The following blog post presents important information from the online magazine Healthline and written by Jase Peeples on June 30, 2022.
The last couple of years have been trying for every corner of society, but one of the most disrupted environments has undoubtedly been the nation’s school system. A global pandemic, remote learning, and a spate of school shootings has forever changed teachers’ responsibilities and the ways they interact with their students. And educators are feeling the weight of it.
New research from the RAND Corporation finds teachers and principals report frequent job-related stress at twice the rate of the general population of working adults. “Educators continue to report relatively worse well-being than other working adults,” said Elizabeth D. Steiner, lead author of the report and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.
“In addition to being twice as likely as other working adults to say they experienced job-related stress, they were more likely to say they experienced symptoms of depression and were not coping well with job-related stress.”
What are the biggest contributors to teacher and principal stress?
For teachers, the most significant source of stress reported was addressing students interrupted academic learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other major contributors to teacher stress include managing student behavior, taking on extra work due to staffing shortages, supporting students’ mental health and well-being, and very low salaries.
Principals reported staffing shortages as their top cause of stress.
“Principals are worried about teachers being out sick, whether they’re going to be able to hire enough teachers, and they’re worried about the mental health and well-being of their staff,” Steiner said.
The research also reveals that well-being is especially low among teachers and principals of color, mid-career teachers, and female educators.
The researchers hypothesize that for mid-career and female teachers, juggling their work responsibilities with caregiving for their own children and families takes a toll on their mental health.
These are highly troubling findings, and everyone must realize this reality. Teachers and principals are not the only ones experiencing extreme stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. School social workers, psychologists, counselors, and essential support staff have weathered the global pandemic, remote learning, and a spate of school shootings.
The dedicated staff at TG4S are aware of the stress and the challenges you will face as you return to school and the classroom. TG4S will make a difference and reduce stress by increasing parent involvement.
Begin planning now!
Contact us at togetr4success@gmail.com or call us at (860) 706-7935