According to the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, more than half of Minnesota’s teachers who hold a tier 3 or tier 4 license are currently not teaching in a public school or charter school.

Despite individuals having licensing to teach, they are not going into teaching positions regardless. Considering that there is still a shortage of educators, this is a large effector to the workforce.

What is the Shortage?

The teacher shortage is when a school is short of teachers. Teachers are those responsible for the distribution of educational assets. Without a presence of educators at schools, there is no effective flow of curriculum from instructors to students. In a consultation with Mark Leland, the Spectrum High school principal, he provided insight on the effects of the competitive economy and job market impacting the prevalence of occupance of teaching positions.

Mark Leland said, “I think that we have far less people that are going into education right now. We don’t have as many students that are leaving high school and going into teacher preparation programs in college for whatever reason. I think, too, that it’s a really competitive market out there right now.”

This is one of the many examples of the aspects of the teacher shortage which are beyond the scope of educational facilities. Things such as the job market, competitive programs, and complications in ambitions as far as education can affect the volume of candidates emerging in the instructing pool. Without students going into the teaching profession there is going to continue to be a teacher shortage.

How Teachers Compromise

While a teacher shortage is in place at a school not a lot can be done. At that moment, the only thing that can happen is for other teachers, administrators, and people in the school to step up and help cover the areas that are affected by the teacher shortage. Abby Cann, a high school instructor of mathematics, brought insight on the matter of properly distributing efforts to dampen the intensity of workload.

Abby Cann said, “Just figuring out how to manage that stress load of what’s really necessary and what could be lightened to lighten the stress load a little bit.”

If teachers can identify what stressors are necessary and what stressors can be alleviated it will make teaching less of a hassle.

Day-to-Day Differences

An apparent pattern upon the discussion of the teachers shortage is the challenges inflicted on teachers’ daily endeavors.

Emily Stielow, a middle school educator of English and language arts, said, “When somebody leaves mid year, it makes it kind of challenging because then other teachers have to substitute during their planning period and that’s kind of challenging.”

There are a lot of different challenges that play into a teacher shortage. Another thing that was brought up was the fact that the class sizes are bigger which overall makes it difficult for the teachers to really get to know their students.

Tina Listerud, a high school instructor of English and language arts, said, “It makes it a little more difficult to do kind of one-on-one check-ins with students because class sizes are a little larger than everyone would want for the ideal classroom. It does make it more difficult to kind of gear lessons to specific individual needs in the classroom because they’re so large.”

The teacher shortage can really affect the students, their education, teachers, how they teach, and their connection with their students.

Effects on Education

If people don’t want to be teachers eventually we won’t have any teachers to teach the upcoming generations. Greg Heinecke, our middle school principal, talks about how the teacher shortage is affecting the teachers and their practices.

Greg Heinecke said, “I think it does affect overall learning. […] The types of teachers, if you have a more experienced teacher, they know the programming, they know the consistency in the systems. Someone new is working with understanding curriculum, even if they’ve taught before, understanding the school system, learning their kids. Change is just a challenge. […] All of those things do affect education as a whole.”

Because of shifts in a new teacher’s priorities upon being brought into a new specialization or school, it can make determining where attention goes more extensive.

Scott Gangl, a middle school teacher of social studies, provided insights on how the teacher shortage correlates with student education.

Scott Gangl said, “I think it hurts their education if we’re having a hard time bringing in licensed educators. There’s a learning curve that those people have to get up to, and having a business degree and then coming to teach without any kind of teaching background is very difficult. […] We typically see those people burn out because they’re not ready for the engagement with the kids and the discipline factors of kids and just relationships. The business world doesn’t operate that way.”

When students do not have instructors who are qualified in teaching (even if they have certification in their field), it can result in partial coverage of the curriculum, hurting student’s education and creating gaps in the long run.

Distribution of Instructors

When there is a teacher shortage the distribution of instructors is a big challenge for everyone but it is especially difficult for the instructors that have to then pick up extra hours and use their prep hour to teach another class. Stielow provided insight on how the distribution of instructors affects the structure of teacher’s allotted time.

Stielow said, “It makes it kind of challenging because then other teachers have to sub during their planning period and that’s kind of challenging. […] It just makes things a little bit more tight and [generates] more workload for other teachers.”

It makes it really challenging for other teachers when there is a shortage in a department, especially when a teacher leaves in the middle of the year.

Teachers

Teachers have different methods of coping to deal with the teacher shortage.

Cann said, “One day at a time just figuring out what lessons and what skills are needed for each topic and going through just those without thinking too big picture about it.”

Listerud said, “I luckily have a very supportive family and a supportive network. So, I’m just living day-to-day most of the time with everything that’s going on. It’s just mostly the larger class sizes at this school.”

Stielow said, “Sometimes it gets a little bit discouraging seeing people leave and [I have to] remind myself why I do it and if I have the capability to keep going and things like that, […] and that’s hard sometimes.”

Gangl said, “You just do what you have to do. You can only control what you can control. So for me, I just do the best that I can within the amount of time that I’m given.

Cann said, “Teachers are trying their best and just be patient with them. Especially if you know a teacher has less experience or less qualifications, they’re stepping up and doing a role that is in need. So, even if they’re not as qualified or not as experienced, have patience and have grace because they are stepping up to do a really hard job.”

Because of this, it is important for students to recognize the role that instructors are taking on; regardless of qualifications; and to respect instructors’ efforts.

Psychological Affects

Teachers and students may have emotional changes. Psychological changes can have effects on individuals in the long run which can transpire into various issues such as burnout and affects towards work ethic. Stephanie Kobes, a Spectrum High School student counselor, touches on how she sees it affecting people in this way.

Stephanie Kobes said, “I’ve seen it throughout many different districts and throughout many different states. Even friends who work in education in different states are feeling the burnout and the struggle with the teacher shortage. It’s on everyone’s mind. Everyone knows that there is a shortage and it’s really hard to stay in a good positive mindset when those things are happening.”

People involved in education, being students, teachers, or administrators, all have weight on their shoulders as a result of the shortage. It is important to recognize the signs of burning out and to maintain proper mental hygiene to prevent detriments down the line.

Effects on Staff Morale

The teacher shortage can affect teachers’ mood, performance, and collaboration. When a teacher shortage is in place teachers, administrators, and even students will be more likely to have a negative attitude towards school.

Kobes said, “When there’s a shortage, teachers often have to take on more responsibilities. They have to spend their time grading and doing the teacher requirements. And so taking time to collaborate and build those relationships is one of those things that often gets put on the back burner, and when you’re having to struggle to get through all of your day-to-day work, sometimes those more meaningful interactions get left behind.”

Morale is oftentimes affected when workplace pressures are intense due to the fact that opportunities for people to interact are decreased because of individual preoccupation. This affects workplace collaboration and refinement.

What can be done?

It is important to consider teachers during these times. Instructors who still reside in the workforce need support now.

Leland said, “I know most students come to school every day and they don’t really think about these things. They’ve got too many other things to think about, and so they’re not contemplating: ‘what if my teacher is gone’ or ‘what if what if my teacher doesn’t come back,’ but those are some of the realities now in a lot of schools.”

It is important to be considerate of those who are making an effort in the front of education.

“Spectrum continues to be a great school because of the teachers that we have, and the people that are here that serve our students on an everyday basis,” Leland said.