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When I started teaching, it was a different world. I agreed to extra duties to secure a position, lacked a formal mentor, and reread my college textbooks since there was no internet or Google to help me. I struggled. Fast forward many years—I have been a successful teacher, instructional coach, principal, and professional learning director. I am passionate about helping early career educators and working with leaders to support novice educators.

Being a teacher is challenging for everyone: Students seem harder to engage, academic expectations are high, and remote learning and the COVID-19 pandemic strained relationships for adults and students alike. Besides, recruiting and retaining educators is difficult. The number of young people interested in educational careers has declined, teachers in their first five years are leaving the profession in high numbers, and hundreds of baby boomers (those turning 60 or older in 2024) are retiring daily, according to author Mark White who highlights these generational trends as challenges for today’s principals.

While school leaders can’t control teachers’ salaries or ignore state legislation, which may influence teacher attrition, they can create working conditions in which new educators of any age feel supported and thrive. This article provides seven ways that principals and veteran staff, often baby boomers or Gen Xers, can help reach across generational divides and retain younger educators.

Generational Differences

Today’s principals have a tough job leading five generations of workers and students. Author Tim Elmore has written about the new diversity of teams and encourages leaders to spend time understanding the differences between the generations in the workplace. Schools have staff who are baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980), millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), Gen Z staff and students (born between 1997 and 2010), and, perhaps, students from Generation Alpha (born after 2011 who are currently age 13 or younger).

Generational characteristics are not science, and educators should be careful not to stereotype people by age. However, learning about generations can help leaders recognize the general trends of age groups. These generations are sometimes bound by catalyzing events, the advent of new technology, or social movements, such as the terrorist attacks on 9/11, smartphones, or the Civil Rights Movement, respectively.

Amie Cieminski. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMIE CIEMINSKI

One of the most noticeable differences between generations is their communication preferences. Older generations may be accustomed to more formal and face-to-face communication while younger generations may prefer more text messages and emojis. Since communication is essential for leadership, principals may adjust their communication strategies to address generational preferences and needs. Gracelynn, a K–8 principal in a school with high numbers of educators or staff under 30 and over 55 advises face-to-face and electronic communication to meet the needs of teachers from different generations. Email communication and shared documents can ensure everyone has the same information about schedules and events, while regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings can strengthen relationships and support schoolwide initiatives.

School leaders and teachers can see that growing up today is not the same as when they were young and need to realize that novice educators are not “simply rewinds of their younger professional selves, either,” as authors Dennis Shirley and Andy Hargreaves write. Realizing that times have changed, and that each generation of educators has unique needs, strengths, and preferences, is a good first step in bridging the divide between generations.

1. Create and support high-functioning teams. Principals can’t attend every team meeting or be the only person to support new teachers. Leaders can set norms for collaboration and create structures, so teams maximize shared planning time. They can facilitate a culture of belonging where everyone feels safe, included, and valued.
Just like understanding a coworker’s work style can promote diverse, productive teams, understanding generational preferences and needs can lead to high-functioning teams. Principals can help team members get to know each other while being careful not to promote generational stereotypes such as “Boomers don’t like to use technology,” or “Gen Zers care most about ‘likes’ on social media.”

2. Leave behind antiquated ideas. Being a beginning teacher shouldn’t be like a classic movie where the first-year student gets bullied and stuffed into a trash can by the older students. However, some people still believe novices must “pay their dues” or adopt the techniques of veteran staff, even if they are outdated or ineffective. In these cultures, the newest teachers are often given the toughest assignments and the worst furniture. These ideas contradict the education profession’s mission to help others grow and succeed.
Principals and teacher leaders can create supportive cultures for novices. Author Paula Rutherford offers a self-assessment for school leadership teams to assess how their culture aligns with quality mentoring principles and is welcoming for new staff. Rather than relying on word of mouth or benevolent teammates, principals can set up a web of support so novice educators know to whom they can go and for what topics (e.g., grading processes, subject matter support, etc.).

3. Don’t frontload everything novices need to know. Three in-service training days can be overwhelming for seasoned veterans, not to mention beginning teachers. Most school districts have moved from required “sit-and-get” professional learning to more job-embedded training throughout the year. Leaders can create a list of what educators need to know and then develop a calendar of monthly learning topics, resources, and support sessions. Providing an overview can assure novice educators that their questions will be answered without overwhelming them with too much information at one time.
“Just-in-time” training with implementation support can also help new educators cope with the demands of the position. For example, school leaders can offer a workshop on communicating with parents a few weeks before parent-teacher conferences. They might even provide a script and sit with new educators to make phone calls or write emails to parents. When working with novice educators of any age, leaders should ask rather than make assumptions about the types of support that educators need.

4. Lean into everyone’s strengths with reverse mentoring. Novice educators need mentors to support them in their first years on the job. Veteran staff can mentor novice educators regarding instructional strategies, classroom management, and processes used in the school. They can share their experiences working with different types of students and their knowledge of the community and district resources.
Additionally, leaders can bridge the generations with reverse mentoring rather than always relying on the veteran staff to teach the younger staff. The youngest teachers have skills and knowledge that older generations need to learn. For example, millennial and Gen Z educators are digital natives and aren’t afraid to try new technology. These educators were valuable resources in 2020 when the pandemic sent thousands of educators and students home with one-to-one devices. Younger educators also bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas. They have grown up with more diversity and often insist on inclusive practices.

5. Provide clear but realistic expectations. Leaders are aware of educators’ growing workloads regardless of their role or experience level. All educators crave more work-life balance, whether caring for children or aging parents, exercising, practicing self-care, or enjoying hobbies. Principals can set clear expectations, monitor the number of new initiatives, and model work-life balance. They can send emails during regular work hours instead of expecting replies on nights or weekends. Principals can encourage educators to take time for personal illness or family issues. They can ask all staff members to contribute to schoolwide efforts and not rely on the newest members to do extra duty since the veterans have already served as coaches or after-school teachers. In these ways, principals can be careful not to use up all the energy of novice teachers, overwhelm them, or burn them out.

6. Provide feedback early and often. Younger generations often expect faster feedback and more coaching than previous generations, who have received more formal and written feedback and a managerial supervisory approach. Cristina, a district human resources director, notes that younger employees want frequent and immediate feedback and recommends leaving a brief note, chatting in the classroom doorway, or sending a quick email, especially when delivering positive reinforcement.
During the first few weeks of school, new educators must know that leaders are there for them and will support them. Mentors and coaches can begin with positive reinforcement and feedback on essential responsibilities. Then, they can follow up with more informal observations with ongoing, actionable, bite-sized feedback. These approaches provide continuing support and help new educators develop their skills and confidence faster than a few formal conferences.

7. Give opportunities for everyone’s voice to be heard. In traditional organizations, supervisors make decisions, and often, the opinions of the veteran staff with the most seniority heavily influence what happens, is valued, and gets implemented (or not). Society has slowly moved away from top-down and hierarchical structures, and everyone wants a voice in the decisions that affect them, whether in their family or workplace. Generational research shows that younger generations want to be seen as leaders and have their perspectives and ideas valued. Principals need to implement structures and norms that promote everyone’s voice being heard, everyone’s ideas being shared, everyone having a say in some decisions, and everyone feeling safe to share. However, this doesn’t mean that every decision involves a vote or that the majority always rules.
Zoe is the new high school principal who inherited a principal advisory council, mainly comprised of veteran teachers. She believes strongly in equity of voice and aims to make decisions more transparent at her school. Before each advisory council meeting, Zoe requests agenda items and shares the agenda with the whole staff via email. Afterward, she asks the council representatives to get feedback from everyone in their department before the next meeting. Zoe has implemented consensus circles and quick electronic surveys as other ways to get input from all staff. She believes that including the voices of many will lead to better decisions and student outcomes. By using ideas like this, principals can help all educators feel that they are part of the school’s important work, which can help retain staff.

Final Word

By incorporating these strategies, school leaders can become what White calls 5-gen leaders and Elmore calls uncommon leaders who want to grow and learn from other generations. These leaders seek alternatives, listen, want input, look for ways to improve situations, collaborate, and are authentic and vulnerable. They can help veteran and novice educators thrive, leverage strengths, and reach across generations to educate future generations.  

Amie Cieminski is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Northern Colorado, and a former K–12 school and district administrator.

References

Elmore, T. (2022). A new kind of diversity: Making the different generations on your team a competitive advantage. Maxwell Publishing.

Rutherford, P. (2011). Creating a culture of learning. Just Ask Publications.

Shirley, D., & Hargreaves, A. (2023). The age of identity: Who do our kids think they are…and how do we help them belong? Corwin.

White, M. (2022). 5-gen leadership: Leading 5 generations in schools in the 2020s. Corwin.