We are about to encounter a teacher mental health crisis of massive proportions. In the crucial conversation about how we make things right for our students — and we must — we cannot disregard the well-being of educators.
In this moment, our school leaders should be asking: What is being done to support the emotional needs of the teachers? Do they sleep well at night? Are they equipped with the psychological tools to return to an unfamiliar-looking building where they, in turn, are expected to be the emotional and academic cheerleaders for their students? What happens when, instead of getting the virus, we see educators experience anxiety, panic attacks, or stress-induced ailments? Do schools have the necessary supports in place to care for the mental health of its educators?
I would love to see our schools provide teachers with a mental health day, debriefings with counselors, dedicated meditation spaces, and “break cards” that teachers could use to call an administrator or a member of the support staff into their classroom — no questions asked — should they need time to recenter...
The most traumatic part for me is not whether or not we are in the physical school building; it is that students won’t be able to act like children and teachers won’t be able to act like educators — at least not in the traditional sense...
Teachers need your friendship, your love, and your encouragement now more than ever. They need to know that they are heard and that their fears are valid...
They also need to know that you will support them in whatever decisions they make. For some, returning to the classroom is going to be too much, and that is OK. Don’t crucify them for honoring their mental health...
Pray for teachers. Please pray for me. There’s a long road ahead, and we teachers need all the help we can get.
2 comments:
What subject does this person teach?
When I originally chose to be a teacher, I saw it as a calling. The needs of students were more than my own. And for years I taught that way. I put my life on hold in order to serve my classes. But then that all changed. I saw teachers schedule weddings where they would be gone during the school year. I saw teachers impose their own prejudices and opinions on students over teaching them how to read and research and reach their own conclusions. The last three student teachers I had were woefully unskilled in the subject taught, but knew how to inject social justice into every lesson. So should we be surprises that so many young teachers believe they are owed and should be paid even if they don't teach their classes. They do not understand they SERVE based on taxes paid and those taxes are based on their community being a place people want to raise families. Nobody is promised tomorrow. Public education could vanish like that. The NEA is driving this by making social justice demands that has nothing to do with education. I would support them on smaller class size, limiting face to face classes to every other day or taking other reasonable actions, but just like the riots, this resistance to opening schools is not based on data but on the need to suppress the economy for the election.
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