Many teachers feel that administrative strictures offer a one-sided response. They penalize the teachers for things that are wrong or for misdeeds but the rewards that teachers receive are not to the same degree. If there is a reward it will be minor. If there is a penalty it will be much greater.

This is part of the reason for burnout among teachers. They do not see that their efforts are being rewarded sufficiently and as a result they find it difficult to provide the kind of work that they would be able to offer otherwise.

A good teacher who enters the system and receives a potch for trivial things but who does not receive a commensurate and positive reaction for good things that are done is going to be frustrated in his work. He will simply feel go ahead, hit me again, potch me again, I don't even care that much anymore. Here I am, I try to work hard. I'm capable of teaching well but you're not going to care if I do a good job. You're only going to care if I do a poor job. So, I'm going to give you a reason to care. I'm not going to bother to put in the effort to do a good job. I will do just a minimal job, although I'm capable of doing much more and you're not going to appreciate it anyhow so why bother? Why put in the effort?

The research that is done on enhancing good teaching often neglects this issue, possibly because there is little that can be done. The school boards are not likely to pay the teachers more. The administrators have no incentive to encourage their teachers. The research therefore focuses on other things that need to be done in order to improve the teachers' work but thereby omitting this obvious direction.