Kate+Edelstein



=  Teacher Motivation:   = Motivating Teachers to Improve Teaching Techniques in Order to Increase Student Learning The Issue : The elementary school in which I work has a problem. Overall, student writing appears strong on the state assessments, but there is a huge discrepency in the classroom. While there are a plethera of systematic issues within the school and district that contribute to our struggle to help students become better writers, one of the most severe issues is the lack of individual teacher motivation. How do we build motivation, capacity, and cognition among teachers so that they are motivated to make a change? Here are some resources that might help us all out!

**1. Nothing gets teachers motivated like some inspirational quotes!!** Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. //-Helen Kelle r//

The great teacher is not the man who supplies the most facts, but the one in whose presence we become different people. //-Ralph Waldo Emerson//

I am not a teacher, but an awakener. //-Robert Frost //

**2. Quotes are great, but how do you get teachers to actually get up, educate themselves, learn how to reach the kids, and change some lives? Here are some websites that might provide some insight:**

 [|Singapore Educational Consultants] This article highlights the fact that in Singapore, where teachers are highly paid governement workers, there is still a terrible problem with teacher retention. Money is not everything. Teachers in Singapore are unhappy because they are not, "...empowered in terms of pedagogy and decision-making." __How will this help my plan?__ This website reminds me to think about the fact that teachers need to feel a sense of achievement. We can make decisions about how to teach. Making these decisions gives us more control and in the end makes us happier. [|Oregon School Boards Association] A Human Resource Development article which refers to a study done by Frase and Sorenson (1992) in which they discuss work context factors and work content factors. The article also states that, "Well-implemented school improvement plans can increase collegiality and give teachers the satisfaction to committing themselves to school improvement goals. Some practitioners believe that such rewards may be more effective in motivating teachers and improving teaching practices than individual, extrinsic rewards (Johnson, 1986). __ How will this help my plan? __ While teachers often don't have much input about context factors (class size, principal's supervision, etc.) we can control our content factors which are more intrinsic (professional development, challenging and varied work, etc.). This website also gives good tips on how to improve these intrinsic motivators. **3. These research reports and aritcles are must reads if you're looking to motivate teachers:**   National Teacher Research Panel 2006
 * //Sustaining Teacher Researchers: What support really makes a difference?//**

Summary: This article outlines a study that took place in 2006 with the purpose of, "explaining how to establish practitioner research as an effective and sustainable form of continuing professional development both for participating researchers and, through thier research work, for colleagues within the schools and network. It was hoped that this would contribute to the development of the schools and the network as effective professional learning communities." The study focused on math teachers for three years in order to find out what made them gel as professional learning communities. How will this help my plan? This study outlines three important types of support for developing successful professional learning communities (external, internal, and time). I need to know what type of support our group will need because we do not have the guidance of a supportive administrator. There were also good benchmark ideas in the study such as classroom observations, seminars, and critical friends groups. //**The Effectiveness of Principal Leadership Style on Teacher Motivation**// Author: Kevin Gallmeier Publication Date: December 12, 1992

Summary: In this study, research was done to see if the type of principal or school administrator that teachers have affect thier motivation. The research showed that it did not although it also found that when teachers have opportunities to perform professionally, the value of their job goes up. How will this help my plan? This study reaffirms that teachers need to and can control thier own destiny in the classroom with or without the help of an affective administrator. This is what we need to do in my plan...take charge on our own.

**//The View From Somewhere//** By Maja Wilson Educational Leadership December 2007, Volume 65, number 4

Summary: This article addresses some of teh problems that teachers run into while trying to assess writing. It tackles the ideas of "objectivity" and "distance" that we have when it comes to assessing student writing because we are trying to be like the state tests. The article also addresses the pros and cons of rubrics. How will this help my plan? As part of my plan, I would like to develop rubrics and this article stresses the importance of agreement which is great because we all need some continuity. I also would like my team to work on the idea of "assessment as conversation." I really believe that once we start coming to agreements about how things should be approached then teachers will be motivated to keep implementing out new ideas. Right now we are very isolated and it makes for a depressing work environment. By Richard Packard and Mary Dereshiwsky Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Az April, 1990
 * //Elements of Motivation/De-Motivation Related to Conditions within School District Organizations//**

Summary: This study is based on surveys that were given to teachers on a yearly basis in 14 school districts in Arizona. Teachers were asked to comment on motivators and demotivators in teaching. The study finds that, "To become effective organizations which have the greatest impact on positive teacher development and motivation, districts must recognize the necessity of developing total school system readiness." The study warns new teachers that not every school functions in the same manner and that some schools are better than others in terms of how effective they are in motivating their students. How will this help my plan? This study is excellent in the sense that it highlights specific factors in the school (i.e. student achievement and curriculum instruction) and what the motivators are for those factors (i.e. developing your own tests and greater input into curriculum alignment). This will help me focus on what factors teachers in my school need in order to become more motivated.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management October, 1980 Summary: This article addresses the fact that there are few extrinsic rewards when it comes to teaching, so schools should be trying to enhance intrinsic rewards for teachers. The article also refers to a study done by Spuck who found that, "high levels of community support, pride of workmanship, and social interaction with peers" are all intrinsic motivators for teachers. There is also a reminder in this article that although intrinsic rewards are important in the effectiveness of teachers, they are also hard to impart on others. Having a good school atmostphere can help this happen. How will this help my plan? I like the three intrinsic motivators that this article outlined and I will keep them in mind as a create my plan. It is hard to spark that internal motivation in someone else, so I like that this article addressed that. Although a small group of teachers cannot effect the entire moral and atmosphere of the school, we can certainly create that atmosphere on a smaller level. //**The Psychic Rewards of Teaching: Examining Global, National, and Local Influences on Teacher Motivation**// By Mark Morgan, Karl Kitching, and Michael O'Leary St. Patrick's College Dublin, Ireland April, 2007
 * //Teacher Motivation. Research Action Brief Number 13//**

Summary: This study focuses on the day-to-day motivators of classroom teachers. The researchers found that there are four major indicators of teacher motivation (commitment to teaching, teacher-efficacy, orgazational citizenship, and willingness to engage in new learning and professional development). They also found that teachers respond much more to positive experiences than they do to negative experiences. Therefore, we should focus on increasing positive experiences versus reducing negative experiences. How will this help my plan? I like this article because it reminds me that the focus of my plan is not only to improve the way that we teach writing and to increase student achievement, but to make teaching a more positive experience and one in which we can converse and collaborate with others.