As we close out one school year and start preparing for the ‘22-23 school year, I want to offer a gigantic THANK YOU to all of the amazing educators and other critical folks who supported students and families during the 21-22 school year. What. A. Year. You navigated working through a global pandemic. You waded through the chaos of mask policies, book bans, speech restrictions, restrictions on culturally responsive pedagogy, and even socio emotional learning. You were forced to yet again contemplate the physical safety of yourself and your students after the tragedy in Uvalde. And all the while you worked to connect your students with needed mental services as they dealt with so many of the same issues. The weight of your work does not go unnoticed. I see you. I appreciate you. And I thank you.
Right now my team and I are supporting several schools as they close out hiring for the 22-23 school year, at a moment when many teachers feel more stressed and burnt out than ever before. As a former teacher, I know a school that supports, values and listens to its people is of the utmost importance. There is so much power in a school where the staff is seen as necessary partners in the work. Hiring projects excite my team because we know that thoughtful, strategic hiring can fuel a stronger school community.
When the KJCG team enters into a partnership with a school around hiring, we truly see the work as a shared responsibility. Because the truth is that for such projects, the conversation is never JUST about hiring. Yes, we create sustainable recruitment and selection systems for the long term; we post open teaching positions on Indeed and Handshake; we reach out to university contacts; we connect with folks through NEMNET and other organizations seeking to diversify the teacher candidate pipeline. But in addition to this seemingly standard hiring work, we also encourage school leadership teams to consider how their hiring practices will continue to build support and community for new staff once they’re hired. Our fundamental belief is that one cannot happen without the other.
So where do we start? As a human centered organization, we start by encouraging school hiring teams (usually the administrators) to listen to their people. Just like we want classroom teachers to give up some control and invite in student voices, we want this same thing with adults. We want those at the “top” to cede some of their systemic control and understand that including other key voices will make their work better - and by better we mean that by getting more weigh in and involvement from the school community, hiring is more sustainable and aligned, and teams are ultimately more effective. We believe in gathering the voices of everyone involved in the daily work of schools to understand what’s going well, what’s NOT, and how to create solutions together. In these instances where we’re working on a hiring strategy with a school partner, we’re really talking about the retention and support of their entire team. When creating recruiting strategies, crafting job descriptions, drafting interview processes, and writing interview questions, these rich conversations with our school partners help drive our work with hiring teams.
These last few years have brought a great deal of change to schools, to say the least. As organizations and teams chart the course ahead, it is more important than ever to be human-centered in pursuit of goals. We would love the opportunity to think with you about how your school’s current systems, practices, and procedures could be strengthened to inform the evolution of both your work and workplace. Sign up for a free 30 minute “Connection with Katie” call and we can discuss your unique needs.