E221
Punching the Shark: Why Teacher Retention Beats Recruitment Every Time
From Better Leaders Better Schools · Hosted by Daniel Bauer
Episode summary
In this episode of Better Leaders Better Schools: The Ruckus Report Quick take: Most districts are dumping water into leaky buckets while wondering why they can't fill them. Nate Eklund shows us why we've been solving the wrong problem — and how "punching the shark" creates the workplace conditions that make educators want to stay. Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker Nate Eklund is the founder and CEO of Vital Network, a national organization focused on improving educator retention and well-being through workplace improvements.
Original publisher description
The Ruckus Report Quick take: Most districts are dumping water into leaky buckets while wondering why they can't fill them. Nate Eklund shows us why we've been solving the wrong problem — and how "punching the shark" creates the workplace conditions that make educators want to stay. Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker Nate Eklund is the founder and CEO of Vital Network, a national organization focused on improving educator retention and well-being through workplace improvements. A former classroom teacher and author of How Was Your Day at School? Improving Dialogue about Teacher Job Satisfaction, Nate brings deep experience and research-backed insight to the conversation on creating sustainable, joyful workplaces for educators everywhere. Breaking Down the Old Rules 🔨 In this episode, Nate Eklund challenges traditional education paradigms: Key Insight #1: We Don't Have a Recruitment Problem — We Have a Retention Problem What's broken: Districts frantically recruiting new teachers while ignoring why good ones leave The shift: Focus on the "leaky bucket" — in Minnesota, there are more licensed teachers NOT teaching than teaching (enough to fill the Vikings stadium) Impact: When you fix...