In The Principal as Curriculum Leader (reference below), the authors remind us that “The principal should establish the importance of working together in a cooperative manner; establish conditions that support collaboration, and reward teachers who cooperate” (p. 169).

But how do principals “reward teachers who cooperate” without showing favoritism? 

This can be a very tricky balancing act … especially because teachers who don’t like to collaborate are often overly sensitive about “rewards” and where they go, and teachers who aren’t as motivated as others tend to be even more sensitive! 

I remember my first construction job where I worked hard to impress the boss. Within a week, two older employees cornered me and asked, “What are you trying to do, make us look bad?” At first I thought they were teasing, but one look at their faces ended that idea quickly! I was only 16 at the time, so I backed off on my efforts … but ended up quitting the job a few weeks later because I couldn’t deal with the stress of my personal work ethic colliding with theirs. Obviously I’ve never forgotten that experience.

I’ve run into similar situations in my educational career. But as an adult, I simply did what I thought was right regardless. However, as I stated above, this can be tricky once you’re the LEADER and you have some who are constantly watching monitoring for even a hint of favoritism!

The best I can offer is this list of great suggestions for rewarding your teachers. If you’re in a situation where you need to be cautious, some of these can be done quietly on the side so no one but the teacher knows. However, if you’re fortunate enough to have inherited (or built) a collaborative team, public rewards are great, too! Just be sure you spread them around so that no one feels left out.

Reference: Glatthorn, A. A., Jailall, J. M. S., & Jailall, J. K. (2017). The principal as curriculum leader: shaping what is taught and tested. Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, a SAGE Publishing Company.