Staff Management and

Retention Seminar.

By: Atinuke Aluko

Revival Labours in Lagos and Ogun (Peace house).

Christian school owners and administrators group.

5 Ayisatu Onisemo street. Beside Ayo ni o Church. Sanya Bus stop

Off Apapa-Oshodi express way. Lagos.

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 Objectives of the seminar

To answer these questions:
What can be done to retain good teachers?
What impact do School Administrators/ Leaders have on
teacher retention?

School leaders and head teachers should:

• focus on establishing a good school culture
• let new recruits know what your school
stands for and what your mission and vision
is.

SCHOOL CULTURE definition

by UNESCO:
The guiding beliefs or ethos,
underlying assumptions,
expectations, norms and values
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 that give a school its identity,

influence the way a school
operates, and affect the behaviour
of principals, teachers, support
staff and learners.
Why is school culture important
1. It plays a huge role in teachers’
wellness and satisfaction in their
jobs.
2. A good school culture has a
positive impact on general staff
wellbeing. We can improve
retention of staff by reassessing
and improving the culture at our
schools by using: Recognition,
rewards, career investment and
support

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3. Teachers should feel excited and

empowered about their work so
they can offer excellent teaching
to students.
4. A good culture will affect pupils’
behaviour positively, increasing
morale thereby boosting
academic performance.

How to improve school

culture
1. Analyze your school culture:
observe teacher attitudes in
classrooms and staff meetings.
Observe students attitudes
towards themselves, teachers,
the school and other staff

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2. Identify and reinforce the positive:

is there success, joy, laughter, a
sense of teamwork and
collaboration.
3. Identify and pull down the
negative: competitive spirit,
complaints, constant criticism
4. Foster meaningful Parental
involvement

Summary on school culture:

A positive school culture and a
greater focus on healthy work-life
balance improves well being of
teachers and, support staff, thereby
boosting retention. Here are a few
more ways to help achieve this:

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• Be open to collaboration and

discussion
• Trust teachers to try out new,
innovative strategies in their
classrooms
• Be proactive in following up on
concerns
• Back them up when a parent-
teacher relationship becomes
strained
• Provide valuable feedback and
recognition for a job well done

We need to help staff manage mental

health and relieve stress. Trainings
and outings are helpful

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Five Teacher Retention

Strategies
1. Create Better Work
Conditions
• Teachers do a shoddy job when
they dread coming to school
• How teachers perceive their
schools’ working conditions and
environment predicts teachers’
morale and a teachers decision to
stay in your school. ( from
Peabody Journal of Education)
• Oftentimes, improving your
school’s work environment doesn’t
require expensive repairs or
renovations.
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 • To ensure that your teachers have

the best working conditions
possible, promote a positive school
culture where both teachers and
students feel safe, trusted, and
respected.
• Create A FOCUSED culture which
is one that knows the key areas of
growth that the school is working
on, as well as the strategies that
can have the largest impact. By
having a laser-like focus on clear
goals and clearly de ned problems
the staff is working on, you can
lter and prioritize what’s most
important for your school.
• Creating a culture of trust and
support, rather than fear.
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fi
fi
• Classroom observations whereas
necessary should be, constructive,
and not demoralizing.
• Teachers should have full support
from their senior leadership team,
on issues such as workload, and
pupil behaviour.
• Reduced stress levels brings an
increased enjoyment in work.
2. Purposeful Professional
Development Opportunities
and Support for All Teachers
Huge difference between the
expectations of schools, and
teachers’ capabilities. Therefore, we
need more quality training and in-
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school coaching as well as and

further professional development
especially for new teachers. For
example:
• Implementation of high quality
mentorship and induction
programs
• speci c opportunities that give
your teachers CPD that aligns with
your school improvement priorities,
• Participation in conferences, e-
learning courses and webinars.
• Give them more opportunities to
express their opinions and
concerns. Allowing teachers to
have monthly 1-on-1 meetings with
administrators and/or the principal
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 is a great way to provide these
opportunities.
• Join professional bodies like
AISEN, APEN, ETC
• Access online training from
Udemy.com, Coursera.org,
Waterford.org, uopeople.edu, TED
Talks education,The google
teacher tribe podcast.
High quality professional
development also boosts student
attainment tremendously.

3. Reduce Workload

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 Reducing teacher workload may

signi cantly improve teacher
retention.
• Hire more teachers and oat
teachers
• Exam committees to draw up exam
questions

4. Respect
• Treat them with love and care.
Empathy is key to staff retention.
Listen!
• Use incentives as motivation ex.
Praise

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fl
 • Give useful feedback, make sure
they feel motivated and inspired.
• Support teachers in managing
pupils’ misbehaviour,
• Support teachers to fully
implement behaviour policies
consistently making sure that the
overall school culture is good
• optimising pupils’ behavior helps
promote respect, excellence and
enjoyment for both teachers and
students.

5. Cultivate Collaboration
• Teachers of the same subject and/
or grade levels can come together
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 and discuss their ideas for

teaching in the classroom.
• Pair new teachers up with a more
experienced mentor so that they
know who to turn to when they
have questions.
• Networking among teachers,
whether in person or online,
• Establish respect among teachers
by implementing team-building
activities at least once a month

Staff management.
Isaiah 58:3-12

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5 crucial points

1. Empathy Isaiah 58 vs 10

2. Motivate

3. Fair remuneration

4. Respect : Isaiah 58 vs 6 No
Shouting at them

5. Lighten their burdens; 2chronicles

10:3-11 Especially vs7

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Final words
A high turnover rate forces schools to
spend substantial amounts of time
and money on recruiting new
teachers and training them. Schools
can overcome this expensive and
frustrating roadblock by increasing
teacher retention rates.
Education can and should be an
exciting career to pursue,

Discuss:
1 Samuel 18:1-3 (TLB)

David’s men.

1 Samuel 22:1-2 (KJV)

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