Walk into most school foyers, and you will find a vision statement in a frame. Now ask the teachers in the staff room what the school really values. If the two answers differ, you have wallpaper: it looks handsome, and nobody reads it.
Purpose and Work (Kogan Page, 2026) by Jessica Zwaan, a people operations specialist and former Chief Operating Officer at Talentful, explains why that gap opens and how to close it. It is written for corporate HR, but it fits a school building almost perfectly.
1. Purpose cannot be handed out, but it can be co-created
The argument: People build their own sense of purpose from their work experience. A leader can create the conditions for that, but cannot deliver it. Zwaan recommends regular, psychologically safe sessions (where people can speak honestly without fear of punishment) in which staff say what the organisation does well and what they care about most.
The picture: A gardener cannot make a seedling grow, but can supply soil, water and light. Announcing "we nurture every child" at assembly describes the garden. Staff will judge whether the soil is actually there.
In a school: Each term, ask teachers two questions: "What does this school do well?" and "What do you care about most in your work here?" Rotate who sits on any follow-up group so the same three voices don't speak for everyone.
2. Teachers relate to their work differently, and all are legitimate
The argument: Zwaan says people see work as a job, a career or a calling, and all three can perform brilliantly. The mistake is expecting everyone to be a "calling" person and judging the rest.
The picture: Three people share a train. One wants to reach the destination, one enjoys the journey, and one helps build the railway. You need all three.
In a school: The "job" teacher needs a fair workload and predictable timetables, which often make a life outside school possible. The "career" teacher needs growth, such as becoming a phase head or mentoring new staff. The "calling" teacher needs autonomy to shape school culture. Rewarding only the third type slowly exhausts the other two.
This also changes how to read "quiet quitting", doing your contracted job without extras. Zwaan calls it a rational response to workplaces that demand more while dressing it up as passion. The teacher who leaves at 15:30 may be protecting the energy needed to teach well tomorrow. Before reading it as disloyalty, check how much unpaid work the school quietly expects and whether it is shared fairly.
3. Replace values with operating principles
The argument: "Respect" and "excellence" are too vague to settle a hard decision. Zwaan, drawing on Huw Slater, founder of the mental health platform Oliva, prefers "operating principles": short, specific rules for making decisions when trade-offs are real. They can evolve, unlike values carved in stone.
The picture: A value on the wall is a road sign reading "Good Destination" with no arrow. An operating principle is the arrow.
In a school: "When a learner is struggling, we phone the parent before we issue a sanction." "When timetabling, we protect learner contact time before staff convenience." A good test: could a teacher use this sentence to settle a disagreement on a busy Tuesday?
Zwaan cites a study finding that only 27% of workers believe their company's stated values are authentic. That is a corporate figure, so treat it as a warning rather than a measurement, but ask what your own staff room would score.
4. Close the say-do gap
The argument: Zwaan says purpose is an operations problem, but it's too often treated as a communications problem. When stated purpose and actual rewards point in different directions, people follow the rewards. Wells Fargo prized trust while staff opened fake accounts to hit targets.
The picture: Imagine a stranger who watched only how your school spends its time, money, praise and discipline, and had to write down your purpose from that alone.
In a school: If you claim to educate the whole child but assemblies celebrate only matric results and sporting trophies, staff and learners conclude that the whole child is a slogan. Where practice contradicts the vision, change the practice or be honest and change the vision. Zwaan advises acknowledging the gap openly and listening properly to staff feedback.
5. Watch for warning lights, and share stories
The argument: Disengagement is a signal, not a character flaw. A teacher who goes quiet or whose interests drift elsewhere may be at a career crossroads. Meanwhile, shared purpose forms through real stories, which Zwaan calls "narrative spaces", not through slogans.
The picture: Ignoring a check-engine light only moves the breakdown to a worse moment. And families remember their values from stories told at the table, not from a poster.
In a school: After a project such as a Grade 9 camp, ask which part felt most meaningful. Offer job shadowing, mentoring, or a role change. Open staff meetings with two minutes for one teacher to share a moment that mattered that week. A conversation in September is cheaper than a resignation in November.
A practical plan for this term
Run one co-creation session using the two questions above.
Pick one element of Martin Seligman's PERMA model, from Flourish (2011): positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning or accomplishment. For a school, "positive emotions" might mean specific, genuine staff appreciation.
Pilot one small change and gather honest feedback, ideally anonymously or through an outsider.
Write one operating principle for a recurring tension and test it for a month.
Start the two-minute story slot.
A realistic caution
Principals do not control teacher salaries, curriculum demands or class sizes. Focus on what you do control: how time is used, how recognition is given, how much autonomy staff have, and how honestly you communicate.
At Rudder4Life, we think of a learner's purpose as a thumbprint: pressed by the learner, never stamped on them. The same is true of the adults in your building.
Purpose is not what hangs in the foyer. It is what happens when nobody is looking.
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