Supporting Students by Maintaining Professional Well-Being in High-Stress Jobs

Abstract

Student mental health, well-being, engagement, and deep learning is tied to teacher wellness. Georgia State University’s Center for Research on School Safety, School Climate, and Classroom Management in partnership with The Collaboration and Resources for Encouraging and Supporting Transformations in Education project approached student health, wellness, and achievement by promoting change within teachers. Culturally specific professional development workshops were delivered to teachers, administrators, and other school staff. The workshops positively affected participants’ health and wellbeing through activities focused on identifying the body’s stress response and the development of personalized stress management plans to support healthy lifestyles.

Self-Care Options for Resilient Educators (SCORE) Teaches Aspiring Teachers How to Manage Stress in Light of COVID-Related Disruptions

“…Because SCORE was a new intervention tested with teacher interns, these findings are only the beginning for development of a research base that suggests effective ways to teach stress-coping and self-care strategies to teacher trainees. Results of this study show promise for SCORE in cultivating these skills and therefore, promoting teacher wellbeing, capacity for job performance, and career longevity [6,11,12,17,[21][22][23][24].…”

“…SCORE is a novel program in that it is personalized, integrative, and completely asynchronous. Furthermore, the study's targeted population -pre-service teachers -do not tend to receive this type of training as part of their professional preparation programs [17]. The results provide a foundation for further development of such training opportunities.…”

“…Teacher educators are responsible for preparing aspiring educators with diverse skills to support their position. While the emphasis is often on academic, social, and emotional learning practices, stress management is arguably an essential skill teachers need for their role [17]. Without the ability to effectively manage their stress, they are more likely to experience the deleterious effects of burnout and STS.…”

“…Despite the high risk of burnout and STS, teacher education programs do not typically offer training to address these issues [17]. Learning such skills while engaging in early field experiences may better prepare candidates for the multiple demands associated with teaching.…”

Teachers’ Self-Care Strategies and Supervision as a Self-Care Activity for Teachers

“…Pētījumos kategorizē ne vien personīgo, bet arī profesionālo pašpalīdzību, tostarp profesionālo pilnveidi organizētās aktivitātēs un supervīziju (Dorociak et al, 2017;Miller & Grise-Owens, 2020;Ziede & Norcross, 2020;Rupert & Dorociak, 2019). Kā liecina pētījumi, pašpalīdzība palīdz pārvaldīt stresu un mazina izdegšanas risku (Blinder et al, 2017;Dorociak et al, 2017;Rupert & Dorociak, 2019;Smetackova, 2017;Ziede & Norcross, 2020). Pedagogi, kuri iesaistās apzinātās stresa pārvarēšanas stratēģijās, pašpalīdzībā, sociālajās un brīvā laika aktivitātēs, saskaras ar zemāku izdegšanas risku (Ansley et al, 2021).…”