Key points:

• Educators plan to change careers due to feelings of burnout, lack of support
• Teacher burnout persists, but solutions are emerging
• Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues
• For more news on teacher well-being, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being site

While finding their work meaningful, a majority of education professionals experience burnout above the national average, according to a recent study. In fact, more than 20 percent plan to switch to a related field and more than 30 percent look to change careers altogether. 

Soliant, a healthcare and educational staffing company, published the report to help the industry better understand and address educator burnout, staffing challenges, and opportunities facing U.S. schools. 

The survey draws from the insight and sentiment of more than 400 educational professionals. Respondents include teachers, special education teachers, school-based counselors, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and more.  

Among key findings:  

• Most education professionals feel they make meaningful contributions, yet 68 percent struggle with burnout.  
• More than half plan to make a career change, with 22 percent planning to switch to a related field and more than 30 percent planning to switch to a different career altogether. 
• Seventy-five percent of respondents believe their workload has been impacted by staffing shortages and 70 percent state the industry’s workforce has yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In an open-ended response, survey participants provided further insight into factors contributing to burnout and potential career changes. Respondents cited long hours, mental health/stress, heavy caseloads and being asked to do tasks outside their duties.  

As one respondent noted, “I feel that too much is required of educators today and there is a lack of support that is needed. The pandemic just propelled some things. I think that education has been headed in the wrong direction for quite some time because of the lack of support and the increase in workload.” 

“In U.S. schools, workforce challenges are a widespread and enduring issue that is taking its toll on educational professionals,” said Lesley Slaughter, senior vice president at Soliant. “However, through a proactive and innovative approach to staffing, I am confident we can keep these professionals in the roles where they have reported finding fulfillment in their work.”   

Based on input from respondents and Soliant’s experience, these issues may be mitigated by addressing areas such as compensation and benefits, providing professionals with more supportive work environments, greater autonomy and continuing education opportunities. 

This press release originally appeared online.

Key points:

• An atmosphere of respect and appreciation can boost employee well-being
• Teacher burnout persists, but solutions are emerging
• 5 strategies to reduce teacher stress and improve retention
• For more news on teacher well-being, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

In the current educational environment, there seems to be extremely high levels of staff stress, burnout, and generally low morale. In education, where the success of students is intricately linked to the motivation and dedication of faculty and staff to go the extra mile, elevating employees’ well-being is not only a humane thing to do, but a crucial component of improving employee morale.

As a new assistant principal, one of the tasks delegated to me was to manage the staff recognition program. The school had historically recognized one or two faculty for outstanding work at the end of the school year. These faculty were generally nominated by their department chair or one of the assistant principals. There was a need for more widespread recognition.

Several things can be done to improve employee morale through an intentional focus on well-being.

Gratitude: Cultivating a culture of gratitude within the institution can have a ripple effect on employee morale. Encouraging staff to acknowledge and appreciate each other’s efforts fosters a supportive and positive work environment. This can be facilitated through ‘shout-out’ boards where employees can post notes of thanks to their colleagues, or through regular team-building activities that promote camaraderie. Some schools provide preprinted positive note cards for both employees and students to provide positive feedback to others. One school gave each student three or four such postcards at the beginning of each semester to send to other students or staff. They were often proudly displayed on lockers, in offices, and in classrooms. ITEC, Iowa’s ISTE affiliate, includes such “shoutoutees” in its monthly newsletter.

A basic yet profound way to recognize employees is through personalized appreciation from both formal and informal leaders. This goes beyond a generic thank you, but leaders should personalize notes to the specific task or actions taken. Handwritten notes seem to still weigh more than emails. For instance, adminstrators should practice consistently recognizing teachers for their innovative lesson plan or a staff member for their exceptional problem-solving skills in a challenging situation. Personalized appreciation shows employees that their leaders are attentive and value their individual efforts. Some leaders who can do so within their personality provide birthday cards or employment anniversary cards to each employee to give the employee positive feedback and thank them for being part of the team.

Lifting up employees: Beyond individual recognition, public recognition such as in staff meetings, newsletters, or on social media platforms can significantly boost employee morale. Celebrating achievements publicly gives employees a sense of pride and accomplishment. It can provide positive press for the organization as well.  Whether it’s a faculty member who published a new book or article, a staff member who went the extra mile for a student, or a graduate student who obtained a scholarship, acknowledging these achievements in a public forum can be motivating for the individual and the whole team.

Creating (or expanding an existing) formal system of awards and incentives is another effective way to recognize outstanding performance or achievements. This could range from an Employee of the Month award for staff to small tokens of appreciation like spirit wear or logo mugs. Encouraging students to recognize staff and faculty is another good approach. At the end of the semester, recognizing a summary of all achievements in a public forum is a great idea. Summarize grants awarded, publications, presentations, and other awards. A summary of the achievements can be included in a college or department newsletter to share with alumni and other stakeholders as well.

Promote wellness: Building a culture around personal health and wellness demonstrates a leader’s commitment to a human-centered approach to leadership.Effective wellness programs are important for many institutions. Recognizing the importance of employees’ physical and mental well-being is crucial. Educational leaders can implement wellness programs, such as stress management workshops, exercise classes, or health screenings. These programs show employees that their overall well-being is valued, which in turn can boost morale and productivity.

Focus on presence: One of the most basic ways to improve morale is taking time to be visible and listen to employee aspirations, concerns, and struggles. This is a time-honored leadership technique. It should not be limited to first line supervisors, but all campus leaders should be regularly visible. At large meetings, administrators should make sure they spread out among the faculty and staff and don’t simply mingle among themselves. An open door policy is not enough–leaders need to proactively engage. Brown bag lunch with the provost, donuts with the dean, or pizza with the president are all good ways to be visible for faculty and staff. Happy hour with HR might be a step too far for many organizational cultures.

Get the “basics” correct: Besides positive recognition, there are a few basic things that need to be watched carefully to ensure morale is not negatively impacted. First, make sure the payroll is accurate and timely. One of the easiest ways to destroy employee morale is to mess up payroll. No matter how much someone enjoys their work, nearly every employee counts on their regular paycheck. Administrators need to be responsive to employee questions. Employees should not have to wait a week for an administrative response to an email or voice message. One good rule of thumb for administrative responses is to consider what the expectation is for a faculty member to respond to a student (the 24 hour response rule).Administrators should be at least as responsive as they expect the faculty to be.

In sum, employee well-being is vital for maintaining high morale, which leads to a more positive, productive, and nurturing environment for both staff and students. Developing and maintaining a positive culture within the organization is even more important as all levels of education are having trouble in recruiting and retaining employees. Leaders must therefore adopt a multi-faceted approach to well-being—one that acknowledges the diverse contributions of their staff in meaningful and impactful ways. By implementing these strategies, leaders can create an atmosphere of respect, appreciation, and motivation, ultimately fostering a thriving educational community.

Key points:

• The pandemic greatly exacerbated the stressful nature of teaching
• Strategies such as professional growth and building respect go a long way in reducing teacher stress
• See related article: Empowering staff and students with a sense of belonging
• For more on teacher well-being, see eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

Teaching has always been a stressful profession, but since the pandemic it has become even more so. Nearly three out of four teachers say they experience frequent job-related stress, and 59 percent say they’re burned out.

The stress that teachers are feeling is causing many to leave the profession, and this is affecting the ability of school systems to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. In fact, new research suggests that the teacher shortages many districts have experienced since COVID have only gotten worse in many cases—and they weren’t just a function of the pandemic.

School districts nationwide are scrambling to fill open teaching vacancies, and this crisis has a profound effect on the quality of education that students receive. District leaders will have to try many approaches to solve the problem, but here are five key strategies that could make an immediate impact.

Create a school culture that teachers won’t want to leave.

Improving teacher retention starts with building a positive and supportive school environment. Research shows that a positive school culture is associated with higher attendance rates and deeper engagement for both students and faculty.

For instance, a meta-analysis of 120 studies on the factors that influence teacher retention from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University found that reducing the number of student disciplinary problems, improving the work environment, and increasing administrative support can lower attrition rates and encourage teachers to stay.

A positive school culture is characterized by strong, healthy relationships among students and staff members; core beliefs and values that are taught and reinforced throughout the school environment; and high expectations accompanied by robust support systems. In schools with strong, positive cultures, student discipline is less of a problem—and this creates a less stressful work environment for teachers.

Making sure employees feel valued and celebrating their successes is also important. Dealing with job-related stress is a lot easier to do when you feel like your efforts are truly appreciated.

As one middle school principal recently noted: “It doesn’t matter how small the success is or how big it is, we are constantly lifting our teachers up and lifting our students up to say, ‘Hey, you see, you can do it, you can be successful.’ What that does is it just breeds more success, more positivity.”

Support teachers’ professional growth.

Everyone wants to feel successful in their job. As best-selling author Dan Pink writes in his book Drive, mastery is a powerful motivator. Yet, too often, teachers feel like they’re left alone on an island. Teachers are more likely to be satisfied when they believe they’re doing a good job and making an impact with their students.

Providing high-quality professional learning experiences can help instill this belief by ensuring that teachers have the skills they need to be effective. However, much of the professional development that teachers get today is marked by a series of standalone workshops with little support or follow-through.

To develop mastery of their craft, teachers need ongoing professional learning opportunities, supplemented by personalized coaching and support. When teachers feel capable and confident, they’ll be happier in their job and more willing to work hard because they know they’re making a difference.

Give them the respect and autonomy they deserve as professionals.

Another recent Annenberg Institute report examined the state of the U.S. teaching profession over the last half century. The researchers looked at data across dimensions such as professional prestige and job satisfaction, and they concluded that the profession is at or near its lowest state in 50 years.

“Despite the central role teachers play in our society, they have long struggled to gain and maintain the status of a prestigious profession,” the report says. “Teachers are at once heroes and villains, saints and scapegoats. … This tension has led to repeated efforts to raise instructional quality by controlling teacher practices with top-down management and standardization, diminishing teachers’ autonomy and disregarding their expertise.”

Giving teachers the respect and autonomy they deserve could help improve recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction, the report suggests.

“This is not to say that teachers should be left alone in their classroom or expected to develop curricular materials on their own,” the researchers write. “Such practices can lead to inconsistent instruction, professional isolation, and burnout. Instead, efforts to support teachers through coaching, professional learning communities, and peer observation and review programs might create the conditions [that] teachers need to feel successful with their students,” while also ensuring high standards.

Build collegiality.

Teaching can often seem like an isolating profession. Creating opportunities for teachers to work together with their colleagues and build collegiality can reduce this sense of isolation and lead to better job satisfaction.

K-12 leaders can do this by connecting teachers within PLCs; giving them time for collaborative planning within or across departments; and establishing opportunities to get to know each other and build relationships in staff meetings and events.

Empower teachers with tools for success.

To be successful, teachers not only need the right skills. They also need high-quality curriculum materials, apps, and programs that empower them to do their jobs more effectively.

For instance, a high-quality classroom management platform can make teachers’ jobs simpler by helping them deliver instruction seamlessly. With the right classroom management platform, teachers can easily share their screen with students, highlight exemplary student work, keep students focused and on task, and even communicate with students privately if they need additional help.

The right classroom tools can reduce the complexity that teachers face in teaching with technology, making their jobs less stressful and helping them to be more effective.

Reducing the stress that teachers face is critical in helping them achieve success and improving staff retention. Although this is a complex problem that will require a system-wide approach to solving it, these five strategies are a good place for K-12 leaders to start.

Key points:

• The practical constraints on teachers’ time present a significant obstacle to the wider adoption of team teaching
• To make team teaching viable, we need innovations that can dissolve these practical constraints and facilitate efficient and sustainable collaboration within existing cost structures
• See related article: Teacher burnout persists, but solutions are emerging
• For more news on teacher burnout, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

Teacher burnout is a real and growing challenge for US K–12 schools. Last year, school district leaders reported a 4 percent increase in teacher turnover according to a nationally representative survey from RAND. In some states like Louisiana and North Carolina, Chalkbeat found that total departures surged to more than 13 percent. This unsettling trend, coupled with the increasing pressures on those who remain, is a problem we can’t afford to ignore​.

For a number of years, I’ve been encouraged by one potential solution to this challenge: team teaching—in particular, the Opportunity Culture work by Public Impact found in hundreds of schools, or ASU’s Next Education Workforce initiative. I struggled as a first-year teacher, and I would have relished the opportunity to work side-by-side with more experienced teachers so I could observe their methods and have a second adult present to navigate difficult classroom situations.

Yet, despite the potential benefits of team teaching, it’s a practice that has struggled to gain widespread adoption, even though it’s been around for decades. Education historian Larry Cuban, in a blog post from a few years back, traced the ebb and flow of enthusiasm for team teaching from the 1950s to the 1970s. As Cuban suggests, team teaching has long been seen as the antidote to the inflexible, individualistic teaching within age-graded, self-contained classrooms. 

So, why hasn’t such a promising practice truly taken flight?

Time hinders team teaching 

In a recent article for Kappan, education historian David Labaree offers a compelling explanation for why conventional approaches to classroom instruction are hard to change. Labaree makes the case that “the most deeply entrenched school practices — the ones that have proven to be hardest to budge, like age-graded classrooms and teacher-centered instruction — strike a balance between what we want our schools to do and what those schools can realistically accomplish.” By implication, practices that struggle to gain traction—such as team teaching—fail because they don’t maintain this balance between goals and practical constraints.

This idea dovetails with some of Clayton Christensen’s observations about organizations in The Innovator’s Solution. Christensen posits that new organizations set out to assemble resources and processes in service of delivering envisioned value propositions. But in order for the organization to survive, the priorities that evolve within the organization to guide resource allocation decisions must ensure that any new innovations the organization considers pursuing will conform to its cost structure.

Drawing on the insights of these scholars, my sense is that team teaching doesn’t stick because it violates the practical constraints on teachers’ time. Many of the features of conventional schooling—like course sequences, credit hours, class rosters, bell schedules, and classrooms separated by walls—serve to reduce the need for coordination among teachers. They create buffers and predictable interfaces between different teachers’ classrooms by keeping classes compartmentalized and making the handoffs between classrooms clear. In contrast, because team teaching moves away from compartmentalized structures towards more fluid approaches, it demands more time for coordination. Then, when teachers are overwhelmed by their myriad responsibilities, attempts at collaborative teaching often regress into isolated teaching practices.

Potential solutions for team teaching 

Are there ways for team teaching to overcome these challenges? I believe so. But the only solutions with any hope of lasting will be those that can break the constraints on teachers’ time.

The most straightforward solution is to increase school funding so schools can hire more teachers to share the teaching workload. If US teachers were scheduled for fewer hours of teaching each day, in line with other countries like Australia, Denmark, and Japan, they could dedicate more time to coordinating with their colleagues.

But in the absence of additional funding, schools will need to explore innovative ways to make team teaching more efficient and sustainable within existing cost structures. Potential solutions could include optimizing master schedules using services such as Abl or Tegy and leveraging tools like Google Docs and Google Slides to facilitate more efficient collaboration. There’s also a major possibility that new generative AI could vastly streamline the time teachers spend on activities such as planning lessons, developing assignments, and grading—thereby freeing up more time to work in teams.

Will team teaching finally take off over the next decade with the help of organizations like Public Impact and ASU? Only time will tell. But any solution that can last will need to get to the heart of the problem: developing innovations that alleviate the practical constraints on teachers’ time as they try to manage the myriad responsibilities on their plates that crowd their schedules and crowd out collaboration.

This article originally appeared on the Christensen Institute’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

Key points:

• Educators report seeing positive impacts from technology integration and anticipate more AI use
• More teachers have been able to devote direct attention to students’ needs
• See related article: 5 ways AI can help teachers in the classroom
• Everything You Need To Know About AI In Education

Teachers have expressed “cautious optimism” around the use of generative AI in K-12 classrooms, and many more plan to integrate AI tools into their instruction this school year, according to part one of the 2023 Educator Confidence Report from learning technology company HMH. 

Outlook on Teaching and AI, the first of three focused reports to be released over the course of the back-to-school season, found an improvement in both educator confidence in the K-12 education industry and sentiment toward the state of the teaching profession, offering some early signs of stabilization. The Educator Confidence Report series reveals findings from HMH’s annual barometer for how educators in schools across the country are feeling about the state of teaching and learning.

In a special section dedicated to new technology, teachers expressed cautious optimism regarding the use of generative AI in K-12 classrooms. While only 10 percent of educators reported using generative AI in their classrooms during the 2022-23 school, 38 percent expect to adopt AI tools in the upcoming 2023-24 year and 57 percent feel that AI tools should be harnessed positively. 

State of the profession: Signs of hope

This year, the report’s Educator Confidence Index, a measure of overall confidence (out of 100), increased slightly to 42.0 from 40.0 in 2022, showing a small improvement from last year – a hopeful sign of potential stabilization following what has been a challenging period for educators.

While many educators still feel negatively about the profession coming out of the pandemic, optimism is growing in key areas. Post-pandemic, educators identified several bright spots, including the use of digital platforms to improve student engagement (31 percent in 2023 v. 14 percent in 2019) and increased attention to the social and emotional needs of students (50 percent in 2023 v. 33 percent in 2019).

Educators feel there is more to be done to improve the profession; such improvements include raising salaries and continuing to support both student and teacher well-being. These areas will be explored in more detail in subsequent reports to be released by HMH this fall.  

A spotlight on generative AI: Cautious optimism

With generative AI emerging throughout all areas of society as a potentially disruptive force, this first report dives deeper into educator sentiment toward the tool. Although edtech has become the norm in classrooms across the country, generative AI presents a new and unfamiliar landscape for many.

In fact, less than 20 percent of educators say they feel equipped to use tools like ChatGPT in their classroom or school. However, more than half of the educators surveyed (57 percent) agreed that generative AI is inevitable and should be harnessed positively in the classroom, with students taught to use the tools ethically. More than half (58 percent) of educators noted that they would be interested in professional development and coaching around classroom AI.

While the majority of educators (90 percent) are not yet actively integrating AI in their classrooms, the early adopters of AI (10 percent) are eager for more. For those who did use it, 74 percent said they expect to increase usage this coming school year. And 41 percent of all educators agreed that AI tools had potential to be used as personalized tutors for students. 

Finally, although responses around how helpful AI-generated content is as part of curriculum specifically were mixed, there was interest in AI as a support for educator workflow. When asked for which activities AI-generated content could accelerate achievement, 51 percent said AI could support worksheet creation, 48 percent noted assistance with lesson plans and 41 percent said ideating on writing prompts.

“It’s encouraging to see that educators are beginning to transition out of survival mode and toward regaining confidence in their profession. We hope that last year was the low point, and that we are turning the corner,” said Francie Alexander, Senior Vice president, Research at HMH. “Connection has always been key for educators, and we will continue to focus on helping teachers collaborate with one another and strengthen relationships between themselves and their students’ families.”

This fall, HMH will release Part 2 and Part 3 of the Educator Confidence Report to further expand upon educators’ thoughts on key topics impacting the profession. Download the full Part 1: Outlook on Teaching & AI report here.

“As we embark on a new school year, we are entering an exciting and pivotal moment in the evolution of edtech,” said Jack Lynch, CEO, HMH. “As educator confidence rises, I am heartened to see that teachers are eager to learn more about generative AI’s potential and to harness its benefits. At HMH, we remain focused on applying technology with purpose to save educators time and create more space for the human connections that accelerate learning outcomes.” 

Research was conducted between May and June of 2023 in partnership with MarketCast and surveyed 1,000 K-12 classroom teachers and 200+ administrators.

This press release originally appeared online.

Related:
Teachers are surprise AI champions
4 exciting ways AI is a game-changer for teachers

Key points:

• Nobody ever said teaching is easy, but it’s harder than ever
• Strategies such as responsive leadership and a positive school culture could help alleviate teacher burnout
• See related article: This key strategy can help boost teacher well-being immediately

The American Federation of Teachers teamed up with Educators Thriving for a yearlong study culminating in a new report, “Beyond Burnout,” which details practical, research-based solutions to improve the chronic levels of stress and burnout that are plaguing teachers and support staff in K-12 schools and contributing widespread teacher shortages.

The report highlights the numerous challenges facing educators and proposes a slate of strategies and solutions to address them, including several factors that reliably predict educator well-being: responsive leadership and supportive culture, acceptance, adaptability, personal well-being, and a professional-growth orientation. The report includes a survey tool—generated by educators—that more accurately defines and gauges educator well-being.

At the core of these solutions is a call for connection, collaboration, and commitment from leaders to support the well-being of educators so that they can, in turn, support their students.

“Teaching has never been an easy job, but today it’s harder than ever—and this profession needs support and respect if we have any chance of recruiting and retaining good folks to meet kids’ needs,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “Burnout is real: This report contains core strategies to address burnout and in so doing helps deter teachers and school staff from leaving the profession and the students they love.”

The report explains that to better support and retain educators, school systems need to implement immediate relief coupled with systemwide changes. Specific strategies and solutions to teacher burnout include:

• Developing increasingly responsive school-site leadership
• Cultivating supportive school staff culture
• Offering professional development related to cultivating and sustaining personal well-being

The AFT and Educators Thriving engaged more than 220 educators as they learned about, practiced with, and applied strategies empirically proven to increase personal well-being. Ninety-two percent of participants agreed the program made their job feel more sustainable, and 94 percent agreed it helped improve their well-being. Participants also reported statistically significant reductions in emotional exhaustion—a leading indicator of burnout.

As Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, shared, “It is hard to put yourself first. We really do need direct instruction as educators to be reminded how to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of our students—and be willing to come back the next year.”

“Educators play a crucial role in the lives of our next generation. When educators are well-supported, they provide even better learning experiences for their students,” added Weingarten. “But they face stress every day, whether it’s helping students who exhibit signs of distress, dealing with the nonstop paperwork and administrative tasks, or facing the ongoing culture wars that are injecting politics into their classrooms, which can make it impossible to do their jobs.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. By prioritizing educator well-being and collaboration, as we’ve seen in places like the ABC Unified School District in California and White Bear Lake Area Schools in Minnesota, schools can create an environment that fosters growth, resilience and, ultimately, better teaching and learning conditions for everyone.

The report is a key plank in the AFT’s $5 million, yearlong Real Solutions for Kids and Communities campaign, which aims to secure the supports educators need to address learning loss, loneliness and literacy challenges. As the report explains: “Because there is an inextricable link between staffing, educator well-being and student learning, it is imperative to improve the well-being of teachers and prevent burnout.”

Tyler Hester, founder of Educators Thriving, said: “We can—and must—change the way we support educators. Until now, there has been strong consensus about what ‘burnout’ means but no unifying definition of educator ‘well-being.’ With a newly defined North Star, articulated by AFT members across the country, the conversation can move beyond burnout and toward clear, actionable strategies to measure and improve well-being. We can supplement professional development with personal development. And we can equip systems with the data they need to make sure every educator reaches closer to the heights of their potential.”

This press release originally appeared online.

Key points:

• Teacher burnout still permeates nearly every aspect of education
• Teachers who integrated creativity into the curricula reported lower levels of burnout and stress for themselves and their students
• See related article: This key strategy can help boost teacher well-being immediately

This article originally appeared on Adobe’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

Teacher burnout is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon. Even 15 years ago, when I was teaching middle and high school, it was always a question of when (not if) my colleagues and I would reach burnout towards the end of the year. On a good year, with ideal conditions, some teachers would make it until around April. But, of course, we always looked out for teachers who showed signs of burnout as early as mid-year.

But since the global pandemic and its total disruption of the education system, burnout is no longer seasonal but an ever-present state for many teachers. And even with the return to in-person learning, we’re still seeing how deeply teacher burnout impacts every aspect of the classroom — from academic outcomes, to teacher and student well-being, to staffing shortages and educators leaving the profession.

But with a new school year starting this fall, how can this year be an improvement from the last? What can we learn from teachers who seemed to fare better last year so that educators and school leaders can deploy the right programs and strategies to increase teacher and student well-being and capacity?

Insights on burnout and well-being from K12 educators

To help us answer these questions, the Adobe for Education team partnered with Advanis to survey K-12 educators about their experience the past school year. We asked about their stress and burnout levels, the key causes, how their students are coping, and what personal or curricular activities most improved their well-being.*

Unsurprisingly, more than half reported experiencing burnout; among them, 79 percent noted how this sentiment has only increased over the past year. 66 percent shared feelings of total exhaustion, citing classroom management, low engagement, and student mental health as top concerns worsening their well-being. And “always-on” burnout is rising: 43 percent of educators feel exhausted most or all the time.

But one promising variable jumped out of the data: Teachers who practiced creativity or integrated creativity into the curricula reported lower levels of burnout and stress for themselves and their students.

Overwhelmingly, 95 percent of educators said that fostering creativity leads to better mental health and less stress for themselves and students alike. Of the respondents in our educator survey who used creative activities with their students this past year, 82 percent saw positive impacts on student well-being and engagement, contributing to teachers’ increased feelings of satisfaction and reduced burnout.

When it comes to academic outcomes, nearly all those “creative curriculum” educators also observed positive changes in their student’s learning and engagement, with half saying that it also significantly increased their personal enjoyment as a teacher.

So what did those creative activities look like, and how can they be implemented effectively? We’ve gathered these insights and top tips to share with educators and school leaders for this Back to School season to make it easy to adopt and implement these strategies and set the next school year up for success.

Cultivate classroom culture and connection with creativity

The culture of a class as a learning community is set in the first few weeks of school, even the first day. Will learning be independent or collaborative? Will lectures be sage on the stage or guide on the side? Will the class be a safe space to explore, take risks, make mistakes, and let students shine in multiple ways by bringing their authentic selves? Introducing a creative activity early on sets the stage for a learning culture committed to self-expression and well-being.

As one 5th-grade teacher shared: “Creative learning allows for stronger relationships to be built between the student and teacher, creating a more positive environment for both. It also gives me a break from direct instruction while the students are working, giving me time to appreciate their unique talents and creativity that I might not otherwise see.”

A key theme related to teacher burnout that this research highlighted was the heightened need for connection, especially after distance learning, when connecting with students over video, often with cameras turned off, felt impossible at times. “Being able to be creative and involved in creative activities with students gives me an opportunity to connect with them,” noted a high school library and media specialist in our study, which “makes me feel that I have made an impact on my school and students.”

Here are three short, creative challenges teachers in any subject or grade level could quickly introduce with Adobe Express in the first few days of class to set the right creative culture of connection. You can also explore all of Adobe for Education’s short creative challenges with monthly themes that align with the school year.

Creativity boosts engagement and reduces burnout

Of the 1,000 K-12 educators and school leaders we surveyed, the top benefit from creative activities was “greater student engagement,” as reported by 81 percent of respondents. “Creative and self-expression activities have increased the overall engagement of my students significantly, as they are excited to share their talents, interests, and methods that they, themselves, have found instrumental to their learning,” shared a high school teacher in our study.

They added that “when these activities are not only incorporated but encouraged, students take more ownership of their learning and can also see how creativity is not separate but included in the learning process.”

Decreased student engagement was one of the most immediate and apparent effects of remote learning after COVID, and the after-effects of that engagement drop are still felt in classrooms today and are evidenced in empirical research.

Behind that lower engagement is an awareness that students and youth, in general, are still struggling today in a way that traditional standards or rote curricula are not equipped to address fully. But creative activities in the classroom provide one possible anecdote to this phenomenon, as one K12 school counselor shared: “Creative endeavors in the classroom have changed my students’ attitudes and give motivation in a time where so many of them feel hopeless or that school is not important.”

This secondary benefit from student engagement was a sentiment noted by many teachers, and the impact was also felt by school administrators and leaders who support teachers. As one school administrator shared, “Any creative activity usually boosts student engagement and improves classroom behavior. This lowers my stress levels and helps me feel like I’m actually helping my students become their best selves.”

Another noteworthy result from this research centered on the impact of higher levels of student engagement from creativity activities on teachers’ mental health. As one high school science teacher observed, “Creative activities keep students engaged, which has a positive impact on me. When students are engaged and interested in learning, I spend less time trying to get them to work.”

School leaders should proactively provide creative well-being programs for educators

We found that fewer than half of educators proactively seek out resources to address burnout or support their mental health. With that in mind, there’s an important role school leaders can play in providing wellness activities designed to reduce teacher burnout. However, 65 percent of the educators we surveyed said their schools or districts failed to provide any form of staff wellness activities during the past school year.

And while we know creative activities and curricula can help, only 45 percent say they receive the tools they need to incorporate creative activities in the classroom. The lack of tools is due, in part, to the mistaken belief that staff wellness activities need to be time-consuming, resource-intensive, or challenging to implement.

This research shows micro-activities of creative expression throughout the school year can have a significant impact. Think 10-minute creative prompts at the beginning of a department meeting. Or 15-minute “creative challenges” at the beginning of a class each Friday or 30-minute “creative kickstarters” at the beginning of a new unit.

Commit to continued learning, creating, and support

These are just a few light-lift ways to use creativity to improve teacher and student well-being this year. The results of this research also align with the latest insights from the Adobe Foundation’s study with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which underscores the role of creativity as a pathway to support mental well-being.

Considering teacher well-being, which impacts their performance, student outcomes, and teacher retention, the impact of school leaders who champion creativity in the classroom can’t be overstated. As one middle school teacher in this study shared: “The impacts on my own mental health from using creative activities are obvious. There used to be days when I didn’t want to wake up and go to work. On the days when I use creative learning, I am excited to go to work.”

Many participants in our research shared that creative activities in the classroom reconnected them to the mission of education and why they chose the profession in the first place. “[Using creative activities in the classroom] makes you feel like your career is worth it, you feel relieved, it’s like a breath of fresh air,” shared one 6th-grade school social studies teacher.

Another middle school teacher shared that using creative activities in their curricula allows them to “see happiness within my students and to know they’re learning and having fun … I feel like my job is complete.”

And any leader — whether a leader in a school, business, or organization — shines when they enforce a sense of meaning and purpose in their team and staff, especially such a mission-driven group of professionals like educators. As one middle school visual and performing arts teacher in this study shared: “Helping students be creative is one of the things that inspired me to be a teacher, and I love watching students find creative outlets. It gives me purpose in my profession.”

To ensure a school-wide culture of creative teaching is cultivated this year, teachers and school leaders can draw on the support and inspiration of other creative educators. One great way for educators and admins to stay engaged in this way is to join a community committed to well-being and creativity, such as Adobe’s Creative Educator (ACE) Community.

Through professional learning, in-person and virtual events, and Facebook groups, the ACE community is all about educators supporting educators with ideas, inspiration, and a shared commitment to cultivating creativity and well-being in the classroom.

Champion creativity in the classroom

At Adobe, we believe in the profound impact of creativity across all areas of teaching and learning. More than ever, schools can help educators manage their mental health struggles, daily stress levels, and growing list of responsibilities by giving them outlets to foster their own creative expression.

And while there is no single solution to well-being and mental health, Adobe is committed to continue working in partnership with leading educational and mental health organizations, as well as providing our education community with the tools, curricula, professional learning, community, and support. Learn more about Adobe’s commitment to positive mental well-being and explore ways to leverage the Adobe Education Exchange to keep students engaged.

Of course, this work is far from over — at Adobe, we will continue to support mental health initiatives and help teachers to improve their well-being, so they can focus on what matters most: inspiring students to learn and reach their full potential.

*This survey and research were conducted in the US among educators (teachers, administrators, teacher’s aides, school counselors, librarians and media specialists, and youth workers in education settings). Participants had to teach in grades 3-12 within the past year to qualify. 1,000 educators were surveyed, and data was collected using an online sample panel, where participants received a small honorarium for participation.

Related:
Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues
5 ways to help educators experience more joy

Key points:

• The COVID-19 pandemic forced more people are online and cause more people to feel undervalued
• Educators–distance educators in particular–must practice self-care in order to help their own students learn empathy
• See related article: This key strategy can help boost teacher well-being immediately

If empathy were an animal, it would undoubtedly be on the endangered species list–potentially on the cusp of meeting a fate comparable to the woolly mammoth or the saber-toothed cat.  Since 1973, the purpose of the Endangered Species Act has been to protect endangered animals and foster habitat, which not only promotes safety and recovery from the events or circumstances that led to rapid decline, but also advocates and educates for future changes in policy, procedures, and society to ensure the animals are nourished and safeguarded.  In short, the endangered species list attempts to save animals before it is too late.  Although not a living organism, empathy is on the verge of becoming an endangered social skill.

Unlike extinct animals, empathy will leave no skeletons below the surface, and without immediate attention, empathy may vanish from the face of the earth, without any evidence that it was ever here.

Due to a variety of current technological advancements and societal development in the last 10 years, empathy is on the brink of extinction.  The thought of living in a world without empathy should be enough to get the attention of most people who work in the field of education. 

As educators, we are faced with the reality that empathy has been placed on the endangered social skill list.  Over the last 10 years, empathy has seen a steady devaluation due to several factors, including compassion fatigue, burnout, technology advancements, war, pandemic, and other outside stressors. 

As we look at the current workforce shortages in key occupational fields such as nurses, teachers, and law enforcement, it is evident that people are moving away from the “helping professions.”  Key phrases found in news articles and exit interviews often highlight “burnout” or “compassion fatigue” as reasons people are leaving the profession.  By definition, compassion fatigue entails “not having anything left to give.”  In addition to labor shortages in key professions, which are fundamental to our society, other influences are also working to quickly extinguish any semblance of empathy in our culture. 

Heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are online and more people are feeling undervalued. For better or worse, social media has changed the way children, adolescents, and young adults communicate.  Paired with the recent global pandemic, many people were forced to adapt to how they communicated with friends and family.  One unintended consequence was that social media has fostered an “I” and “me” culture among younger generations, which has only increased the steady reduction of empathy.  When social media accounts are rewarded for self-centered, materialistic, and boastful content, empathy is quickly replaced with envy or resentment towards others. 

So, if our younger generations of students are not learning empathy and our older generations of helping professionals are losing empathy; what can we do to stop the extinction of empathy?  Similar to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, we must protect empathy and create environments where it can flourish, while we educate and advocate for change.  How can our teachers create a safe and nurturing environment to grow empathy, when many of them have already given all the empathy the have?  When education continues to be overridden with more and more demands, and teachers struggle to climb out of the exhausted pit of despair, what can educators do to bring back the importance of empathy?

The answer lies in self-care.  Although it sounds counterintuitive to focus on ourselves to increase empathy, appropriate self-care is our only chance at saving empathy from extinction and passing it on to our future generations.  Although self-care may be a popular buzz word in some circles, it is often confused with mindless, negative, self-defeating behaviors.  In the same tone, self-care should not be limited or misconstrued to anything that is “fun” or “relaxing.” Self-care must entail intentional healthy behaviors designed to rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit.  Against popular opinion, drinking a bottle of wine and scrolling Facebook is not self-care.  Self-care needs to focus on improving the basic functions, which can be found in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

According to Maslow, the foundational level of basic psychological needs must first be met, followed by the second level of safety and security needs, before a person can move on to the third level, which includes social needs such as love and belonging (empathy).  Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we can ascertain that individuals must take care of their basic psychological needs before they are able to show empathy.  Looking at basic psychological needs, Maslow highlighted food, water, shelter, sufficient rest, and overall health, which must be addressed before a person can move on to the next level.  Notice Maslow did not mention a spa day, day drinking, Netflix binges, or Instagram in the list of basic needs. How many people neglect the basic principles of self-care, such as eating healthy foods, drinking plenty of water, and getting sufficient rest only to ultimately push themselves into burnout, compassion fatigue, or empathy exhaustion?  If this sounds too simple, be aware that society has added complexity to our daily lives, which often overshadows our basic needs.

As mentioned previously, empathy is not a living animal on the endangered species list, but the extinction of empathy could have serious ramifications for humans going forward.  Can you imagine a community with no desire to help each other?  What will happen to our next generation when we ask them to “take a walk in someone else’s shoes” or “look at something from someone else’s lens?” 

Once our children stop being able to take a different perspective, we run the risk of losing a lot more than a social skill.  For now, educators must add empathy to the Endangered Social Skills List of 2023.  More specifically, educators must get selfish with self-care (real self-care), before they can create safe and supportive environments conducive to learning–only then can we pass on the magnificent skill of empathy to our current students and pave the way to ensure that empathy does succumb to the same fate as the woolly mammoth and the saber-toothed cat.

Related:
Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues
5 ways to help educators experience more joy

Key points:

• Teachers have juggled so much during the pandemic and the return to school–it’s no wonder they’re burnt out
• High-quality substitutes are key to teachers’ ability to take breaks, and technology can aid in recruiting subs
• See related article: Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues

In the wake of the pandemic, student mental health is a top concern for K-12 leaders, as it should be. But teacher wellness is also at crisis levels, and this has important implications for the quality of education that students receive.

When education shifted online in spring 2020, teachers had to learn new technologies and instructional strategies in a very short amount of time. Many endured the loss of friends and family members to COVID-related illness. When school districts returned to in-person learning, several teachers worried about their own safety. Teachers have had to deal with a sharp rise in behavioral issues and address a growing number of social-emotional needs among their students. They’ve worked long hours to facilitate learning recovery.

It’s no wonder teachers are burnt out, and many are leaving the profession. We’re asking them to do a lot, and it’s taking a toll on their well-being. In fact, pandemic-related anxiety was higher for teachers than it was for health care workers, one study reveals.

Students can’t learn if they don’t have dedicated and highly qualified teachers who can fully focus on their students’ academic and social-emotional needs. This becomes nearly impossible to do when teachers are worried about their own mental health.

Improving teacher wellness is a complex challenge, and solving it will require a systemic approach that includes making widespread changes to improve teachers’ working conditions. However, there are also some immediate steps that K-12 leaders can take to support their teachers more effectively. One of these is to rethink how school systems approach the recruiting and assignment of substitute teachers.

Why high-quality substitutes matter

Like everyone else, teachers need to take a break once in a while. They might need a day off to relax and recharge, or just to get away from the mental and emotional strain their job entails. However, good teachers also care deeply about their students, and many won’t put their own mental health requirements ahead of the needs of their students.

In conversations with teachers, I’ve learned that many avoid taking sick days because they have concerns about the quality of the substitutes who will be assigned to their classes—or even if they’ll have a sub at all. I had one teacher tell me that the first person she checks with when planning a vacation isn’t her husband, it’s her favorite substitute teacher to see if they can fill in while she’s gone.

Teachers need to be able to take mental health days every now and then, without worrying that their students aren’t going to learn in their absence. If educators can feel confident in the quality and availability of the substitute teachers in their schools, they’ll be much more likely to take days off as needed, which will make an immediate impact on their mental health and well-being.

How technology can help

For educators to feel comfortable in taking days off when they need to, school districts need a reliable supply of high-quality substitute teachers. However, many districts struggle to maintain an adequate pool of subs. And that’s preventing full-time teachers from taking the occasional breaks they need for sustained wellness.

One way for school districts to overcome this challenge is to actively recruit more subs within their community. There are aspiring teachers, talented members of the community, and retirees with the knowledge and skills to be effective substitutes who would welcome the chance to support their local school system—while also making extra money on a part-time basis.

This is where technology can help. Online marketplaces are connecting people in innovative ways, bringing together people with a need and those who can help fill that need across a wide variety of industries. Similarly, technology can connect schools with people in their community who are interested in becoming substitute teachers.

Not only can technology help forge these connections; it can also simplify the process of becoming a sub, finding and accepting assignments, and knowing what to expect. An online portal removes many of the key hurdles that make being a sub more difficult that it has to be. By improving the substitute experience, many of the barriers that contribute to the shortage of substitute teachers in a school system dissolve.

In transforming how K-12 leaders find, recruit, and interact with substitute teachers, technology can help schools build a stable and reliable pool of qualified subs. This will help full-time teachers feel better about taking the days off they’re entitled to, resulting in improved wellness and a more satisfied teaching staff. It’s a win for school districts, teachers, and the students they serve.

Related:
5 ways to help educators experience more joy
Why student and teacher wellness comes first

Key points:

• Most teachers would not choose a teaching career again
• Nearly half of teachers say poor mental health is impacting their work

Only 46 percent of current public K-12 educators would be “fairly” or “very likely” to advise their younger selves to choose teaching again, according to a new survey that shines a spotlight on a pressing crisis facing U.S. education.

More than one-third (35 percent) of educators are considering leaving the profession altogether. This is according to the 2023 Merrimack College Teacher Survey, which was conducted by the Winston School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College.

While the survey paints a dark picture overall for American public K-12 education, there are areas that have seen notable improvements since last year’s study. The percentage of teachers who are very satisfied with their jobs has nearly doubled to 20 percent, and the percentage of teachers considering leaving the profession within the next two years has dropped from 44 percent to 35 percent. Additionally, more teachers now report feeling respected by the public and being treated as professionals than in last year’s study.

Despite these positive trends, most teachers still would not advise their younger selves to pursue the profession, and measures of teacher autonomy remain stagnant. The survey highlights the ongoing impact of the pandemic on mental health, with 42 percent of teachers reporting their mental health and wellness negatively affects their work.

“While this should serve as a flashing red light to educational policymakers, the survey also provides insights into strategies that educational administrators and policymakers can employ to address this,” said Dean Deborah Margolis. “By prioritizing teacher mental health and wellbeing, and taking steps to build teacher morale, academic leaders can help create a healthier and happier school environment and retain more of their teachers.”

The survey provides clear guidance about how these learnings can be incorporated into teacher and school administrative programs. According to the study, “about 1 in 3 teachers say their principals provide some or a lot of concrete support for teacher mental health and wellness. But just 1 in 10 teachers whose mental health is having a very negative impact on their work say the same.”

The study specifically surveyed teachers on steps that schools or districts could take to support their mental well-being. The most frequently cited responses were:

• A pay raise or bonus to reduce financial stress (67%)
• Smaller class sizes (62%)
• More/better support for student discipline-related issues (62%)
• Fewer administrative burdens associated with meetings and paperwork (57%)
• More acknowledgement of good work/hard work/successes (54%)

“This study has given districts the kind of concrete insights that they can use to support their teachers and improve their retention,” said Associate Dean Russell Olwell. “With this survey, we wanted to go beyond just highlighting the challenges, and start looking at how we can leverage this work to support educators and educational leaders.” He added: “As a result of what we are seeing in K-12 schools, Merrimack College has launched several new programs to address teacher and student wellness, including coursework in mental health first aid, social emotional learning for educators, and a wellness professional development series through the Merrimack Institute for New Teacher Support.”

The survey, which was administered between January 15-25 of this year, collected responses from 1,178 K-12 public school teachers in the United States, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3% at a 95% confidence level.

This press release originally appeared online.

Related:
5 ways to help educators experience more joy
How administrators can support teachers with chronic health needs

I was recently working with middle school educators and asked them about the biggest challenges they are facing. Without skipping a beat, they said dealing with discipline issues, students who at times just don’t seem to care, and their own lack of motivation.

This made me think about the struggles of maintaining a positive school culture, how students often do not get what they need, and how exhausted these educators must be. Whether we are talking about life in general or education specifically, it’s very difficult to adjust, see different perspectives, and find joy when you are in the thick of it.

But, it’s not impossible.

Understanding joy

Joy is an interesting emotion.  In her recent book, Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown defines joy as “an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation.” This is different from happiness, which Brown defines as “feeling pleasure often related to the immediate environment or current circumstances.”

Educators and students are often asked to “be happy,” which isn’t always feasible when they are facing daily struggles. However, joy – the feeling of deep connection, pleasure, and appreciation – can really move the needle in the classroom.

Brown says in order to experience joy, people need to be vulnerable because joy is one of the most vulnerable emotions one can experience. And, often times when we are experiencing true joy, our brains stop the emotion to protect us from getting hurt. Brown calls this “foreboding joy.”

Experiencing more joy

With this understanding of joy, let’s go back to the exhausted educators. How can you as school and district leaders support educators (and students) in experiencing more joy in schools and classrooms?

It first starts with creating the conditions and providing permission for joyful moments to happen.

As a leader, do you allow yourself time for joy? Do you approach your day finding moments of connection and reflection? Brown has found people who avoid foreboding joy do so by practicing gratitude in moments of joy, and by being present and focusing on how grateful they are for the moments they are in. 

The first practice as a leader, therefore, is to notice when you are feeling joyful, and then taking a moment to think about why you are feeling this way before honoring and appreciating that moment. It’s a simple mind shift that can make a huge difference.

With this mind shift you will be in a better position to create more opportunities for joy and connection in your building. And, you’ll be in a better position to have a more playful mindset as a leader.

In his research, Stuart Brown, who wrote the book Play, found that play is integral to a healthy life. It fosters empathy, connection, and greater sense of joy. We don’t play enough as adults, and we certainly are not playing enough in school.

Play does not always mean extra recess (although that is helpful!). It can be a condition and a culture you create as a leader.

Below are some ideas on how to create more playfulness and connection in your buildings.

Strategic use of music throughout the day. Do you have a pump-up song you love? What if you played some music each morning as students walked into the building and encouraged educators to use music in a variety of ways? This can include having students come up with their own playlists for class activities, using music to cue transitions, or asking students to submit different pump-up songs that will be played at assemblies.

Start the day with a smile. Do you have morning announcements? Is it just you talking or do you have students announcing? What if you included a funny picture, a joke, or even a clip from a movie (if your announcements are a TV show) each day? You can have a contest and invite students to submit joyful stories, pictures, or something that is important to them, and highlight those during the announcements.

Create posters about joy. Consider asking teachers what they love about their jobs and lives and writing those items on a poster in the facility room. Teachers can then ask students what they love and hang those posters in the hallway!

Dance parties. Yes, you read that correctly – dance parties. Movement is so important for so many reasons, including learning and connection… plus it helps to get energy out. You can have a school-wide dance break during the week, such as “Wake up Wednesdays,” where everyone starts the day with five minutes of dance. Or, you can encourage educators at all grade levels to have movement moments in their classrooms. 

Fun Patrol. You can also have a contest where you encourage educators to come up with ways they can have fun, be playful, and connect with students by asking students what they like. The educator who incorporates the best activities can win each month. And, to celebrate, you can go to their classroom with balloons to recognize how they have prioritized connection.

You can always also use funny YouTube videos, save silly memes to your phone, or use a number of different happiness apps – the sky really is the limit when it comes to fun and play! The hardest part of it all is realizing that having fun and being joyful is the essential foundation for everything we do as educational leaders. It’s not fluff.

If school leaders can collectively shift priorities and focus on how to connect just a bit more, I believe students’ academic performance will continue to increase. Students want to feel connected and have school be a place of joy and fun, too!

Related:
3 ways to engage students in productive struggle
Learning needs joy and civility

The world needs its mentors and educators. Teachers are the ones who equip the generations to come with the tools necessary to excel. It’s as simple as the relationship between cause and effect. Without them, society would dwindle, and the forward progress of everything would slow down to a snail’s pace. After all, education is one of the pillars that make up a thriving society, making teachers essential.

Teachers are also human beings. They have a life worth living and carry similar struggles as everyone else. The degree of those struggles may vary, but today, we’re going to hone our focus specifically on teachers who either have a disability or some form of chronic illness.

There are a lot of stressors that are one teacher in today’s world, and to have to deal with physical, mental, and/or emotional issues only stands to make it more difficult to maintain a sustainable well-being. Let’s explore the ways we can provide relief and support for teachers with disabilities.

Tips for Teachers with Chronic Pain or a Disability

There are a few ways that teachers can mitigate the obstacles of chronic pain and disability in the workplace. Remember that the specific issue that teachers deal with doesn’t have to define them. Their qualifications, character, and competency will outshine any ailment, whether it’s apparent or not.

• Be honest with yourself and others – You must have the freedom to express that condition in the way that suits you. It’s not something you need to hide, but it’s also not something you have to broadcast. It’s not dictating your life in a way that could make you less eligible for a teaching position than anyone else.
• Know your own limitations – It’s important that you self-identify what your own physical and mental limitations are so that you don’t accidentally get thrust into a situation that you can’t handle. You should consider expressing your known limits with the administration so they can be mindful of what they can ask of you.
• Join the DTN – The Disabled Teachers Network (DTN) is a source of community and connections intended to serve and assist disabled teachers. It contains a wealth of helpful materials and resources that can help disabled teachers around the world find harmony in their work.
• Use the superpower of empathy – Being an individual who suffers from a chronic illness or disability gives you a unique vantage point. Although it can feel burdensome to deal with discomfort or inconvenience, you may actually be able to harness that issue to help others.
• Know your rights and permissions afforded to you by the ADA – The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is there to protect all individuals who suffer from some sort of disability. It is meant to protect employees and impose accommodation. You can rely on the ADA to request reasonable workplace accommodations that will help you perform your job better and in a way that won’t be needlessly taxing on you, physically or mentally.

Ways That Employers Can Help Teachers with Disabilities and Chronic Pain

Of course, while they should play an active part, it isn’t the sole responsibility of teachers to support themselves. Administrators and employers should also put provisions in place to provide the structure and support educators need.

There are plenty of ways that school administrators can take proactive take steps to make the campus as conducive as possible to teachers with disabilities.

• Ask how the institution can help – Often, the best way of knowing how to accommodate teachers with a disability is to approach them candidly about it. If it’s a clear or priorly disclosed limitation, begin by asking them what they would need to remove obstacles from their ability to teach.
• Protecting teachers from burnout – With the pressures put on a teacher, many of them can reach the end of their rope and end up resigning because of it. It goes double for teachers with disabilities since they’re dealing with not only managing one or more classrooms but also facing additional obstacles. This can drive them into a wall rather quickly if measures aren’t in place to alleviate some of the stressors that teachers take on. Providing aids or assistants to teachers exhibiting signs of exhaustion and stress can mean the difference between a healthy classroom and an early retirement.
• Transportation solutions – School systems can also subsidize vehicle modifications and accessibility features for physically limited teachers.

Tearing Down Walls

It’s important to be discrete about one’s personal health issues if they’re not apparent or willfully disclosed. As teachers with disabilities, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone and accommodations do exist. School administrators must also realize the challenging nature of disabilities in teachers and the added toll it can put on their ability to teach efficiently.

Creating paths to success for these teachers should be of the utmost priority by creating an inclusive and safe environment for all.

Related:
Prioritizing teacher well-being can help schools retain talent

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• 3 strategies to support student well-being and SEL
• Building culture and community takes more than a committee
• Fostering student well-being

As a school administrator, you’re faced with a range of challenges every day. One of the most common at the moment is mitigating the negative impacts of teacher shortages. After all, without a consistent and functional faculty, the quality of students’ education is likely to suffer.

Therefore, it’s important to examine the elements that affect teacher retention. Some of the key influencers here tend to be those related to educators’ wellness. Teachers often report experiencing extremely stressful conditions–not to mention that various pressures of their careers often see them on the road to burnout.

It’s no wonder, then, that establishing methods to prioritize teacher well-being can help your school retain talent. Let’s take a closer look at some key areas of focus in this regard.

Providing Resources

One of the most important considerations for prioritizing teachers’ well-being is the provision of resources. With the median high school teacher salary being around $62,870, educators often don’t have a lot of leeway to pay for physical and mental wellness resources themselves. While all administrators should consider it a priority to arrange fair pay, it’s also important to look at what other resources you can offer.

This should certainly begin with a more robust employee wellness program. Your approach could include providing subsidized access to local gyms and organic food suppliers. It should certainly involve arranging appropriate mental health services, given the level of stress and pressure educators experience. Consider subsidizing telehealth counseling that more effectively fits into teachers’ schedules.

Related:
Teacher burnout remains educators’ top concern
5 ways to support educator well-being this school year

These efforts can have a tangible impact on retention because they’re geared toward actively improving teachers’ quality of life. The resources make it practical for them to maintain their wellness, which also mitigates absenteeism. Educators can also see that your school’s investment in these resources acts as a meaningful recognition of your responsibility to positively impact their health. As such, they may be more likely to stay with a school that is committed to keeping them well.

Encouraging Communication

One of the common points of concern for many teachers is the lack of meaningful communication with administrators. This isn’t just on a practical working basis. It can also leave educators feeling isolated and unsupported. In turn, the communicative distance can have a negative impact on their experiences of stress, depression, and anxiety in the workplace. Encouraging open and regular communication among your faculty can, therefore, improve teachers’ well-being.

Your approach here should certainly include building a culture of openness around mental health. Normalizing discussions about mental wellness can be instrumental in minimizing stigma on the subject and reducing the hurdles to addressing challenges. It’s important to make sure the tools are in place to facilitate open conversations, though. All staff should be educated to approach such conversations with empathy and compassion. There must also be a commitment to using language during discussions that humanizes people living with mental illness.

So, why does this focus on open and supportive communication make a difference in the retention of educators and help mitigate the impact of the Great Resignation? Well, it gives teachers who may be struggling with workplace stress a comfortable avenue to discuss and address their concerns. In schools where communication isn’t prioritized, teachers may be more likely to simply resign without an explanation or an attempt to resolve such challenges.

Support Boundaries

Teachers undoubtedly play a pivotal role in community life. As such, there is often a tendency for the boundaries between their careers and their personal lives to be blurred. Indeed, teachers are expected to go much further beyond the limits of their duties than many other professionals. This isn’t necessarily good for their physical or mental wellness. As such, it is vital that you encourage and support teachers in creating healthy boundaries.

Perhaps one of the most important boundaries to set is that of their working hours. Establish protocols within your school that minimize the amount of administrative and extracurricular work educators are expected to do beyond their teaching hours. There should also be a focus on creating boundaries around teachers’ financial burdens. Provide budgets that ensure your staff doesn’t feel obligated to pay for class materials, as has become increasingly common as of late. This can reduce stress and ensure teachers can spend their salaries on items that support their and their families’ wellness.

This can have a significant impact on the retention of teachers in the long term. After all, it demonstrates you understand that teachers need to maintain a healthy work-life balance. A recent Pew Research study found that 53 percent of people who quit their jobs found new employment that made it easier to keep this balance. As such, your encouragement of clear boundaries can be both empowering to teachers and create a stronger faculty base for your school.

As an administrator, it is vital to understand how teachers’ wellness is linked to retention. This allows you to implement measures that both support teachers and mitigate the impact of staff shortages. Your efforts should include providing robust wellness resources, encouraging open communication, and empowering teachers to achieve a healthy work-life balance. By prioritizing teacher well-being in a sustainable way, educators, students, and the entire community stand to benefit.

The majority of educators (71 percent) are worried about teacher burnout during the 2022-2023 school year, according to a national survey conducted by Lexia Learning, a Cambium Learning Group company.

That concern is warranted; in a January 2022 National Education Association (NEA) survey, 90 percent of NEA members reported that feeling burned out was a serious problem.

The high probability of teacher burnout comes at a time when educators believe students will require more individualized instruction to achieve at- or above-grade-level performance.

About 75 percent of educators think that more one-on-one student-teacher time would help their students in the 2022-2023 school year. More than half of educators (56 percent) feel their students would need increased access to classroom specialists (e.g., special education teachers, subject-matter specialists, school psychologists).

But while they anticipate that their students will need extra academic support, many educators worry whether schools will have the resources for even routine operations such as cafeteria operations, custodial services, transportation activities and the like. Survey findings revealed 52 percent of educators were concerned about teacher shortages and even more (66 percent) were concerned about non-teacher staff shortages (e.g., bus drivers, custodians, teachers’ aids, substitute teachers).

“The prevailing circumstances of staff shortages, combined with students’ need for support, makes teacher burnout a very real prospect,” said Lexia Learning President Nick Gaehde. “Educators will need an array of support as they strive to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.”

Related:
How to highlight productive urgency while avoiding teacher burnout
3 ways to address teacher burnout

Lexia’s survey also explored educators’ thoughts on how best to persuade teachers to remain in the profession. A huge majority of educators (83 percent) believed the key to teacher retention was higher pay. The second most popular recommendation (71 percent) was smaller class sizes. Only 55 percent of educators feel that schools have been compensating teachers fairly.

Despite their concerns, most educators (66 percent) are optimistic about the upcoming school year. They also shared reflections on how well their schools have supported them and their students since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority feel that their school has done well with digital tools to support personalized learning. Over three-quarters of educators (77 percent) cited their schools’ investment in classroom technology (e.g., education programs and mobile devices) as a positive action while 65 percent expressed appreciation for technology that kept learning going outside of the classroom.

“It’s gratifying that so many teachers have been able to facilitate their work,” said Gaehde. “We need to ensure that digital learning tools are made available to educators who do not yet have access. And we also need to ensure that that technology helps to provide the real-time, personalized, and in-depth feedback that they’ve said their students need. Teachers have an enormous responsibility even in the best of times, so they deserve full-fledged support as they strive to resolve this crisis in education.”

 Other survey findings include:

• Almost all educators (81 percent) worry that their students will fall behind academically if remote learning is ever reinstated; 76 percent worry that students’ social-emotional health would suffer
• Because of the lessons learned throughout the pandemic, very few educators (19 percent) think that they need retraining on the technology required to deliver remote instruction
• More than half of educators (58 percent) believe their school has done a good job of providing students with social-emotional support
• Almost half of educators (44 percent) think less frequent testing would help students achieve at- or above-grade-level performance
• Over one-third of educators (37 percent) have concerns about how the curriculum they use addresses unfinished learning or grade-level-appropriate topics
• Nearly one-third of educators call for more training and professional development opportunities as a way to retain teachers.

This press release originally appeared online.

Educators, I see you. I know it’s been a rough couple of years.

From teaching through a global pandemic to adjusting in real time to teacher shortages and policy changes, from worrying about school safety to trying to manage more disruptive behavior in your classroom, this past school year alone has presented huge challenges.

As humans, we are neurobiologically wired for connection – it’s in our DNA. And, as educators, you are wired to help support the students (and fellow educators) you serve – it’s why you entered this profession to begin with. However, due to all of the external (and internal) pressures, you and so many other educators are likely feeling burned out, exhausted, and overwhelmed.

If you are feeling that way, it’s nearly impossible to create a culture of connection and belonging in your classroom, which respected researchers – from Brené Brown to John Hattie to Zaretta Hammond – point to as a best practice in helping students grow and learn. So, in order to really show up for your students, please give yourself permission and space to show up for yourself.

Taking Time to Reflect

With back-to-school here, it’s time to reflect on the last couple of months. Here are three questions to get started:

• Did you take any time off this summer?
• Did you go on vacation?
• Did you give yourself a real break from work?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions then stop right now, take a deep breath, and say out loud to yourself: I matter.

You deserve a break (even if it is a few minutes) to recharge, reset, and rejuvenate. This is not indulgent but rather it is essential to your well-being.

Even with a demanding schedule, remember there are ways to easily incorporate self-care into your daily routine and to focus on yourself (even if it is just for a few minutes!)

Prioritizing Self-Care

Without proper self-care, it is hard to be the strongest educator and leader possible. Here are five ways you can take care of yourself right now:

Take a deep breath. Take the kind of deep breath where you stop and pause. Inhale for five seconds, hold it for five seconds, and exhale for five seconds (Stop reading this article right now and try it. And now try it again!).

Smile in the mirror for 10 seconds. Yes, it sounds weird and uncomfortable, however, if you can smile, your neurobiology will start to produce a bit of serotonin. And, if you combine breathing and smiling, the breathing will start to relax your body and the smile will help to remind you that you are human. It’s free and it will help you feel better.

Move your body. This does not have to be a 30-minute Beachbody class – just get up, walk around your office, or go for a walk outside. Moving your body with intention is good for you!

Schedule time for you. It may seem too easy (and it is), but if you are not intentional with your time it will be taken. So, whatever it is that helps you feel better – a walk, a workout, time with friends, meditation, yoga, or just 15 minutes of silence – make it happen. Scheduling it, setting an alarm, or using your favorite app will help you actually take the time you need. For example, you could use the timer on your Smartphone as you practice breathing exercises, use the various health features on your Apple Watch or Fitbit, or try out an app like Meditation Studio by Muse.

Give yourself grace. Things are hard and they are hard for everyone. It’s OK to feel however you feel, but it is important to remember you are doing the best you can do.

Despite ongoing challenges, if you can keep remembering that you matter and deserve rest and care, you will be better equipped to tackle what’s in front of you this school year and beyond.

Looking for more? Danielle’s next article in this series will focus on connecting deeper with your students and fellow educators.

School and district-based staff are understandably wary about the new school year. Teachers, the majority of whom are women, are struggling under the immense pressure of pandemic schooling. Many have worked long hours to try to support their own families while keeping up with the demands of online teaching and changing COVID-19 protocols.

Teacher retention rates were already declining pre-pandemic, and the shortage of educators across roles may be widening. Preparation programs are facing fewer numbers of new educators entering the workforce; thirteen percent of graduate programs surveyed by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education reported seeing “significant declines” in the numbers of new students. Of those graduating, many may be turning to remote options right out of the gate. Member programs in the national Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance reported increased hiring of online teachers since 2020.

Educators want the same flexibility that’s traditionally more available to those in corporate settings. In a 2021 survey, fifteen percent of teachers said flexibility to work from home would “make a major difference in reducing the likelihood they leave the profession.”

There’s no shortage of remote-first education companies that attract school-based talent with their social mission and flexible work. “We are seeing significant growth in applicants seeking to leave the structured onsite work environment in schools in favor of more flexibility and the ability to teach and work remotely,” shared Jamie Candee, CEO of Edmentum.

Schools and districts must approach this year with that same level of creativity and urgency as they did in the early days of the pandemic, rethinking long-held beliefs about schooling and implementing new ideas that once seemed impossible to meet the changing needs of their communities. Here are two ways that administrators can apply that same thinking to the coming school year, transforming their schools as workplaces and considering teachers as employees with attractive employment options.

Rethinking school schedules

The concepts of the four-day workweek and remote work opportunities have been gaining momentum in the world of education. Veteran educators may balk at the concept, but now is the time for districts to try more innovative ideas in an effort to retain teachers.

While research on the impact of a four-day workweek in education is still early, some studies do suggest benefits to school districts that participate. A 2021 study completed by Rand found that districts reported that this schedule shift improved retention and teacher attendance; teachers reported that the fifth day was a combination of work and personal activities.

Remote and flexible work schedules are increasingly being used by districts as hiring and retention tools. Butler Tech, a career technical center in Hamilton, OH, schedules fifteen consecutive four-day workweeks – with a twist. Each Friday is an opportunity for students to control their own time, including working off campus, pursuing personalized learning opportunities, or remaining at home to focus on their family priorities; the district calls this the Fifth Day Experience.

“Innovating on the traditional school calendar presented a win-win scenario for student and teacher engagement,” says William Sprankles, Butler Tech’s Assistant Superintendent of Innovative Teaching and Learning. “Teachers spend half of their Fridays delivering an interest-based session and half of the day planning to complete tasks they might not otherwise have time to tackle.”

Schools in districts that aren’t ready to make the switch to four-day weeks can use creative approaches to scheduling to accommodate work from home days or reduced time spent in the school building. With a little planning, administrators can pre-arrange each teacher’s remote day or proactively establish an alternate schedule to ensure coverage.

“We are a single-site school without a district office to rely on for recruitment or staffing assistance. Increasing flex time for teachers has become one of my main concerns going into the new year,” explained the middle school principal of a charter school in New York. “We’re considering a four-day student week where grades will alternate coming to school Monday through Thursday and Tuesday through Friday. The fifth day would be flexible for teachers, either used for in-person meetings and planning or work from home days.”

Rethinking systems 

Administrators can identify room for more flexibility within existing systems. For example, now might be the time to reconsider structures for professional development. Schools can offer teachers “work from home” days in lieu of traditional in-service days or re-evaluate “one-size-fits-all” training, only requiring attendance to those most affected then offering a recording of the session to staff who want to learn more. Rather than keeping teachers in the building longer, principals could deliver all-staff announcements, which typically require staff to gather in a common space after school, via recorded video.

Instead of traditional teacher job descriptions and staffing solutions, employ creative solutions that reduce in-building time for teachers. Educators in many school settings are often required to spend a significant portion of their days on cumbersome tasks like paperwork, forcing them to spend more time in the school building and less time at home or taking care of their families. Consider how to outsource duties to non-certified personnel who might be easier to hire.

A regional superintendent in New York shared her school’s creative hiring strategy this summer. “As we entered this year with several open positions, we sourced building assistants to take on clerical duties from teachers. We were looking for anyone with time to give – no background in education required. As a result, we were able to give teachers some of their time back and make new community connections.”

Just as corporate workers are nervous to come back to in-person workplaces, many teachers are nervous to come back to school or begin in-classroom teaching for the first time. Districts can draw inspiration from the creativity displayed by educators and reimagine their approach to teachers as employees. What might have seemed impossible pre-pandemic is not only possible now, but it’s what’s needed to address the deepening challenge of teacher retention.

When I came to Union Hill School about seven years ago, we were not performing at the level we wanted to in terms of state assessments. With some hard work and a sense of urgency, we made a lot of progress in those first few years, but then the pandemic struck.

I told my teachers at the beginning, “We’re back at square one,” and today we can still feel the lost ground due to the last couple years. With a renewed sense of urgency, however, we’ve managed to keep our students on track and growing amid the disruptions and setbacks.

Here’s how we create a sense of productive urgency without burning our teachers out.

1. Jump in with your teachers.

During the pandemic, just like other educators around the country, our teachers were struggling to deliver high-quality instruction. A lot of our educators were not great on computers, including me. I had to become very involved to show teachers and students I was learning right along with them. It was a new mode of delivery that we suddenly had to adopt with no training and without adequate technology, so those struggles were no fault of their own, but they were a challenge for the whole community.

Throughout the early period of shutdowns, my administrative team and I were helping parents make sure they had what their children needed to learn and were able to get online. In some cases, we were also making sure their children had enough to eat. I even taught a few classes, but because I was making myself available to everyone, even just students who needed to talk, it was difficult, because there were always people going in and out of the room.

When we were able to return to in-person schooling, my instructional coaches, assistant principal, and I spent time visiting classrooms. The point was not to target teachers or to be in any way punitive, but to see how students were doing with regard to social-emotional learning (SEL), math, and literacy. When I told my teachers that the hard work was just getting started, they knew I was going to be right there with them, ready to jump in and offer support in any way I could.

2. When everything is in crisis, focus on progress.

When we finally had kids in front of us again, everything felt like it needed urgent attention. We were particularly worried about SEL, because the students had been largely cut off from other people–not just in school, but in their lives.

To address this, we really focused on building relationships with students in those first weeks. That’s always important because every student learns best within the context of a safe, supportive relationship. The SEL efforts involved everyone at the school. While the teacher had 20 kids in front of them in every class, my whole team, from myself and my assistant principal to instructional coaches and the folks in charge of wraparound services, worked to support individual students as well as the teachers, who were in turn building those connections with kids.

Math was also a particular area of focus for us. We had a couple of big wins on that front heading into the pandemic, but we still weren’t quite where we were trying to get, so we were worried about the progress lost there as well. To communicate our urgency around math through consistent practice, we asked all our teachers to start their math classes with 20 minutes of ST Math time.

English and language arts are always a focus as well, just because literacy is so fundamental to a student’s broader learning. Our ELA teachers have a read-aloud every morning not just to communicate our sense of urgency with regard to literacy, but to help reinforce those relationships and the community we’re building with shared experiences and daily routines.

We set targets to reach for literacy and math at every grade level, and we worked hard to meet them. We didn’t always get everything we wanted, but by shooting for excellence, we got a lot closer to it than if we never tried. Right now, growth is what’s most important, not whether we can reach some data point.

3. Focus on professional learning and support.

I think we did a good job of inspiring a general sense of urgency without causing a lot of unnecessary anxiety, but we still had to focus some of that urgency on specific areas. It’s just not possible to feel urgent about 30 different things and give them all their due energy.

For us, the area we thought would offer the greatest return on our investment was delivery of instruction. We emphasized our professional learning communities, which comprise teachers across each grade and an instructional coach. Our administrative team continued twice-weekly classroom visits to identify effective practices to share, or to provide support for teachers who needed it.

We also have instructional leadership meetings first thing in the morning twice a month. This creates a rich environment of constant communication and collaboration. Any teacher in this school will tell you that if you have a question, five or six educators are going to give you answers or suggestions before you’re done asking.

For our school, everything came together and lined up when we talked about urgency. It just became clear what we had to do. But urgency is not about driving teachers or learners with fear or anxiety. It’s about focusing on what’s important and keeping it centered through community, collaboration, and communication.

The significant negative impact of the pandemic on educators is no secret. Teacher burnout is at an all-time high, self-care techniques are feeling futile, violence against teachers is on the rise and verbal abuse by parents is increasing. Fears about lost learning and teacher resignation continue to dominate the news.

During a recent meeting with a group of educators, I recalled the stress from the last two years accompanied by decades of pressure our systems have placed on an already weary profession. “Teachers need to give themselves some grace,” said Tamara Cervantes, a principal/director. “We are all under pressure to perform under all the administrative demands, and we underestimate our limitations. We forget we are human.”

Burnout is a buzzword that fails to carry the significance of the issue. We are great at raising the red flag, but solutions that help educators make significant changes are slow to come. Unfortunately, the pandemic compounded stress with the addition of compassion fatigue. While burnout occurs over time and is usually the result of work stressors like staff shortages or inadequate resources, compassion fatigue occurs when we exhaust our ability to empathize. The pandemic amplified these stressors and flipped the world upside down for educators. 

“The real fear of Covid-19 (to our teachers, students, and parents) cannot be dismissed. We tend to forget that our teachers went through Covid just like our students did,” said Cervantes. “We tend to forget that they lost loved ones, their families went through struggles, their children were going through learning loss. We expect them to walk back in as though they are superheroes with capes–as if the last two years didn’t happen.”

When combined, burnout and compassion fatigue place teachers in a more exacerbated position. Solutions to these feelings imply that teachers need to just “figure it out” or “take a breather.” While self-care is a critical resilience strategy for teachers, it leaves the profession exposed to increased resignation, high turnover and teacher shortages. Too often, schools place all the emphasis on the individual and fail to recognize other elements of the teaching environment that influence teacher burnout and compassion fatigue.  

Our consultants realized that the opposite of this combination of burnout and compassion fatigue is not rest, but rather re-discovering and reconnecting to purpose. If we want to address this compounding problem, school administrations should consider the following strategies at a systematic level.

1. Assess and determine the contributing factors.

We might think we have all the answers to combat burnout, but this unrelenting stressor is complex. We use the Maslach’s Burnout Inventory to measure burnout in three domains:

• Emotional exhaustion: The feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed, extended and    exhausted by your work.
• Depersonalization: Measures an impersonal response.
• Personal accomplishment: Recognize feelings of competence and successful achievement in our work.

The assessment also looks at various aspects of work and personal life that can aid district leadership teams or school principals and identifies specific strategies to address burnout. Based on the results, strategies in these two areas could look very different. If you are focused on taking the weight off your teaching staff’s workload, but your teachers lack the feeling of being rewarded for their work, you might need to rethink how you praise them for their achievements.

2. Support educators to build personal resilience.

You can never go wrong by focusing on wellness. Unfortunately, teachers who set boundaries, such as leaving or coming in at the contract times, or those who forgo prep outside of contract hours are, at best, viewed as lacking dedication. They often find themselves simply unprepared for teaching due to the increased demands and scope of the work.

Self-care strategies in other professions, such as walking during a lunch break or other stress-busting activities, are unavailable to teachers and other staff members. Teachers struggle to prepare sub plans that take hours of uncompensated personal time. They have no choice but to go to work at the expense of doctor appointments, mental health check-ins, and unforeseen care for a sick family member.

Despite these barriers, leadership can model, encourage, and generate support for a wellness approach. Little tactics such as breathing exercises in a staff meeting or offering a Zoom teacher connection meeting once a month at a reasonable time can be critical small steps to support resilience.

3. Understand that resilience just scratches the surface.

A recent article by Harvard Business Review, suggests that “burnout is really an organizational issue and is not simply the result of a deficiency in self-care, the interventions to address it are more complex and require strategies beyond get more exercise and better sleep.”

We place a great deal of importance on increasing resilience to manage burnout and compassion fatigue. For example, offering teachers mental health support or counseling resources or suggestions for meditation and stress management apps. These are excellent approaches to build self-resilience in an increasingly complex world. While these tactics allow us to focus on what is in our control, they fail to address the underlying variables that lead to teacher burnout and resignation.

4. Emphasize the value of teamwork.

Resilience increases when we support each other. In lieu of the pandemic we discovered a trend from working with schools. School administrations that encouraged a team-oriented environment for their teachers and faculty created an increased sense of belonging and connection. Therefore, the very nature of teamwork is critical to combatting burnout and compassion fatigue.

5. Break down barriers that restrict change beyond the classroom.

Small changes can have a big impact. One school we worked with asked teachers what everyday activities caused additional stress. Surprise classroom visits from the school’s principal surfaced as a primary stressor. To relieve some of this pressure the school changed the policy to allow teachers to schedule visits with the principal. Here are some additional strategies that surfaced:

• Using support resources differently and at different times to better aid in small group instruction
• Generate discussion groups to identify learning that is occurring beyond the academic loss. Cervantes added, “Learning loss is hard to systematically make up. It will take time,” but learning has occurred nevertheless. Placing an emphasis on the aspects of growth that surfaced is important. 
• Asking principals and administrators to take on teacher duties occasionally, such as recess duty, or picking up a class from specials class and then doing a read-aloud to give a teacher more prep time. They might cover a class so the teacher can leave in time to make it to an appointment. This provides a feeling that they have a safety net. 
• Giving staff members the option to attend a staff meeting virtually or in person as needed for work/life balance (many teachers have small children at home they have to find care for when they go in to work early for these meetings). 
• Principals who let their teachers know they support them. 
• Positive, meaningful feedback, frequently!

6. Embrace systematic change in our existing structures.

The National Education Association just published data about what would support members with burnout and found that increasing teacher salaries, hiring more teachers and support resources, changing paperwork requirements, and adjusting the school hours/breaks would systematically alter this issue.  

“Teachers cannot meet the standards that existed before COVID-19,” adds Cervantes. “Redefining the goal and ensuring district support for new mandates, when possible, can be a critical step that upper levels of leadership and state leaders need to adjust.”

Organizations are never off the hook for burnout and compassion fatigue. But school administrations who invest in these strategies guarantee that both student and teacher can succeed.

Teachers are balancing a lot every day, and that pressure has increased since the start of the pandemic. According to the National Education Association, 55 percent of the teachers in a recent poll said they “will leave teaching sooner than they had originally planned” and 90 percent of members who responded said “feeling burned out is a serious problem.”  

Finding ways to ease the stress experienced by teachers and prevent teacher burnout is critical to teacher morale and ultimately, student outcomes. While no one area alone can prevent teacher burnout, tools that are designed with teachers’ needs in mind can play a big role in supporting teachers and making their jobs less stressful.

This is where technology – and specifically the right technology – can make a huge difference in lessening workload, promoting more productive communication, and boosting morale. Choosing the right technology tools can help give teachers more time and support for doing what they love – teaching and impacting students.

When choosing technology for a district, it’s important to consider tools that will:

1. Lessen administrative workload: Using tools that consolidate student data and provide a user-friendly experience will lessen teachers’ administrative workload. From communicating with parents to collecting fees and consent for a field trip, new technology platforms can automate and streamline many administrative tasks that fall on teachers’ desks.

2. Protect privacy of personal contact information: Modern communication platforms enable communication with parents and colleagues via call, text, or email without having to reveal teachers’ personal contact information. These platforms also maintain a record of communications. This prevents encroachment on teachers’ personal time and space and remediates compliance issues.

3. Create a culture of collaboration and growth: At a time when teachers and kids need more support than ever before, it is important that educators have the tools to support their own growth in the profession. Investing in professional development and technology that supports teacher–leader and teacher-teacher relationships can strengthen the school culture and result in greater teacher satisfaction. 

4. Remove communication barriers: Teacher communication tools with automated record keeping enable relationships to grow and parent engagement to increase. Using communication platforms that offer translation and multiple modes of communication for families with different levels of access to technology can help teachers engage students’ families. Make sure teachers have access to a system that will help them reach families through different methods (email, text, video, or phone) all in one place with digital record keeping. Having teachers manually keep track of contact information or keep time-consuming manual call logs puts unnecessary burdens on teachers for school-home communication.

5. Help with addressing student behavior issues: Allowing teachers to communicate about any concerns through quick, easy-to-use tools can help. Communication tools that make it easy for the teachers to access and share student data with students’ families and administrators can help facilitate productive and collaborative discussions on specific concerns and ideas to address them, and can help ease the burden of addressing ongoing behavioral issues for teachers.

Between teaching in the classroom, mitigating lost instructional time, preparing for benchmark and state exams, and engaging with families, the past two years have been more stressful than ever for teachers. Great teachers change lives, and when schools lose great teachers due to teacher burnout, countless students miss out on their impact. Implementing strategies for creating a collaborative and supportive environment for teachers is more critical than ever.

Technology, in conjunction with traditional forms of support, can play a vital role in these strategies. Adopting tools that support teachers in their work while lessening administrative workload can help support valuable teachers and ultimately, improve student outcomes.

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