> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.lena.africa/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Managing Teachers
> How to add, import, edit, and remove teachers from your school on Lena.
The User Directory lets you view, search, and organize your entire teaching
staff. This guide walks through adding teachers individually or in bulk, editing
their profiles, and removing teachers who are no longer at your school.
**Before you begin:** You need an existing school on Lena. See [Creating
Your School](/school/creating-your-school).
***
## Viewing teachers
1. Go to **User Directory** → **Teachers** in the sidebar
2. You'll see a table of all teachers registered at your school
Use the **search bar** to find specific teachers by name or email.
***
## Adding a teacher individually
Click the **Add Teacher** button. The add teacher dialog opens.
| Field | Description |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **First name** | Teacher's given name |
| **Last name** | Teacher's surname |
| **Email** | Teacher's email address (used for login) |
No additional academic details required for K-12 (primary and secondary school) teachers.
Optionally assign:
* **Faculty** — The faculty the teacher belongs to
* **Department** — The teacher's department
Click **Save**. A confirmation message appears and the teacher is added to your directory. If they don't already have a Lena account, they'll receive an invitation email.
***
## Bulk import via Excel
To add many teachers at once, use the Excel import feature.
Click the import button in the teacher directory. The import dialog opens.
Create an Excel spreadsheet (`.xlsx`) with the required columns, or download our ready-made template. The first row must contain the column headers, and each subsequent row represents one teacher. The columns depend on your school type:
📥 Download K-12 teacher import template
| Column | Required | Description |
| -------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **First Name** | Yes | Teacher's given name |
| **Last Name** | Yes | Teacher's surname |
| **Email** | Yes | Teacher's email address (must be a valid email) |
| **Staff ID** | No | Teacher's staff ID or employee number |
| **Title** | No | Teacher's title (e.g., Mr, Mrs, Dr, Prof) |
**Example spreadsheet:**
| First Name | Last Name | Email | Staff ID | Title |
| ---------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- |
| Ibrahim | Suleiman | [ibrahim@example.com](mailto:ibrahim@example.com) | TCH-001 | Mr |
| Ngozi | Adeyemi | [ngozi@example.com](mailto:ngozi@example.com) | TCH-002 | Mrs |
| Grace | Okonkwo | [grace@example.com](mailto:grace@example.com) | | Dr |
📥 Download university teacher import template
| Column | Required | Description |
| -------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **First Name** | Yes | Teacher's given name |
| **Last Name** | Yes | Teacher's surname |
| **Email** | Yes | Teacher's email address (must be a valid email) |
| **Staff ID** | No | Teacher's staff ID or employee number |
| **Title** | No | Teacher's title (e.g., Mr, Mrs, Dr, Prof) |
| **Faculty** | No | Faculty the teacher belongs to (must match an existing faculty) |
| **Department** | No | Department within the faculty (must match an existing department) |
**Example spreadsheet:**
| First Name | Last Name | Email | Staff ID | Title | Faculty | Department |
| ---------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- | ----------- | ---------------------- |
| Ibrahim | Suleiman | [ibrahim@example.com](mailto:ibrahim@example.com) | STF-001 | Dr | Science | Computer Science |
| Ngozi | Adeyemi | [ngozi@example.com](mailto:ngozi@example.com) | STF-002 | Prof | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Grace | Okonkwo | [grace@example.com](mailto:grace@example.com) | | Mrs | Arts | English |
* Column headers must match **exactly** as shown above (e.g., `First Name`, not `Firstname` or `first_name`)
* The file must be in `.xlsx` format (Excel workbook)
* Faculties and departments (if provided) must already exist in your school's [academic structure](/school/academic-structure)
* Email addresses must be valid and unique
Upload the `.xlsx` file. Lena validates the data and shows a preview of valid rows and any errors. Review the results, fix any issues in your spreadsheet if needed, and confirm the import. A confirmation message appears and the imported teachers are added to your directory.
***
## How imported accounts work
When you import teachers via Excel, Lena **automatically creates accounts** for
them. Here's what happens:
### Usernames
Lena generates a username for each teacher using the first available option from
this priority list:
1. **Email prefix** — The part before `@` in their email (e.g.,
`ibrahim.s@school.edu` becomes `ibrahim.s`)
2. **Staff ID** — If provided in the spreadsheet (e.g., `STF-001`)
3. **firstname.lastname** — Their name in lowercase (e.g., `ibrahim.suleiman`)
4. **firstname.lastname.xxxx** — If the above is already taken, a random
4-character suffix is added
### Default passwords
The default password for each imported teacher is their **last name in
lowercase**. For example, a teacher named "Ibrahim Suleiman" would have the
password `suleiman`.
### Distributing login credentials
After a successful import, Lena returns a list of credentials (username and
password) for all newly created accounts. **No email notification is sent
automatically** — you'll need to share these credentials with your teachers
(e.g., via email, staff meeting, or secure messaging).
Encourage teachers to **change their default password** after their first
login via the profile settings. They can also use the **Forgot Password**
flow to set their own password since email is required for teacher accounts.
***
## Editing a teacher
To update a teacher's information:
1. Find the teacher in the directory
2. Click **Edit** on their row
3. Update the relevant fields
4. Save changes
***
## Removing a teacher
To remove a teacher from your school:
1. Find the teacher in the directory
2. Click **Delete** or **Remove**
3. Confirm the removal
Removing a teacher disconnects them from your school. Their courses will
still exist but may need to be reassigned to another teacher. Their Lena
account remains active — they just won't be associated with your school.
***
## Teacher sub-roles
When adding teachers, they receive the default "Teacher" role. Sub-roles
(Lecturer, Assistant, Student Assistant) are managed at the course level through
[Course Settings](/teachers/course-settings) by the course creator using the
collaborators feature.
***
## Related guides
* [Managing Students](/school/managing-students) — add and manage student
accounts
* [Managing Admins](/school/managing-admins) — add and manage admin accounts
* [Managing Collaborators](/teachers/managing-collaborators) — how teachers add
collaborators to individual courses
* [Academic Structure](/school/academic-structure) — set up the structure
teachers need