Sign of the Changing Times

For at least the last five years, beginning even before the COVID pandemic, we hear more frequent laments by heads of schools about newly hired faculty arriving with expectations of the workplace that seem starkly different from the past: Abruptly quitting midway through their first year, once something that would end a teaching career, now happens with shocking frequency; Early elementary-level teachers asking for flexible schedules and more opportunity to work from home. Now comes a request from a division head at a K-12 school for "resources that could help staff with meeting etiquette and professionalism."

In antiquity, a decade or two ago, etiquette and professionalism in meetings and elsewhere, were inculcated early in one's education and career. Apparently not so much today. The implication we see in this is that onboarding and orientation programs at schools need to become more robust, focusing on professional norms as much as than HR and where to park.