Giving Compass' Take:

• Teacher motivation can be accomplished through the theory and methodology called Jobs to be Done.  This helps educators navigate their various roles and motivates them to understand how to improve in the classroom. 

• How can collaboration help teachers with motivation? 

• Read about the personality traits and characteristics of top performing teachers. 

What's the key to getting teachers on board with new approaches to instruction?

Using a powerful theory and methodology called Jobs to be Done—developed and validated through extensive research in other sectors—we set out to uncover the factors that motivate teachers to use new practices in their classrooms.

According to the theory, teachers change their practices when they have an unmet “Job” they need to fulfill. We call these Jobs because just as people hire contractors to help them build houses or lawyers to help them build a case, teachers search for something they can “hire” to help them with a particular issue.

Through our interviews, we uncovered four Jobs that motivate teachers to change their instruction:

  • Job #1: Help me lead the way in improving my school. Teachers with this Job were eager to demonstrate their value as contributors to broader school improvement efforts.
  • Job #2: Help me engage and challenge more of my students in a way that’s manageable.  Teachers with this Job were happy overall with the teaching and learning in their classrooms, but wanted practical strategies for reaching a few students who were slipping through the cracks.
  • Job #3: Help me replace a broken instructional model so I can reach each student.  They were eager for radical new approaches that would help them find a renewed sense of purpose as teachers.
  • Job #4: Help me to not fall behind on my school’s new initiative. For these teachers, their schools’ initiatives didn’t seem to offer viable ways to reach their goals, and thereby created compliance-oriented motivation.

Read the full article about teacher motivation by Thomas Arnett at Christensen Institute