Our Role(s) in Educator Burnout, Recruitment, and Retention

 "Life is short, it is up to you to make it sweet." ~ Sarah Louise Delaney

Over the past 20 months leadership has been a challenge throughout the country. Some leadership positions are elected while others are selected. In most cases throughout the United States, new superintendents during this time were selected based on a districts' leadership profile. Others were in their respective position prior to the pandemic. In the end, we all chose to pursue the positions in which we occupy. Many of us have faced extreme pressures over the last 20 months and each of us has responded differently. I am using this platform to make a plea to my fellow colleagues and other educators to make this life of service sweet.

I am calling on all educators to be the greatest promotors of our service and we need to take that calling seriously. We all need to make a valiant effort to talk positively about our work. I have encountered a series of questions and statements over the past 20 months about my position and the positions of all educators in my organization, in the state, and throughout the country. In each of those exchanges I found myself thinking about how to paint a positive picture of the work we all do. Some of those questions and responses are provided below.

How are things going at school?
Each day presents new challenges but we have a tremendous team willing to meet those challenges head on and turn them into successes. 

I can't imagine what you're going though at school.
There is certainly a lot to juggle but many of us chose this profession because each new day presents new experiences. You never know what the day will bring which makes our work exciting.

Boy, I bet you're putting a lot of time in lately.
We, just like all professional positions, put in the time needed to get the job done. The difference between our positions and other positions is that we have the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of others. This work is important and we're happy to serve!

Aren't you stressed?
I relieve any stress in positive and healthy ways so that it does not have a negative impact on my work. I take things in stride and rise to the new challenge. In education, we work collaboratively to keep stress at lows levels and to help each other get through challenging times.

Those of us in the world of education and those serving our communities are responsible for recruiting people to this calling. We all need to do a better job of speaking positively about our profession to ensure people choose this as a vocation and change the trajectory of educator burnout, recruitment, and retention. Are you willing to embrace the fact that life is short, and it is up to each of us to make it sweet?

For me, challenge accepted!