This Digest examines factors that may influence teacher morale and offers suggestions for preserving or restoring morale. As noted above, a healthy school environment and high teacher morale tend to be related. A principal's ability to create a positive school climate and culture can affect teacher morale. Teachers' perceptions of students and student learning can also affect their morale. Because of their relative isolation from other adults, teachers have little opportunity to share their successes with colleagues and administrators.
Stress also affects morale.
Feeling overly stressed can result in erosion of one's idealism, sense of purpose, and enthusiasm. Raising teacher morale level is not only making teaching more pleasant for teachers, but also learning more pleasant for the students. This creates an environment that is more conducive to learning. Morale and achievement are also related. Sometimes teacher morale drops almost imperceptibly over time, so subtly that teachers may not be fully cognizant of the decline.