and regularly acknowledged outstanding performance by individuals and departments.

As expected, we saw marked improvement in the following areas identified in our work-culture objectives:

Increased employee engagement and productivity. Employees who feel valued and supported are more engaged and committed, leading to higher productivity and efficiency.

Improved mental and physical health. Wellness programs equip employees to manage stress and improve both mental and physical health, reducing burnout, absenteeism and turnover.

Enhanced work-life balance. Initiatives supporting work-life balance and self-care enable employees to manage their workload effectively.

Employee Feedback

Some of the activities and services we implemented to support employee wellness included:

Mindfulness and physical wellness programs that promote overall well-being and counteract the effects of sedentary work. Several central-office locations offered yoga classes, meditation spaces, dance classes and exercise equipment. Culinary classes and a kickstart program in the spring promoted healthy eating and outdoor exercise.

Mental health resources and work-life balance initiatives that include access to counseling, flexible work arrangements and mental wellness support promote a healthy well-being and life-work integration. We adjusted the work calendar by closing the district completely to ensure all employees were off work two additional weeks annually. Employee counseling was available through a new district wellness center. Mobile behavioral, medical and dental services were provided onsite by a local health center partner.

Team building and professional development that foster camaraderie and support for employee growth. Chili cookoffs, gourd decorating contests, white parties, New Year celebrations and end-of-school-year picnics strengthened teams.

Based on leader feedback and employee needs, we expanded professional development offerings to include Microsoft certification, a New Leaders Academy to help employees promoted from within the organization and time/stress management courses. Participants reported increased efficiency and job satisfaction.

A Stronger Whole

These activities are common in school buildings where children and staff function more like families and tend to celebrate and support each other during challenging times. In central administrative offices, there is a more 鈥渟iloed鈥� approach. Thus, whole-building activities are not the norm.

Consequently, I felt it necessary to create that culture of 鈥渙neness鈥� at the central office so all employees could see the importance of their role in serving schools. It is the interdependence and understanding that the 鈥渟um of the parts makes for a stronger whole鈥� culture that helped us make it through the pandemic times successfully.

Employee attendance and retention rates improved. Employees made more suggestions on how we might improve our work culture. We saw that investing in the well-being of administrative employees created a healthier, more productive and positive work environment for all.

Ann Levett, a former superintendent, is assistant executive director of AASA鈥檚 Leadership Network.

Political polarization, heightened racial tensions and their interplay in education policies have applied unprecedented pressures on educators, contributing to widespread burnout.

For superintendents and other education leaders, addressing these challenges requires strategic, empathetic and proactive measures to protect the well-being of teachers and to undergird a supportive learning environment for students.

Superintendents have an opportunity to create systemic changes that reduce or remove these pressures.

Communicate openly

Establish regular forums where teachers can voice concerns without fear of reprisal. Listening to their experiences can help identify systemic issues and provide valuable insights for decision making.

Clearly communicate how the district will handle politically sensitive issues. Transparency reduces uncertainty and builds trust.

Identify what policies and laws inform your work. If DEI language or efforts are not permitted, be clear about what is. No one thrives when fear and uncertainty abound. Work closely with legislators and colleagues to establish and model the clear expectations.

Advocate for teachers publicly

Use your platform to affirm the value of educators and their work. Highlight their successes and the positive impact they have on students鈥� lives.

Push back against unfounded criticism or politicized attacks on teachers, reinforcing their professionalism and dedication.

Promote professional development focused on resilience

Offer training sessions on managing stress, navigating difficult conversations and building resilience in the face of external pressures.

Provide DEI workshops that equip teachers to handle sensitive topics with confidence and cultural competence.

Prioritize teacher wellness

Provide mental health resources, such as counseling services and stress management workshops, tailored specifically for educators.

Evaluate and adjust workloads to prevent overburdening teachers with non-instructional tasks.

Actively support teachers in taking breaks to recharge without guilt or stigma.

Build strong community partnerships

Engage with parents, local organizations and community leaders to create a unified vision of support for educators and students.

Facilitate conversations that bridge divides and encourage mutual understanding among diverse stakeholders.

Address equity and inclusion systematically

Develop policies and practices that address systemic inequities, ensuring that all students and staff feel valued and included.

Regularly assess and refine these initiatives based on feedback from teachers and community members.

鈥� Avis Williams

By Sonja M. Gedde

Many students enter our schools each morning minimally connected, lacking rich exchanges and operating as automatons moving toward the final bell. This dullness begs questions regarding the appropriate ways to entice students to return to a love of learning.

How can we foster academic richness while building a sense of humanity and devotion to connectedness?

Without these goals, an apathetic orientation toward learning among students embodies its most concerning form: acedia, a flight from the divine causing the ultimate intellectual lethargy; not caring that one does not care. Acedia鈥檚 cure is not found in 鈥渞igor鈥� masked by acquiescence to compliance nor is its remedy to make schooling easier, happier or more fun. We must challenge it with something greater: the pursuit of joy.

A Long-Term Quest

As school leaders, we can resist the commodification of education and the demise into acedia by intentionally cultivating a joyful school culture, a long-game quest not always complemented by the instant gratification of fun. Joyful learning is a natural endeavor for humans, but difficult because joy is not necessarily accompanied by pleasure or ease, according to Jodi Meadows in her 2019 essay 鈥淩esisting Commodification in Honors Education.鈥�

Where then do we turn for a compass to expand our leadership practice beyond fun-seeking and toward joy-seeking in schools?

It will not arrive in a prescribed pedagogy, as prescription begets apathy. A programmatic approach undermines the essence of joy itself. Joy is derived from a sense of connection and unity, a selflessness underscored by moral value, a long game untethered by the desire for temporary fun.

A joy-seeking philosophy does not elude itself into believing the work of leadership is simple nor does it ignore the demands that plague our schools. But while fun pursues comfort and resolution in the face of these challenges, a commitment toward joy pursues meaning and purpose in adversity. It is an attitude or a practice serving as the salve of conscious commitment to upholding contentment in all moments.

Chris Meadows, in his 2014 book A Psychological Perspective on Joy and Emotional Fulfillment, identifies five phenomenological dimensions of joy: harmony, unity, vitality, transcendence and freedom of thought. So perhaps our 鈥渢emplate鈥� begins with a simple philosophical audit?

As school leaders combat apathy, they must commit to being purveyors of joy themselves, coming into internal harmony, driven daily by a potency that activates appetitive systems toward the pursuit of consciously using trial to uncover meaning and purpose.

Perhaps the other antidote to acedia involves a deliberate attempt to (re)consider leadership practices as an invitation to highlight tenets of joy, abandoning the tendency to posture rigor versus fun as the calculus for success. A fun-seeking school may consist of momentary happinesses, but joy-seeking cultures summon learners to grapple with injustice and locate a vision of a better world, encouraging them to inaugurate it in the present.

Questions We Must Ask

Joy potentiates action and energizes those who choose it, says Matthew Johnson, writing about joy in 2020 in The Journal of Positive Psychology. So the following questions serve as a daily regimen to help school leaders avoid the commodification of education by way of quick fixes, cheap tricks or vacant fun. Posturing our schools as gateways to depth, connection and ultimately freedom paves the way for joy鈥檚 triumph over acedia.

Let us ask ourselves daily:

Do I model a gratitude-infused approach to leading and learning, steeped in a desire to build connectedness?

Am I creating opportunities for teachers鈥� artistry to be the fertile ground moving learners toward increased agency and human flourishing?

Do our schools celebrate the grit that builds the whole student, returning learners to intrinsic motivation?

Do we summon our learners to engage in activities that promote the cultivation of purpose in adversity?

Sonja Gedde is assistant principal of Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, Colo.