Do you keep school supplies like copy paper under lock and key? Do you tell your teachers what they can hang on their walls? Does your staff need to wait for an announcement over the intercom before they can leave on PD days?
Micromanaging teachers is deadly to their sense of agency, but it can be harmful in many other areas as well. A 2021 study of more than 500 educators in Beijing showed that teachers “under greater control from the school tend to put more pressure and controlling strategies on their students.” Moreover, educators who feel less autonomy in their jobs report less motivation and tend to have less engagement and innovative thinking, which can lead to dull classroom environments and an uninspiring school culture.
According to another paper in the Journal of West and East African Studies, toxic leadership behaviors such as authoritarianism, micromanagement, inconsistent decision-making, and resistance to change can “detrimentally impact the well-being of teachers and hinder the learning process for students.” The authors encourage collaborative leadership models that create space for group decision-making and a shared vision, as well as a culture that supports teacher choice and encourages experimentation and new ideas.
So, the next time you feel the impulse to micromanage the smallest of details, remember that more teacher autonomy leads to greater happiness, more innovation, and, best of all—better learning for your students. Those are the details worth fixating on.
