Communicating Your Needs to the Principal
A K-12 educator, a professor at a university, and an education dean – these were the responsibilities I carried out throughout my career in the education field. During my time in the K-12 domain, I was entirely devoted to helping students attain the maximum level of their academic capacity and become productive citizens. During the other two positions, I channeled my time and energy to nurture the next generation of teachers and education administrators. I stepped into educational entrepreneurship around two years back. I established an education company, Lynch Educational Consulting, and started managing three web properties: The Tech Edvocate, Edupedia, and The Edvocate.
However, when I miss the field, I try to create a project, article, or resource that will benefit teachers around the world. I recently created a set of case studies to help pre-service teachers obtain a clear view of the education field’s problems. They’ll also be able to shape their teaching approach using the case scenarios.
Teaching is a challenging profession with a substantial turnover rate because of excessive workload and stress. What should you do if you start feeling overwhelmed? Go through the following case study to learn how efficient teachers effectively communicate their requirements to stay away from burnout.
Meredith, The Special Education Teacher
Meredith teaches fourth-graders, and unlike most other fourth-grade teachers, she has the responsibility of managing a group of nine students with learning disabilities. While Meredith finds her responsibilities rewarding and interesting, she feels they’re emotionally and physically demanding.
Sometimes, she needs to spend several hours meeting with administrators and parents after finishing her school day. She was very confused by her job’s high amount of work and pressure. She loves spending time with the children but finds that the large number of hours she needs to invest every day for the job prevents her from developing an attractive personal life.
She requested her principal if she could either get a paraprofessional or have the number of students in her class reduced, which would lower her work-related stress. Meredith was in luck as the school received additional state funding allotted for children with disabilities. Consequently, her class size was reduced by the principal. Moreover, she received additional assistive equipment and extra support from experts newly appointed by the school.
Thanks to the new support and tools, she regained her interest in teaching. She now manages five or six students each school year. She gives each student more attention and invests more time to build accommodating lesson plans because of the smaller class size. Meredith’s notable success with the students has helped her achieve a huge amount of personal satisfaction.
Now, look at the following questions and think carefully about them to alter your approach.
- What were the likes and dislikes of Meredith about her job and school? The students are concentrating on the present while getting prepared for the future. What does make it possible?
- If you happened to be the principal, what would be your way to resolve Meredith’s situation if there was no special funding?
- What other steps could the institution have taken to improve Meredith’s teaching quality?