Mental health professionals give advice for back-to-school anxiety

As those with the responsibility for educating the next generation, teachers have always worked under great pressure.

Teachers in many countries have been increasingly struggling with high-stakes testing, large class sizes, limited resources, excessive workload, and lack of recognition. This year, Covid-19 has uprooted their lives, burdened them with new responsibilities, and dented their morale. Education Support, a UK charity dedicated to teacher wellbeing, warned that teachers are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety during the pandemic: “Covid-19 has turned the education sector upside down”.

Studies and surveys show that - even pre-pandemic - teachers appeared more stressed than ever before: Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index found 72 per cent of UK education professionals say they are stressed; the American Federation of Teachers found 78 per cent of US teachers are emotionally and physically exhausted at the end of school days; and a UCL Institute of Education study found five per cent of teachers in England are suffering from long-term mental health complications (up from one per cent in the 1990s).

Stress often leads to burn out and mental illness; many teachers conclude that they must leave the classroom for the sake of their health and happiness. Research from the UK’s Department for Education showed that anxiety, sleeping difficulties, and panic attacks are frequently cited as reasons for giving up teaching.

Through the coronavirus pandemic, discussions about well-being at work have been bubbling into the mainstream, with some organisations addressing the subject of employee mental health for the first time. Teachers’ organisations - both national and international - have published guidance on how to protect teaching wellbeing through this unprecedented challenge, from advising school leaders on safe and supportive reopening to suggesting self-care practices for educators.

UNESCO, the Teacher Task Force, and the International Labour Organisation have jointly published a toolkit to help school leaders reopen schools while protecting teachers. Providing practical advice such as on preparing teachers for a changed school environment, it also suggests how to mitigate mental health impacts. This can include regular psychological and socio-emotional assessment, building peer support networks, and providing training in stress management skills. In one school in Pakistan, teachers unable to teach online were trained in counselling to support other teachers, while members of the school community were offered mindfulness and yoga classes.

The UK teachers’ union NASUWT, meanwhile, published guidance on maintaining well-being while teaching remotely. This included how to protect work-life balance (such as by keeping a routine and dedicated workplace), where to seek support (such as Employer Assistance Programmes and mental health first aiders), and how to practice general self-care. The AFT worked with the Anxiety and Depression Association of America to produce a guide of existing resources on well-being during Covid-19. Australia’s ReachOut Schools is also providing free wellbeing resources specific to teachers and teaching website Twinkl has partnered with mental health charity Mind to create activities to help teachers manage their mental health through Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Education Support is providing a dedicated 24-hour helpline for teachers and one-to-one telephone counselling for headteachers through a government partnership.

Regardless of its benefits, self-care cannot always resolve stress. Therefore, teachers are also advocating for changes in schools – and education systems more broadly – to tackle sources of stress and establish a more supportive working environment. The UK government has acknowledged the strain placed on teachers, and has promised to reduce workload and the burden of school inspections, among other measures. Many governments could make comparable changes to reduce engrained sources of stress for teachers, such as tackling large class sizes, de-emphasising exam results, and ensuring all teachers are appropriately paid and supported (e.g.: with access to health insurance and paid sick leave).

While the rights of teachers are already recognised in international standards, governments should consider adopting further policies aimed towards promoting teacher well-being. These could include regular stress risk assessments (advocated by the National Education Union (NEU)), or monitoring teacher mental health (suggested by UCL education experts). Some of these policies could also be proactively adopted by schools.

The NEU advises school leaders: “Acting to reduce levels of stress within your school will lead to less short- and long-term sick leave which will, in turn, reduce pressures on other colleagues as well as benefiting pupils”. In addition to introducing stress risk assessments, the NEU recommends openly addressing the stigma of mental ill health, making reasonable adjustments to support staff when necessary (such as by allowing absences during working hours to attend talking therapies), and appointing a school governor to lead on mental health strategy.

Teachers around the world face a variety of pressures, but every school benefits from them being motivated, engaged, and mentally healthy. When teachers have access to individual psychological support – from self-care guidance to talking therapies – and leaders take measures to tackle sources of stress in the school environment, their schools will be in a better position to thrive.

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This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

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Cover photo credit: Engin Akyurt/Unsplash

Four ways the COVID-19 crisis could change the teaching experience for the better

COVID-19 has brought countless new challenges to teachers and education systems across the world. Teachers have had to adapt and evolve rapidly in response to school closures. 

As schools reopen in a world where lockdowns may be more common-place, teachers have been forced to create and employ new ways for educating children. In this new teaching reality, it is essential to review roles and responsibilities as well as the rights, protections and wellbeing of educators.

Experts are beginning to point to ways that COVID-19 will be the catalyst to create more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies, and education is a bedrock of those. 

Here are four ways the crisis could change the teaching profession for the better:

New digital skills will equip teachers for the future

As the virus spread and schools closed, teachers had to adapt quickly to an online model of teaching which was new to many. Inequities in connectivity and access to technology, resources and digital support has made the experience different according to school, country and even subject. Often teachers were given insufficient training, support or resources.

Teachers have reported the challenge of their own as well as students’ digital literacy and access to online learning. For many, it was a sudden swerve into an unknown world with a lack of clarity over how different online tools could interact with learning. The skills they have acquired in the past three months have prepared them for an increasingly digital future. 

It was not an easy initiative to take", says Shaila Sharmin, a fellow at Teach For Bangladesh. “We didn't have any resources as we were not prepared for this long lockdown. We had no skill regarding video editing. In spite of the challenges, we made it happen.”

Teachers have a new resilience

One way of strengthening the support for new ways of education delivery is leadership as well as dialogue with the school and peer support networks. Teachers report gaining more confidence through communication with their colleagues, as well as with parents. 

 I help parents and family with tips and suggestions on how to organize the home study routine. I also offer guidance on how to help students understand whether they have managed to reach all the learning objectives", says Débora Garofalo, a technology teacher in the public education network at the São Paulo State Education Secretariat.

It is vital, then, that teachers are listened to and their concerns heard as new forms of education are developed.

Developing support systems with colleagues and sharing technical knowledge and expertise has improved online teaching skills as well as building community at a time of stress and isolation.

Teachers report that peer learning has been a key element of developing online methods. Sharing solutions and what has worked for different teachers will help educators build networks and a more resilient way of teaching.

What makes it manageable is the fact that we are in it together", says Anne-Fleur Lurvink, a secondary school teacher, from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Resources gaps have been exposed

Resources are central to strengthening the future of education and preventing a generational crisis in response to COVID-19. Governments will now be under more pressure to protect education funding and rethink how teachers are motivated. 

Teachers have proved that they are the front line workers “who hold the system together” and so they need support and resources to help them do their jobs. Protection of physical health and safety as schools reopen must be a fundamental right. Teachers may be facing challenges at home as well as professional upheaval. Therefore offering support and resources for psychological well-being and mental health as well as professional help will be important as the crisis continues. 

Respect for the profession has grown 

Calls to seize the chance to address the education crisis that many countries were already experiencing before the pandemic are rising. Parents having to homeschool their children has given many a new perspective on what it takes to educate.

Suggestions of how to improve teaching includes greater support for the teaching profession, protecting teachers from burnout which can lead to absenteeism and leaving the profession, enhanced communication and connectivity and making digital platforms open source and free rather than run by private companies. Schools and education systems which engaged the most with parents, teachers and students are showing signs of increased resilience. 

Another area is evolving curricula to represent what is relevant to the world today and its inhabitants, during a climate and biodiversity crisis and at a time of science denial and misinformation. 

As COVID-19 has shown, the wellbeing of the planet and the health of humanity are inextricably linked. Teachers and the education they provide are integral to a more sustainable future.

Cover photo credit: Dan Gaken/Flickr

This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

Education has been on the front line of COVID-19. For six months now, teachers around the world have been navigating education systems affected by school closures, adapting and improvising to keep their students learning. 

Even as many countries usher their students back into classrooms, with all the fresh challenges that entails, inspiration can be found in the examples of teachers who rose to meet the occasion. They remind us that teachers are more than just conduits for knowledge. They are a vital lifeline for their students, now and during whatever is next.

Remote learning without internet

The challenge faced by Fransiskus Xaverius Faima, a teacher from Indonesia, is a familiar one: how can teachers and students connect if many are not connected to the internet? Internet coverage in Indonesia is fairly high - around 66 percent of people have access - but connectivity rarely stretches beyond urban hubs. While schools are closed, students in remote communities like Faimau’s may not be getting any education at all. Faimau from the Kecil Fatutasu elementary school in East Nusa Tenggara, now travels for hours each day to set up small learning groups. He takes a few students at a time through lessons, gathered around his single laptop. 

Elsewhere in Indonesia, responding to the pandemic has required a creative approach. In West Papua, teachers are working with education consultants to design offline curriculums, printing and distributing materials that creatively integrate students’ home surroundings into their lessons. A simple pot of boiling water, for example, can teach a student much about physics and mathematics. 

For Faimau, all this extra effort is simply part of a teacher’s duty. Education, he understands, works best when it is consistent: “children have to keep learning because if we just leave, they will go back to square one.” His ad-hoc classes may not be able to offer his students everything they would get in a traditional classroom, but, for now, keeping them engaged is enough.

Delivering free school meals

Whilst widespread internet access in the UK has encouraged a national transition to online learning, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges of a different sort. The Western Primary School in Grimsby is situated in a deprived part of town, where four out of ten students receive free school meals. For many, it’s the only good meal they’re guaranteed all day. Zane Powels, the assistant head teacher at Western Primary, recognised the impact lockdown could have on these students. 

Five weeks after schools in England closed, Powels had already delivered more than two thousand meals to students, walking door-to-door, laden with lunch packages containing sandwiches, fruit and snacks. This also allowed him to check up on the children’s wellbeing whilst locked-down at home. 

5 weeks into lockdown and I have walked over 125miles delivering nearly 2000 school meals with a combined weight of over 1100kg. More importantly, children and parents from our school have been supported through these tough times and will continue to be ‘The school that cares’, tweets Powels.

Western Primary is not unique – the centrality of teachers and schools to students’ lives has been thrown into sharp relief during the pandemic, and Powels exemplifies the sense of responsibility felt by teachers everywhere.

Teaching in a truck

In Guanajuato, Mexico, a teacher known only as Nay, recently won widespread praise on Twitter after a picture emerged of her holding a makeshift lesson in the back of her red pick-up truck. She and a student, both masked, sat around a small table, pouring over school work. Nay is an elementary school teacher who specialises in working with children with disabilities such as autism. 

Just over half of people in Mexico have access to the internet. Aware that many of her pupils cannot get online or even have books, she converted her truck into a mobile classroom and travelled for hours a day to sit with them in person. While Nay is insistent that her extra efforts are nothing special, her story does highlight how the pandemic has hit vulnerable students the hardest. In these difficult times, it’s those students who occupy their teachers’ thoughts the most.

These three stories highlight what all teachers know: nothing beats being there in person. The situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, and the promise of a return to ‘normality’ may be on the horizon. But until then, let’s take inspiration from those teachers who are doing everything to be there for their students.

Cover image published in thejakartapost.com courtesy of teacher Fransiskus Xaverius Faimau.