Improved teacher morale and improved learning for all students go hand in hand. But what, exactly, do we mean by student learning? And what is the aim of this learning? According to Nel Noddings, the success of our efforts to boost teacher morale through greater collegiality, creativity, and continuity will depend on how we answer these questions.For example, Noddings asserts that collegial efforts to improve instruction must focus on building connections between mathematics, language arts, and the other academic disciplines, as well as considering how these disciplines contribute to the "deepest, truest aims of education"–to produce people who are morally good, intellectually competent, socially sensitive, spiritually inquisitive, and committed to living full and satisfying lives. Collegiality in this cause is bound to raise teacher morale. Continuity is essential also; high turnover and frequent changes can have an adverse effect on both morale and improved learning.

Nel Noddings

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Teacher engagement and motivation

School and district management

High Morale in a Good Cause

Critical thinking is the sort of mental activity that uses facts to plan, order, and work toward an end; seeks meaning or an explanation; is self-reflective; and uses reason to question claims and make judgments. Any subject—be it physics, algebra, or auto repair—can promote critical thinking as long as teachers teach the subject matter in intellectually challenging ways. For those students who are not interested in traditional academic programs, schools should offer high-quality, rigorous courses in technical and vocational education. A vast majority of students will go to work in the service world, where high-level thinking is increasingly required. Teachers can motivate students as thinkers through inquiry learning and by modeling for students their own thinking processes. Rather than focus on covering large amounts of material that students will soon forget, schools should help students acquire the intellectual habits of mind associated with thinking, thereby creating lifelong learners.

Nel Noddings

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High Morale in a Good Cause

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