Beyond the Back-to-School Buzz
Principal’s Notes
By: Tricia Erlendson, Principal, Deshaye Catholic School, Regina
The anxious anticipation of a new school year isn’t reserved for students. For teachers and school leaders, September represents a unique mix of fresh optimism and steeling ourselves for familiar challenges. Increasing workload demands, greater classroom complexity and the emotional demands of daily classroom life can quickly dampen that first-day-of-school enthusiasm. As school leaders, we cannot solve every systemic challenge, but we can significantly influence teachers’ daily experiences. Small leadership actions can strengthen trust and build engagement long after the back-to-school sales end.
Invest in Relationships First
Teachers are more engaged when they feel valued, supported and trusted by their leaders (Klusmann et al., 2022). Presence can have a big impact in cultivating trust. Make it a priority to visit classrooms regularly, not to evaluate, but to connect. Be visible during arrival, recess and dismissal, and take time to chat with staff throughout the day. These interactions demonstrate your interest in understanding teachers’ daily experiences, celebrating successes and offering support when challenges arise. Professional trust is built through consistent and authentic interactions, rather than occasional gestures. When teachers know that their leaders are approachable, present and invested in their work, they are more likely to feel connected to their school community and engaged throughout the year.
Protect Teachers’ Time
We’ve all sat through the meeting that could have been an email. In today’s schools, preparation and instructional time are valuable commodities, making it especially frustrating when unnecessary meetings or inefficient processes compete for precious time. One of the strongest messages a leader can send is this: teachers’ time matters! Could information be shared in a memo or email instead of calling a staff meeting? Could repetitive paperwork be replaced with a fillable template or shared digital form? While not every demand placed on teachers can be eliminated, leaders can regularly review processes to identify and reduce inefficiencies. Reducing unnecessary demands can improve teacher engagement just as effectively as introducing additional supports (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). By protecting teachers’ time, leaders communicate respect for their professionalism and create more opportunities for teaching and learning.
Support Professional Judgment
School leadership is both rewarding and demanding. Every day brings opportunities to celebrate student success, support staff and make a meaningful difference, but it also comes with competing priorities, difficult decisions and constant pressure to respond to the unexpected. The good news is that you don’t have to carry that responsibility alone! Effective leaders recognize the expertise within their staff and intentionally seek teacher input when developing goals and implementing initiatives. Create teacher working groups, use staff surveys to make decisions or gather feedback, and provide opportunities for grade-level teams to determine how best to achieve shared goals. Teachers are more likely to be engaged when they have professional autonomy and opportunities to influence school direction and decision-making (Maheshwari, 2022). When leaders combine clear expectations with professional trust, they create a culture of ownership, collaboration and shared responsibility for student success.
Recognize Effort Early and Often
At any given moment in a Saskatchewan school, there are teachers who are doing remarkable work and going above and beyond in ways that might go unnoticed. We all want to know that our efforts matter, and we all deserve to have our work acknowledged. Recognition doesn’t have to be elaborate to be meaningful. Take a few minutes for staff shout-outs during staff meetings, include a “Celebrations and Thank-Yous” section in your weekly memo, or place five blank thank-you cards on your desk each Monday with the goal of giving them away by Friday. Chances are you’ll find yourself reaching for a sixth and seventh card because, once you start intentionally looking for moments to celebrate, you’ll discover far more than you expected. And this isn’t just about making people feel good. Research suggests that explicit recognition of teacher effort has been associated with lower teacher anxiety and higher levels of teacher engagement and enthusiasm (Van Der Vyver, 2020). A few sincere words of appreciation can have a lasting impact on morale, motivation and school culture.
As another school year begins, I hope you resist the temptation to focus solely on programs, plans and initiatives. Instead, focus first on the people who will bring those plans to life. By investing in relationships, protecting teachers’ time, trusting their professional judgment and celebrating their contributions, school leaders can foster a culture of authentic engagement. Teacher engagement is not built through one grand gesture, but through consistent, everyday actions that communicate, “I see you, I support you and we’re in this together.” Those are the kinds of schools where teachers flourish, school communities grow stronger and students experience the very best of what education has to offer.
Tricia Erlendson is a doctoral candidate whose research explores leadership practices that foster teacher engagement. She is the principal of Deshaye Catholic School in Regina and is passionate about supporting both student and staff success through collaborative, relationship-centred leadership. Outside of school, Tricia is the proud mom of three kids who still don’t quite understand or appreciate her enthusiasm for fresh notebooks and the promise of brand-new school supplies.