Being the fundamental unit of the education system, teachers are solely responsible for the success of the students and delivering effective instructions. They do their best to facilitate a smooth pass of knowledge, skill, and learning to the students.
But what do they get in return? Not even proper appreciation. This ignorant behavior of the people leads to not recognizing and belittle their existence in the society.
What we can do to keep them motivated is appreciate their efforts and tasks performed. This can be done by entitling them with teacher award ideas, serving professional development programs, and rewarding their efforts.
In this article, we will see why appreciating a teacher for their efforts is important and what are the benefits of doing so.
Improved Morale and Well-being
Appreciation creates a sense of harmony between people. When people get appreciated, they do their best to not fail and disappoint the person.
Similarly, when teachers get appreciated by the authorities and students, they get a wholesome feeling of a family in their workplace. That not only motivates them to work efficiently but also more effectively.
Moreover, appreciating teachers helps them to feel valued.
All these lead to teachers feeling enthusiastic and united in the classroom.
Improved Teacher-Student Relationship
The best thing you can do to appreciate your teacher’s efforts is to build a strong teacher-student relationship. This acts as an instant stimulator of motivation in the teacher’s behavior.
Even though a simple Thank you is enough to show value to your teacher, there are various other things you can do, like the following
- Respectful interaction
- Open communication
- Speaking kindly and politely
- Thank you messages
- Gift cards
- Offering sweets
- Spending time with them
- Wishing them on special occasions like, teacher’s days, on their birthdays, teacher appreciation weeks, and on their achievements.
- And the most effective way, i.e., performing better in your academics.
Doing this will not only help in valuing their profession but also enable them to develop better teaching practices and strategies for the sake of their future.
Enhanced Professional Growth
In addition to all this, appreciating teachers can also allow them to go through professional development programs for improving and developing effective teaching practices, strategies, and skills such as organization and management.
Besides all these, professional development enables teachers to stay up to date with the latest trends and changes in the education sector. This includes education policies, teaching techniques, and integration of technology in education.
Professional development helps teachers expand their network, and gain new knowledge and skills.
Enhancing Teacher Retention
Teacher retention refers to the study of factors affecting whether a teacher stays in the school or changes to a different school. It has been seen that between February 2020 and May 2022, over 300,000 teachers left the educational system. All this is just because of devaluing the efforts of the teachers.
It has been observed that just appreciating the efforts of the teacher through rewards, recognition, and awards is enough for retention.
Moreover, to retain them, you can deliver them your support, and a better work environment.
Better Student Outcomes
Everything that we have read above leads to better student outcomes. From increased morale to the professional development of teachers, everything aims at the academic performance of the students.
Increased teacher morale means more enthusiastic educators eager to impact students learning and achievement positively. Professional development develops teaching practices, strategies, and skills for leveraging student outcomes.
Therefore, teacher appreciation is not only helpful for teachers but also for the entire education system.
Final Thoughts
Appreciating teachers is more than just saying thank you. It’s a complete investment whose result can be seen in your academic performance. Not only that but appreciating your teachers builds stronger fundamental pillars of the education system, ultimately improving the student outcome.
FAQs
Ans: Yes, everyone who has contributed to the education and learning of the students is appreciated on Teacher Appreciation Week. You can simply appreciate anyone with a flower, or just say “thank you” if you can’t buy a flower.
Ans: You can do the following to make Teacher Appreciation Week Special:-
- Gift a flower to all the teachers in your school or college.
- Show gratitude to teachers with sweets.
- Sing a song or perform an act dedicated to the teachers.
- At least say thank you to each teacher individually.
Ans: Teacher Appreciation Week is celebrated in the first week of May every year, with National Teacher Day on the Tuesday of that week. This is a national holiday, mainly celebrated in the USA.
Ans: Although the teachers will not ask for something special, you can still show your gratitude with something special like playing an act with your mates, planting trees named after your teachers, and many more.
