Leading with Value

When I started Joy in Teaching I decided to lead with value, meaning that I believed (and still do) that the message of working to make teaching a sustainable career by helping educators build resilience and fight burnout comes first. 

I didn’t start out with ulterior business motives and I continually seek ways to connect with schools and districts to make a difference in teacher resilience and retention. However, for the first time, I do want to take you behind the JiT curtain and share the business side of things because I believe it points to a shift in what is to come for all of us in education.

A Little Back Story

I began Joy in Teaching 4 years ago after witnessing too many good teachers become frustrated, stressed, and burnt out, some leaving the profession altogether – at the same time I couldn’t deny some of the same feelings in myself. So, I began to do research into strategies and practices to build resilience for individuals, schools, and districts – first, just to help myself and then I realized the good I could do for those around me. Eventually, that led to about 100 articles, courses, PD, and books – all of which, and more.

Back to the present

Toward the end of 2020, I began to notice an uptick in sales of my book Joy in Teaching: A Research-based Framework of Action for Educators. I didn’t think anything of it since after New Years’ we are all often seeking renewed insight into our lives and careers and Joy in Teaching book provides clear actionable steps for educators to build resilience and reclaim their joy in their careers. However, this increase in sales has continued to skyrocket into 2021.

Behind the Sales Curtain

By the beginning of March 2021, the Joy in Teaching book sales had surpassed DOUBLE the book sales for the entire year of 2020!

Why This is Significant for All Educators

I don’t normally share the business side of JiT – that’s not leading with value, however, I believe strongly that this speaks to a good change that is happening in education right now. And, we all can use a GOOD change.

The Joy in Teaching book is the “little book that could”. Starting off as locally published and doing decently well in the past, the sales happening in 2021 have been in larger sets, which is attributed to schools and districts using them in professional development.

Since the focus of the book is building resilience to help grow teacher well-being and fight burn out, it’s not a big jump to assume that more schools are looking toward supporting staff, fortifying retention rates, and creating stronger, more well-equipped educators. 

Looking to the future

We have a ways to go before we realize the full toll of the pandemic on education, however, I choose to see the increased attention in teacher resilience and retention as a sign of some of the good that may come out of this.

This renewed focus is not only for the educators’ benefit but also because research shows us that the well-being of teachers directly affects the success of students and our schools. I attempt in my work to really make clear this connection so we can see that investing in teacher resilience is investing in student success.

As we settle into 2021 and look forward to the future and am excited to continue to work with schools and districts to help educators build resilience, fight burnout, and reclaim their joy in teaching. Please, as always feel free to reach out or explore all that JiT has to offer such as books, PD, and more on the website.