(by Amber Dembowski)
I know many of you are gearing up for the upcoming school year, so I also know it’s the perfect time to talk to you about staying ahead of teacher burnout, and in the process, also improving student achievement and, honestly, their school experiences. Because without a plan to prevent burnout, we’re often stuck reacting to it, which you and I both know sounds wretched.
You can probably relate – it usually presents itself about October ... Teachers aren’t at their best anymore. You see an uptick in student behaviors. Teachers start calling in absent, and because of the shortage, you can’t find a substitute.
It’s because the emotional exhaustion has started to settle in, and the feeling of being burnt out begins. It happens year after year, and yet we often just sit on our hands, or maybe falsely assume the positive energy from the beginning of the year will prevent it. But in truth, to prevent it, we have to do things at a systems or organizational level.
Let’s take a look at some stats. Research tells us that young, new hires, are coming in with a 134% increase in anxiety since 2010. And that 68% of our veteran educators, teachers and administrators, are feeling burnt out with their jobs.
This impacts our day to day in tremendous ways. You’ve probably seen it with your own eyes – the declining mental health of our teachers, the dwindling teacher candidates, and the negative stories about education out there.
When tackling burnout, there are 3 things to consider: demand, control and support.
Demand
Although there are other ways that school leaders can tackle teacher burnout by lessening the demand, some simple ideas include:
Being mindful about how much we’re filling the teachers’ inbox
Being cognizant of teacher plan time and their schedule beyond the school day
Attending to them as human beings, infusing empathy into your interactions
Control
We can also find ways to give them more sense of control by giving them choice in their day. The most common sense of control in the classroom tends to be HOW they will approach their teaching, incorporating their own style.
Unfortunately, our profession is somewhat unpredictable. We can’t control everything in our environment. We can’t control which students show up at our door or what new curriculum is being adopted.
The best way to help teachers feel in control when things are out of their control is to develop teacher efficacy through school culture, a genuine belief in their abilities, and focusing on personal development as much as professional development.
Support
And finally, when teachers aren’t feeling supported, burn out begins to flare up. As administrators we do all we can – provide encouragement, celebrate successes, and make sure they have the resources they need. And all of this is good. We just need to remember to also tend to the human-ness of the teacher, and not just the teacher-ness of the teacher.
We need to create a space for teachers to have mental clarity, toughness, and resilience to be their best self everyday. Decreasing the demand, giving control, and providing support can create this space. But it’s easier said than done.
I believe in all of these things deeply. It is profoundly rooted in my belief system. And yet, I failed time and time again as a principal to hit the mark. It’s not that I didn’t try, and it certainly wasn’t because I didn’t care – but I’m only one person. I had an amazing leadership team, yet it ultimately fell on my shoulders.
And even though I tried repeatedly to create a space for teachers to thrive, I had teachers who were burnt out, who were struggling with mental health, who had a hard time just showing up, yet alone showing up their best self.
Now, let’s pause here for a moment. Close your eyes, count to 10, and make a wish.
Because now I want you to imagine this: teachers tackling burnout within themselves. You aren’t left to pick up the pieces or figure it out. Instead, the teachers are given the tools and resources to optimize their mental state that is personalized to their needs. Just imagine giving this gift to your teachers. There’s no greater gift, truly. The gift of being able to show up as their best self every day.
You may kick ass everyday, and some may even say you have extraordinary powers to fight evil and help people, but even so, you definitely can’t do it alone. I’ve tried. However (ding!), you can do it with TeacherWell. It’s an app that uses awareness techniques and mindfulness challenges to create a strong mental edge in the classroom.
The TeacherWell app will be launching in the Fall, and there’s been a lot of buzz about it.
Happiness in our work is something we must create. It’s gotta be intentional. And once we create it, teachers show more flexibility and ingenuity in their thinking. They’re more productive. They’re better leaders, and they’re more resilient in the face of hardship. Mic drop. Now who’s the superhero?!
TeacherWell may not solve every single problem, but it certainly makes things more manageable and creates the space needed for teachers to be more human. (Okay, forget the superhero part – just superhuman.)
The great thing about TeacherWell is it recognizes the phases of teacher emotion through the school year. Although the demands of the job can sometimes be unpredictable, the school calendar isn’t.
The demands often align with the calendar: end of the quarter deadlines, report cards due, high stakes tests, etc. Because of that, TeacherWell can predict what kind of support the teachers will need, when they are the most vulnerable, and find ways to fuel or disrupt the pattern of behavior or emotions based on the phase of the school year.
So, my friend, I guess the question here is, “how do you want your teachers showing up each day?”
I always want to see teachers who are grounded.
That doesn’t mean they show up perfect everyday.
It just means – if the demands are high, things are feeling out of their control, and there isn’t enough support to go around – they can still find balance somewhere within to persist and do amazing work for the students in their classroom.
All external change starts with internal changes. And that’s a big enough reason to not leave it to chance.
TeacherWell is the most effective tool to increase teacher well-being and improve each teacher’s capacity as a strong and confident contributor to the school as a whole.
If you are feeling comfortable with your strategies to reduce the demands, give more control, and provide ample support to your teachers as humans, that is frickin’ fantastic!
But if you’d like to amp up what you’re already doing, and recognize that it’s hard to do it alone, then check out TeacherWell. To get a quote just visit www.eudoleadership.com/teacherwell.
You’ve got this! I’m excited to see what’s to come for you and your teachers!
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