Last year, I taught in one of Massachusetts’ most challenged schools. The district had been taken over by the state for chronically poor performance, and our school and local community had many unmet needs. No doubt, teaching in general is hard, but teaching in a struggling system can raise stress levels to new heights.
The late fall was the worst of times. Students began to push the limits of our classroom rules, and our school leaders did not consistently enforce them. Lesson plans began to pile on, and our administrators were too overwhelmed with their own workloads to support us, the teachers.
But this isn’t a unique phenomenon, of course. Teacher burnout has long been an accepted dirty secret of the nation’s education system. For some time, large numbers of teachers have left the profession each year, and this turnover surely contributed to the chaos in my school. But in recent years, researchers have developed an effective program that may keep teachers in schools – and this would have really helped my peers and our students.
One program that successfully addresses the issue of teacher stress is called CARE. CARE stands for Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education, and it helps teachers manage their own stress and their classrooms more positively and effectively.
Helping teachers deal with their daily stress is as important as helping students with the same. When the job gets rough, teachers need to maintain their own well-being so that they can be effective in the classroom. Educators also need robust social skills to connect with students, so, when teachers cannot effectively manage their classrooms, they cannot teach their students.
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Burned out teachers are more likely to respond to students’ needs or misbehavior with anger and frustration. Overwhelmed teachers are also out sick more often and have poor relationships with their students. In schools where the staff is already working beyond their capacity, these cases are especially pronounced..
In the CARE program, teachers complete workshops and reflections to learn mindfulness and mindful listening, which is basically a deeper listening that is sensitive to a speaker’s intentions, rather than just their actual words. They also gain a better understanding of how they can manage their own emotions in and out of the classroom. And it seems to be working. After school districts piloted the CARE program in Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia, 90 percent of participating teachers said they would recommend the program to a colleague.
Policymaking at the state and federal levels can and should advocate for teacher-support programs like CARE. On the federal level, Reps. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and Susan Davis, D-Calif., are advancing legislation to support teacher well-being. They introduced the Teacher Health and Wellness Act earlier this year, and the legislation would pay for additional research to reduce teacher stress and study the effectiveness of other professional development programs.
To be sure, policymakers and administrators must take some responsibility themselves for supporting teachers. Teachers simply need more time to plan and collaborate with one another, and principals should make sure they are not unnecessarily overburdening their teachers with tasks that take them away from their students and classroom.
Ensuring that teachers are best-equipped each day to teach will obviously incur upfront costs that might deter lawmakers from taking the plunge, but teacher well-being is a worthwhile investment. To be turned around and give students the education they deserve, my former school – and thousands of others around the country – needs teachers who start each year strong and get the support that they need to stay. Taking care of them is the first step.
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