TEACHER REVIVING THE SOUL OF LEARNING WHOLENESS jimmckenzie@trsonline.org THE STATE OF ADMINISTRATORS DYING ‣ 75% OF PRINCIPALS FEEL THE JOB HAS BECOME TOO COMPLEX. ‣ IN LESS THAN 5 YEARS, JOB SATISFACTION AMONG SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HAS DROPPED BY 9 PERCENTAGE POINTS – TO 59%. ‣ 48% OF PRINCIPALS SAY THEY ARE UNDER GREAT STRESS SEVERAL TO TEACH DAYS A WEEK.
THE STATE OF TEACHERS STRESSED TO THE MAX ‣ IN THE PAST 15 YEARS, TEACHER ATTRITION HAS GROWN BY 50%. TODAY, TEACHING IS ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL OCCUPATIONS IN THE U.S. HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS ARE AFFECTING TEACHER HEALTH AND ‣ THE NATIONAL U.S. TEACHER TURNOVER RATE HAS RISEN TO 16.8%. WELL-BEING, CAUSING TEACHER BURNOUT, LACK OF ENGAGEMENT, JOB ‣ IN URBAN SCHOOLS IT IS OVER 20%. DISSATISFACTION, POOR PERFORMANCE, AND SOME OF THE HIGHEST TURNOVER RATES EVER. 46% of teachers report high daily stress during the school year. That’s tied with nurses for the highest rate among all occupational groups. 1 Gallup (2014). State of American Schools. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/services/178709/state-america-schools-report.aspx. MAX COGNITIVE OVERLOAD
EPINEPHRINE EPINEPHRINE NOREPINEPHRINE CORTISOL Chronically elevated puts you at higher risk for: EPINEPHRINE ‣ diabetes ‣ osteoporosis ‣ obesity NOREPINEPHRINE ‣ high blood pressure ‣ heart disease ‣ digestive disorders CORTISOL ‣ infertility ‣ chronic fatigue syndrome ‣ thyroid disorders ‣ immune system disorders ‣ in rare cases, Cushing’s syndrome
CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF STRESS OVERWHELMING THE TEACHING PROFESSION Teachers’ psychological stress also affects their physical health. In a study of high school teachers, ▸ 46% of teachers were diagnosed with excessive daytime sleepiness and 51% with poor sleep quality, compromising health, quality of life, and teaching performance. ▸ Chronic work stress and exhaustion among teachers is associated with negative changes in biological indicators of stress. ▸ Chronically stressed teachers show atypical daily patterns of physiological stress reactivity (cortisol). HEALTHY A TUI? ▸ Neo-cortex is high functioning ▸ cause & effect, delayed gratification
HEALTHY UNHEALTHY ▸ Neo-cortex is high functioning ▸ Neo-cortex shuts down ▸ cause & effect, delayed gratification ▸ a person is REACTIVE (fight) or “YOU DON’T LIKE ME.” ▸ a person is DETACHED (flight) THE TEACHER AS A “HUB” OF CONTENT IS OUT THE TEACHER AS A “HUB” OF CULTURE IS IN
“THE STUDENT IS NOT ABOVE THE TEACHER, BUT EVERYONE WHO IS FULLY TRAINED WILL BE LIKE THEIR TEACHER.” Luke 6:40 (NIV) TEACHER STRESS IS LINKED TO POOR TEACHER PERFORMANCE AND POOR STUDENT OUTCOMES. TEACHER STRESS IS LINKED TO POOR TEACHER PERFORMANCE AND POOR STUDENT OUTCOMES. According to a longitudinal study, elementary school teachers who have greater stress and show more symptoms of depression create classroom environments that Teachers who report greater burnout early in the school year have classrooms are less conducive to learning , which leads to poor academic performance among with more behavior problems. When teachers are highly stressed, children students. Students who began the school year with weaker math skills and show lower levels of both social adjustment and academic performance. had a teacher with more depressive symptoms had the lowest rate of achievement. 1 1 Hoglund, W. L. G., Klingle, K. E., & Hosan, N. E. (2015). Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children’s adjustment in high needs elementary schools. Journal of School Psychology, 53 (5), 337-357. 1 McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third - grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child Development, 86,945-954
THE CONVERSE IS ALSO TRUE… TEACHER BURNOUT LINKED TO HIGHER LEVELS OF STUDENT STRESS University of British Columbia Most strikingly, a survey of over 78,000 students in grades 5-12 in 160 schools showed that higher teacher engagement in their jobs predicted higher student ‣ Elementary school children's morning cortisol levels varied among classrooms. engagement , which in turn predicted higher student achievement outcomes. 1,2 ‣ Classroom teacher burnout predicted higher morning cortisol in children. ‣ Burnout explained more than half of the classroom variability in morning 1 G. Gordon. (2010). The Other Outcome: Student Hope, Engagement, Wellbeing cortisol. “We consider the connection between student and teacher stress a cyclical 2 Gallup. (2009). Student and teacher engagement predictive study. problem in the classroom." Unpublished raw data. Omaha, NE. Eva Oberlea Kimberly A.Schonert-Reichlb (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students UNDERSTANDING WORK DESIGN: HIGH COGNITIVE LOAD + LOW AUTONOMY = CHRONIC DISEASE A TYPICAL TEACHER’S DAY Cognitive Cognitive Load (High) Load (Low) Autonomy (High) Autonomy (Low)
TEACHER DISENGAGEMENT HAS REACHED A CRITICAL POINT Engaged A TYPICAL TEACHER’S DAY OPPORTUNITY TO BLEED STRESS Not Engaged Actively Disengaged TEACHER TURNOVER HAS A HIGH ECONOMIC COST AS WELL 40% of New Teachers Leave the Profession Within 5 Years “LOOKING BACK, I HAD SEEN THE SIGNS AS FAR BACK AS SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR. I HAD A The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future estimates that NASTY SINUS INFECTION THAT JUST WOULDN'T COMPLETELY GO AWAY AND AGONISING public school teacher turnover costs more than $7.3 billion per year . The cost per HEADACHES THAT FELT LIKE THEY WERE BORING INTO THE CENTRE OF MY SKULL FOR DAYS teacher is estimated from over $4,000 in rural areas to over $17,000 in urban AT A TIME. STILL, WHEN YOU COMMIT TO A JOB AS CONSUMING AS TEACHING, IT CAN TAKE OVER YOUR WHOLE LIFE, AND SO I LET IT. I LOVED IT, I WAS GOOD AT IT. I WORKED AT A districts. SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL FOR AN APPRECIATIVE BOSS WHO RESPECTED MY ABILITY AND WORK ETHIC. SO HOW DID I LET IT ALL GET SO HORRIBLY OUT OF PROPORTION? A Typical Teacher
THE DAY I FINALLY BROKE I WAS CALLED IN TO SEE THE BOSS REGARDING THE WORDING OF THE WORKLOAD WASN'T WHAT FINALLY BROKE ME, BUT IT CERTAINLY REDUCED MY SOME INTERNAL EMAIL OF MINOR IMPORTANCE. AFTER A FANTASTIC WORKING RELATIONSHIP RESILIENCE. WHAT DID IT WAS A CULTURE SHIFT…” BASED ON YEARS OF MUTUAL RESPECT, I STOOD THERE LISTENING TO HIM, RED IN THE FACE, BERATE ME FOR SOMETHING SO APPARENTLY MINOR THAT I COULDN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT WARRANTED A CONVERSATION. RESISTING THE IMPULSE TO SAY WHAT I REALLY THOUGHT AND WALK OUT OF THE DOOR NEVER TO RETURN, I TAUGHT MY DAY’S LESSONS AND PHONED MY DOCTOR AT BREAK. BY 5PM I HAD AN EMERGENCY APPOINTMENT AND WAS SIGNED OFF WITH STRESS WITHIN ABOUT 10 SECONDS OF SITTING DOWN IN HER OFFICE. A Typical Teacher A Typical Teacher THE CAREGIVER DILEMMA
ESSENCE OR OVERFLOW? TRAUMA
THERE ARE FOUR MAIN SOURCES OF TEACHER STRESS SECONDARY ▸ School Organizations that lack strong principal leadership, a healthy school climate and a collegial, supportive environment; TRAUMA ▸ Job Demands that are escalating with high-stakes testing, student behavioral problems, and difficult parents; ▸ Work Resources that limit a teacher’s sense of autonomy and decision-making power; and ▸ Teacher Social and Emotional Competence to manage stress and nurture a healthy classroom. COMBATING THE SOURCES OF STRESS COMBATING THE SOURCES OF STRESS Stressor - School Organizations that lack strong principal leadership, a Stressor - School Organizations that lack strong principal leadership, a healthy healthy school climate and a collegial, supportive environment school climate and a collegial, supportive environment Strategy – Power of Mentors and Community Strategy – Cultural Alignment & Strength-Based Teams Mentorship for beginning teachers led to: 1) People Are Loyal To Culture, Not Strategy higher satisfaction, commitment, and retention, 2) Culture Provides Resilience in Tough Times better classroom instructional practices 3) Creating a Culture Where I Am Known & Know Others higher student scores on academic achievement tests. 4) Healthy School Culture Is Foundational To Innovation Research to date shows that teachers who had a mentor in their subject area, had common planning time in their subject area and grade level, and had regular communications with their principal had better retention rates.
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