Veteran Teachers: Valued Experience & Knowledge

In the current issue of Education Week, one teacher wrote about her experience learning from her colleagues, and how the wisdom and experience of veteran educators help her improve her professional growth and the learning of all students.

"These veteran educators became an integral part of my development as a teacher. Some argue that great teachers have innate qualities they cannot learn from others, and that (extending such reasoning) urban education would work if we could just get “the best and the brightest” into the classroom. My experience suggests otherwise: All the motivation, commitment, and raw talent in the world would not have amounted to much without the invaluable on-the-job training I received at that critical point in my teaching career. This reality takes on increased relevance as the national discussion about investing in human capital intensifies," writes the teacher.

However, there is something else to consider. About 53% of our teaching workforce are baby boomers, and they're rapidly approaching retirement. How can we keep them engaged in education? We can't let them take years of knowledge and experience with them. Instead of retiring, what if a valued veteran teacher could act as a mentor and support for new teachers – part time work that would afford her some income and encourage her to impart experience-based knowledge. What are your thoughts?

A Silver Lining in a Time of Crisis?

As we mentioned several weeks ago, 53% of our teacher workforce are baby boomers, and they are rapidly approaching retirement. If we act now, we can ensure that their years of expertise and experience is not lost. It may very well be possible to turn the retirement “crisis” into an opportunity to staff schools in different ways.

According to Civic Ventures, the financial crisis will force more people to work longer and some people will opt for second or “Encore” careers. A recent Washington Post article said the luxury of retirement is turning out to be unattainable for many Americans due to a wildly fluctuating stock market, depleted 401k plans and empty individual retirement accounts. As a result, Americans are increasingly postponing retirement or getting work in other fields. The economic disaster will crimp budgets, but social needs are only growing and many employers are eager to tap encore talent, according to the Civic Ventures survey. If baby boomer teachers follow the pattern of the larger workforce, then 50% of them will seek at least part-time work in a capacity that allows them to give back to society. Many veteran teachers – especially those who have dedicated their entire careers to improving student achievement – will surely be seeking new learning challenges and new roles.

At the same time, schools are trying to address the changing needs of 21st century learners who have access to more information and more learning resources than ever before, while trying to keep young teachers who leave because they don’t want to work in an industrial-age system. Instead of retiring, what if a valued veteran teacher could act as a mentor and support for new teachers – part time work that would afford her some income and encourage her to impart experience-based knowledge.

An article in yesterday’s USA Today examined the silver lining from the financial crisis. Some of the strongest mathematical minds may be found on Wall Street, and in the current mess, many may be interested in trading math lesson plans rather than stocks. If we take this opportunity to mobilize educators and community members to join forces in schools to prepare today’s students – especially in high-need communities – for 21st century workforce success, we can bridge supply and demand. But we must act quickly to build these pathways before the demographic tsunami hits us. NCTAF is at the forefront of developing a model that demonstrates how exactly this can be done so we can get out in front of the impending school staffing crisis and take advantage of the resources about to be freed up by the collision of economic crises and demographic shifts.

NCTAF wants to hear your Encore career stories! Share them here!

Stayed tuned for more on this as NCTAF prepares to release a survey in December on the demographic shift in the teaching workforce!

Baby Boomers - Let's Bring 'Em Back

It’s 2008. Do you know where your teachers are?

Over 1.7 million teachers – 53 % of our workforce – are Baby Boomers, rapidly approaching retirement. They will take decades of experience and expertise with them, leaving a growing number of inexperienced, highly mobile teachers to fend for themselves. This demographic shift has the potential to cause a school staffing collapse in some districts and states.

The stand-alone teaching model, which assumes a lifetime commitment to teaching, is no longer viable. We need to replace that model with cross-generational learning teams that create new roles for veterans and novices: coaches, mentors, lead teacher, and apprentices, interns or adjuncts for example. This new model would also create attractive opportunities for non-teaching Boomers who are eager to pursue an Encore career in education.

Imagine a project in which a team of teachers and students take on the challenge of designing a state-of-the-art high school for 2050. The students must create a site plan, design architectural drawings, construct a physical model, develop a plan for community approval, draw up a budget and write a narrative report. Think about the wealth of knowledge students could acquire if we engaged retired architects, engineers, accountants, lawyers and community leaders in learning teams with these students.

To meet the needs of today’s students and teachers we need to transform our schools from teaching organizations into learning organizations.

How will your manage the Baby Boom retirement. Is your school, district, or state ready to embrace cross-generational teaching and
learning?