With sunny weather outside and their energy levels petering out, educators need more support than ever to make it through the rest of the school year. Keeping energetic students focused for these final few weeks is a major challenge—especially if you'd rather be relaxing, too. As educators tackle ongoing struggles on the heels of the pandemic, like students' shortened attention spans and behavioral difficulties, teacher burnout continues to rise. Many teachers are leaving careers that they love for a number of reasons, including often feeling overwhelmed, undervalued, or caught between caring for their students and themselves. Although teachers are essential, too often, they're made to feel like they're on their own.
Basic Steps to Show Teachers Support
Providing teachers with the best support will involve a different approach for each different situation. Often, teachers will receive advice from multiple sources—from administrators to parents to their own families and friends. It could become frustrating to hear conflicting and uninformed perspectives from people who don't understand a teacher's specific situation. Instead, the best way to support classroom teachers is by simply listening and responding to these concerns. Truly listening, letting them share, and showing empathy can certainly help them feel more understood.
Starting with sharing.
To cultivate an open environment for sharing, administrators could encourage targeted discussions among faculty members. Chances are, educators are going through similar challenges, even across grade levels or subjects. If educators have the opportunity to share experiences with peers, they could cultivate a sense of community and be more equipped to manage their emotions. Plus, collaborative brainstorming might solve some of the more pressing issues teachers face. Before setting up the discussions, though, school leaders should make sure that teachers are interested in the opportunity. If it feels more like a venting session than a conversation, it may not generate enough helpful action items.
The power of the PLN for teachers.
A lot of the time, teachers are their own best resources. The education world is full of leaders who want to help their peers overcome tough classroom challenges, and collaboration is typically one opportunity worth pursuing. Creating or joining a new professional learning network can help educators feel less alone. The collaborative culture of a PLN helps them to refocus their attention and re-energize. It's also an opportunity for educators to communicate their thoughts and feelings, share resources, and expand their horizons by building relationships with peers they may not have otherwise met.
Consulting on Changes in the Classroom
As academic, social, and emotional effects of the pandemic continue impacting education, it's sometimes natural for educators to feel hopeless. Do my efforts matter? Do I truly belong in the classroom? Will I make it through the rest of the week? Administrators may be prone to these feelings as well—balancing the many concerns of their leaders, teachers, and parents is not an easy task. And, as new innovations, like artificial intelligence, change the shape of learning, classroom practices will need to adapt as well. Returning to in-person learning and navigating these developments is challenging, and their classroom environments have certainly shifted in the past couple of years. As the people who spend the most time in the classroom itself, teachers feel they should have a voice.
Letting teachers use what they know.
Giving teachers every chance to share their feelings and concerns is helpful, but including them in decision making is even better. Although addressing everyone's concerns and opinions regarding new educational policies is all but impossible, it's important for administrators to be upfront with faculty members. Teachers should never feel blindsided by new policies, especially when it comes to instruction. Admittedly, all safety and logistical preferences might be out of their hands but, when it comes to academics, nobody will know better than the teachers.
Involving your teachers in important schoolwide decisions can take many forms. Faculty meetings present a natural opportunity for them to raise ideas, questions, and challenges, but there are plenty of other ways to create an environment in which educators have a say. Creating committees that focus on specific topics, such as the curriculum or the school culture, allows teachers and administrators to come together to spark relevant changes. For a wider range of opinions, administrators can also distribute surveys to elicit teacher input. Or, implementing an open-door policy could encourage teachers to safely share concerns and ideas, while contributing to a welcoming environment throughout the school.
How is the curriculum changing?
Throughout the remote learning era, K-12 teachers adopted some untraditional instructional strategies and many translated well to in-person learning. Beyond that, however, educators were the first to see the academic and social gaps arising from the pandemic. Because of these gaps, many students have needed increased emphasis on social-emotional support in curricula after returning to physical classrooms. And, as experts on student behavior, teachers' input on how to adjust curricula is invaluable. More importantly, teachers need validation and resources as they reformat learning experiences for new student needs.
Supporting Teachers and Their Mental Health
Both during and after periods of remote learning, teachers were at the forefront of some of the most drastic shifts in daily life. With their transition to distance learning, they had to mentally prepare and then physically execute a mountainous slate of responsibilities. Now, after being back in the classroom, many teachers are facing new levels of burnout. Few people outside of the education community truly understand all that they have overcome and accomplished in this time. While support is available, it sometimes can feel hollow, and it can even verge on toxic positivity. Rather than this largely empty reinforcement, teachers need authentic, tangible, and moral support more regularly.
Offering sufficient mental health resources.
Beyond regular communication and active listening, educators need everything from counseling services to built-in off days to recharge. If teachers aren't in the right place mentally and emotionally, they aren't the only ones suffering. This trickledown effect can impact the kids as well. In aiming to curb such disruptions, school leaders can help to maintain a sense of continuity by avoiding new policies and programs. Just the thought of having to learn something new on top of everything else they have done can often dishearten educators. Extending mental health services can alleviate, if not completely solve, many of the difficulties today's teachers face.
Prioritizing teacher mental health.
As mentioned, teachers benefit from more days off, even though many struggle to take advantage of them. Adopting new initiatives to persuade educators to take time for themselves, however, is an option. Over 50 percent of teachers report feeling some effects of teacher burnout or experiencing increased anxiety due to their job. When it comes to feelings of stress, however, the number jumps on up to almost 65 percent. And, because of teacher shortages, some educators have more on their plates than ever. School leaders can do their part by keeping morale high, conversing with all teachers regularly, or just reminding them to start the day with some deep breaths. Even better, providing material resources, like basic classroom supplies, and ensuring manageable workloads can reduce the burden on teachers.
Teachers Still Worry About More than Themselves
Teachers who are making it through these trying times probably are not completely okay. While they might be getting by and adequately addressing various challenges, they still have lots to shoulder when it comes to how this period has and will continue to affect their students. Besides their own mental health concerns, educators also worry about the mental, social, and emotional health of their students. Into the fourth year affected by the pandemic, mental health counselors are still a luxury that's far from ubiquitous. Not only is this a missed opportunity to give students much-needed guidance, it may also mean teachers are stepping in and taking on yet another role.
Wanting to control what they can't control.
Beyond mental health, teachers have also had to consider administrative changes in schools and security of their students. Though educators were the ones navigating remote learning up close, school and district officials are the ones setting long-term policies. As these policies affect classroom learning, they have also created frustration and helplessness among many. As for children, educators have already seen pandemic-related effects beyond the mental and emotional. Teachers aren't trained to help children through the death of a family member, concerns about school security, or other fears. Yet, too often, teachers find themselves in the role of counselor regarding these issues.
Everyone has different concerns.
Beyond mental and physical safety concerns, educators continue to worry about the effects of technology and the content they teach. After a long period of remote learning, some students struggle to give up their ties to technology, which distracts them in class. Others have difficulty with adjusting to the specificities of screen-free interactions. Still others worry about new effects of ChatGPT on learning outcomes. In-person learning is a big adjustment, as is some of the content teachers will encounter. They might be expected to discuss social justice issues or, conversely, they might be forbidden from addressing certain social topics. While financial difficulties and burnout are major issues, teachers' worries extend far beyond these, and it is essential to prioritize their voices on such matters.
Fostering Ongoing Support for Teachers
Although school is fully in-person again, it remains impossible to guarantee that everything will simply just go back to what was once normal. This also means that the support educators need is shifting. During the remote learning period, many people spoke out in support for teachers, and it's essential to make sure that support doesn't diminish now that students are all back in person. Teachers need more than platitudes and thanks, although those can be helpful as well.
Prioritize resources.
As social media movements like #ClearTheList indicate, educators struggle to get resources they need to be effective in the classroom. Beyond the emotional boon of collaborating with other educators and having their voices heard by administrators, teachers also need financial and material support. This support could come in the form of resources such as new classroom supplies, technology, and professional development opportunities. By investing in teachers, we invest in the futures of our students and our communities. And, providing financial support to teachers helps reduce burnout and turnover rates, which ultimately benefits both educators and their students. It is crucial that we prioritize the needs of teachers in order to create a successful and sustainable education system.
The school environment is important.
In order to foster a truly collaborative environment, school leaders must not only seek input from educators but also provide them with the necessary resources to help make their vision a reality. When educators feel supported in this way, they are more likely to take ownership of their work and feel invested in the success of their schools as a whole. Furthermore, school leaders should make it clear that teacher input is not only welcomed but actively sought after. When teachers feel that their ideas and their opinions are valued, they are more likely to feel empowered and motivated to contribute to a shared vision for the school. And, just as importantly, this sends the message that it's okay for teachers to voice their thoughts—good or bad.
Leaning on social-emotional learning.
Aside from pushing the importance of self-care, some may not know where to start in supporting teachers. In the same way that SEL is important for kids (especially these days), it's important for teachers as well. In fact, it can be super eye-opening to step back and soak in some of the SEL lessons they lead themselves. Social-emotional learning is largely about relationships and learning how to express emotions effectively. It also, however, requires a fair amount of active implementation. Teachers may even benefit from seeing how their peers address their emotions in and outside school. We hesitate to suggest another PD endeavor but, if teachers don't know where to begin, it'll be much tougher for them to keep everything in balance.
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