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The Hechinger Report
Are the teachers okay?
By Jackie Mader
In Jefferson and Rapides parishes in Louisiana, more than half of early
ed teachers who were recently surveyed are making less money than
before the coronavirus pandemic. More than 40 percent are experiencing
food insecurity. Eighty-five percent of teachers are worried that
children will come to school sick and more than half are worried that
they will have to go to work while sick. And nearly 1 in 5 have spent
their own money on supplies like face masks and cleaning supplies. All
this stress is taking a toll on teachers: Nearly 40 percent of those
who responded reported clinically relevant signs of depression.
These findings, which were published in a new report by EdPolicyWorks
at the University of Virginia and the UCLA Graduate School of Education
and Information Studies, are focused on Louisiana but echo concerns
from across the country. As child care centers have reopened
nationwide, the educators are facing stress from strict new state
health and safety regulations, ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks and financial
concerns about the viability of the businesses where they work. Yet
many early childhood educators have no choice but to return to their
jobs. “I could probably die if I go back to work,” one Louisiana
teacher said in response to the early ed survey. “But I have to.”
As the Trump administration pushes states to open schools, K-12
educators will soon face many of the same concerns as their early
childhood colleagues. And many were already dealing with mental health
challenges: only a month into school shutdowns, teachers were already
reporting feeling exhausted and stressed.
Experts say that’s why it’s critical that the conversation to reopen
schools consider teacher mental health and acknowledge what they will
face when they enter the classroom. “It’s urgent now that we are not
only tracking the trauma load of teachers, but also recognizing they
are going to be experiencing a great deal of vicarious trauma,” said
Michelle Kinder, a licensed professional counselor who recently
co-authored a book about how to lower chronic stress for teachers. In
addition to experiencing their own trauma from the coronavirus
pandemic, Kinder says teachers will also take on additional stress as
they support their students. “We are going to see that play out as
[teachers] hold the tension, stress, grief and anxiety of their
students.”
Research shows teacher stress can contribute to low teacher retention
rates and impact teacher-student relationships. About 20 percent of
teachers nationwide who were surveyed in late May said they were
unlikely to return to teaching if schools reopened in the fall.
To better support teachers who do return, experts say schools need to
include teacher mental health and well-being in their reopening plans,
regardless of whether they are opening in person or online. “Schools
have to look at their strategic plans both for the fall and beyond the
fall and reframe those plans,” said Kevin Baird, chairman at the Global
Center for College & Career Readiness and one of Kinder’s
co-authors. Teachers must feel safe and have the tools they need to
address the social and emotional needs of their students before they
feel pressure to teach their curriculum, he said.
New supports for teachers should go well beyond face masks and shields,
said Jamie Candee, the CEO of Edmentum, an online learning platform.
Some districts have already taken some steps, such as encouraging
teachers to take days off for self-care and setting boundaries between
their work and personal lives. Other districts have provided virtual
support groups to teachers that are facilitated by mental health
counselors. And online platforms can help support these efforts, Candee
said. Edmentum trains consultants who work with teachers that use their
platform in “holistic supports” which means taking time during
professional development sessions for personal reflection, encouraging
teachers to take time for themselves and asking teachers to discuss
their thoughts and fears about their classrooms.
Candee said these types of steps are important to help teachers working
with students of all ages feel safe and better able to connect with
their students. “It’s not just about class size, it’s not just about
pay level, it’s not the number of hours of professional development,”
she said. “Do we actually care about them as a whole person?”
For early childhood educators, many of whom have already been back in
their classrooms working with students for several weeks after
pandemic-related closures, the need for similar initiatives, and even
basic health services, is dire, the Louisiana report found. Twenty
percent of the child care teachers surveyed don’t have health insurance
and nearly 75 percent of teachers don’t have sick leave. And equally
important are efforts to address the mental health challenges and
depressive symptoms that teachers are reporting, wrote the authors of
the report. “These challenges, if unaddressed, will have long-term
implications for these teachers for the children they care for and
educate, and for society.”
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