Placing a high premium on teachers’ humanity

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday October 5, 2026 10:12

Any school manager dealing with teaching troops should first and foremost accommodate the fact that teachers are human beings before they are something else.

As human beings they require facilitation - an enabling environment, one that makes room for their frailties and vulnerabilities.

Just like other employees, teachers thrive and give their best selves when the work environment holds them in high esteem as human beings and professionals.

Teachers have a natural detestation of a hostile environment in which, they are treated like the many tools and assets that ought to be harnessed and managed to achieve organisational goals while the human element is relegated into the background.

The issue of feeling accepted and welcomed as part and parcel of the human tribe in an organisation is vitally important. It gives employees the zeal and appetite to return to work the next day.

Every teacher wants and demands an assurance that school managers in particular and colleagues in general in the organisation have his or her best interests at heart and that there should be no cause for anxiety about one’s safety and survival.

When a general feeling of ‘I am my brother’s keeper’ reigns supreme in a school, each member of the team tends to present his or her best version to the table and the positive approach places the organisation on a higher pedestal as compared to its rivals and competitors.

But when a feeling of insecurity and discomfort prevails, the focus shifts from delivery in the classroom theatre to self defence and preservation. Factions and schisms emerge when some elements within a school consider themselves endangered species, seriously hunted down by those who desire to see them miserable.

School principals have duties which go beyond the written professional precincts of providing technical assistance in the pedagogical arena to improve instruction in the classroom.

School principals have to shoulder additional responsibilities of mothering and fathering all teachers under their care regardless of age. The precious lives and wellbeing of the teaching troops rest on their shoulders. As human beings, teachers come to work with overwhelming baggage and challenges which require attention. Some of the problems are so pressing.

If not addressed urgently, they could drain the energy from the teacher. The challenges are varied in nature. They range from debts, health, relationships and a host of others.

Some of the teachers are orphans needing a mother or father figure at work. When they look at their Principals they see substitute mothers and fathers who should not shirk their responsibilities of going that extra mile of providing shoulders for teachers to lean on when the chips are down.

They also see the school and colleagues as an integral part of the extended family. When tragedy strikes an ordinary member of the teaching troops it should be accorded the same respect and attention as the one involving a senior member of the team.

Many years ago as a senior teacher, I realised that one of my most able and hardworking teachers was wallowing in debts. Creditors did not give him any breathing space. First thing I extended empathy to him and later gave a two week leave to go and work a debt repayment and management plan.

This was at a time when it was not fashionable for teachers to go on leave during the course of the teaching period. Allowing him to leave was a bold and unprecedented move but it paid dividends. He came back to work a bit relieved and replenished to give undivided attention to his teaching responsibilities.

The fact that I extended support to him during his difficult ordeal made him see that he was not alone. This spirit of standing together in the midst of the storm is critically important for mutual survival.

None other than Simon Sinek put this matter of creating a humane climate at the work place so succinctly when he wrote “every single employee is someone’s son or someone’s daughter.”

Adding that accepting a new entrant into the payroll of an organisation is tantamount to adopting a child and it is the responsibility of the leadership to look after the precious lives of the new arrivals.

Teachers need parental care at the work space to navigate social matters as much as they need professional guidance to execute the curriculum. Empathy plays a vital role in raising the morale of the teachers while making them have a sense of belonging. Teachers are mothers, fathers, grandmothers or grandfathers.

They have to shoulder the burden of creating some semblance of balance between their professional teaching demands and social responsibilities.

When dealing with their subordinates school principals should pay attention to details. It should always be borne in mind that every demeanour/ misdemeanour displayed at the work place could be having some subtle underlying issues. Under normal circumstances of love and compassion there should be no sullenness and dull moments in the teaching theatre school principals should care to know the underlying factors behind any visible conduct especially if it is the kind that is undesirable.

There is a need for teachers to close ranks and work together for harmonious and symbiotic relationships. Teachers can compete for positions of power and influence but such competitions should not be destructive to the extent of losing sight of the big picture.

Appointing authorities could also help in sustaining a culture of mutual respect and coexistence through adherence to the principles of fairness and meritocracy when handling appointments.

Dubious appointments not supported by any data could shatter a culture of togetherness and respect for another. All in all mental health is important in the teaching profession. And the leaders should be in the forefront to love and protect their teachers.

Happy teachers give their all to the teaching and learning job and can defy all odds.