I once had a principal who would begin his weekly meetings with individual teachers with “How are things going? What do you need, how can I help?” His focus, as well as, that of the school(Seoul Foreign School, Seoul, Korea) was helping teachers, teach.

Education/learning is about what happens within a student. The person in a school system who has the greatest influence on a child’s learning is the classroom teacher. All of a school district’s attention should be focused here at the classroom, supporting the teacher/student relationship. The focus should be on how can we as a district support and encourage our teachers. To provide them with resources and options to create varied and rich learning experiences.

This support can come in a variety of ways. A simple encouraging word can do wonders. These are few and far between these days. “Good Job.” “Nice lesson.” “Good insight” at a meeting. These can make a difference at a seemingly thankless job. Support can also include infrastructure: working phones, good computer labs, computers that are up to date, a variety of software and services that provide teachers and students with options, enough desks and unbroken chairs, good texts. This list could go on. Another valuable support is the gift of time. Time to plan, time to talk to other teachers, time to pursue professional development and time to look for resources and try them out.

We have to remember that in education the student/teacher relation comes first and foremost. It is here where all attention must be focused. The frequent question floating around the halls should be “What do you need, how can I help?”