Dive Brief:

• The teaching profession requires a positive response to changes and challenges, and administrators need to find ways to cultivate that emotional resilience in teachers, writes Elena Aguilar, a transformational leadership coach in Oakland, CA, for Edutopia.

• School leaders can employ strategies like building support structures between teachers and encouraging relationship-building with students to create an environment in which educators and the students they serve can flourish and thrive.

• The benefits of this support can be better teacher retention and satisfaction, improved student experiences, the development of teacher leadership skills and less stress on administrators in the long run.

Dive Insight:

Most would agree that the teaching profession is a stressful one. The daily onslaught of interaction with students, some of whom challenge the assumption they should learn, can discourage beginning teachers and wear down veterans. However, the ability to learn emotional resilience can change the climate in a classroom and make teachers more effective. This is why more administrators are opting to include lessons in emotional resilience as part of their professional development.

Emotional resilience is also necessary in creating teacher leaders. The development of teacher leaders can benefit a school system in many ways. These teacher leaders can mentor other teachers and provide role models for them to follow. They can also act as leaders in collaborative efforts to improve instruction and as agents of positive change within a school district.

Teacher leaders should also be cultivated to ensure the future stability of the school system. These leaders can be groomed for administration and provide a positive pipeline to executive leadership positions where they can influence larger groups of students. Once teachers learn that school districts are tapping the teaching talent for these positions rather than consistently seeking outside applicants, they are also more likely to stay in the district and work hard to succeed.