Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1400485
T A K I N G A B A T H and walking the dog not helping with your feelings of burnout and compassion fatigue? You're not alone. A large-scale survey of educational workers in Alberta, Canada, conducted over the past year and a half found that many respondents were relying too heavily on self-care personal routines when faced with difficult and challeng- ing workplace problems. Researchers instead suggested that system-wide interventions, such as administrators and policymakers helping reduce educators' daily workloads, increasing supports for inclusive classrooms and allowing educators to take a break during the school day, are needed. The survey found that compassion fatigue was impacting the emotional health of 53 percent of respondents and that 80 percent were experiencing two or more symptoms of burnout. In a recent Education Week column Shayla Ewing, a high school English teacher in Illinois, says that this indicates "a silent epidemic in education: educators with nothing left to give." To truly address the healing process, Ewing says, educators and adminis- trators can start by reframing the conversation. Her advice (abridged): 1. Don't use language detours. Calls for educators to be "resilient" can be harmful, making staff feel like they should be able to sustain unmanageable workloads or brush off signs of burn- out. And pain-hierarchy language like " They need me more" or "Do it for the kids" enforces unhealthy martyr mindsets. Calling out and correcting these and other language detours can help educators better uncover symptoms of compassion fatigue and set healthy parameters for defining their own success. 2. Celebrate teacher well-being. Teachers are frequently celebrated for achievements resulting from toxic work habits. Leaders who exclusively recognize educators who work endless hours set the expectation that this is a prerequisite for success. Educators who are already emotionally depleted feel like "bad teachers" when they fail to meet this expectation. Why not publicly acknowledge teachers who practice mind- fulness, educate themselves about appropriate self-care, and invest in their own well-being outside of school? 3. Normalize language around compassion fatigue and healing. Teachers are expected to be positive people, but this expectation can be harmful. When teachers express their struggles, they may be met with "Look on the bright side" or "Don't be so negative." Meeting mental health concerns with toxic positivity gaslights educators, making them believe that their com- passion fatigue can be cured by thinking positive thoughts. Instead, schools should help teachers identify and monitor symptoms, report concerns and seek help. If compassion fatigue is not addressed, it can manifest in more serious mental and physical health issues. School and district leaders have a responsibility to establish an environment that not only allows educators to heal but encourages it. Compassion Fatigue: A Systemic Concern To heal, educators need help from school, district community • Start moving. During your prep period, walk around the track. Or march in place. Don't always park at the closest parking spot; park further away and walk. Take the stairs. The smallest things make a difference from a physical standpoint. Track your steps. Technology can easily tell us how many steps we take. • Take a break from social media. Stop reading all the negative stuff where people are fighting, argu- ing and trying to incite other people to get upset. Our first instinct is to look at our Facebook or Twitter feed every free second. There are great things about social media, such as staying in touch with family or friends. But we need to cut the negativity that comes with it. • Attitude is everything. We couldn't control the pandemic, but we could control our reaction to it. Taking it a step further: We can't con- trol what our principal does and how parents behave, but we can control how we respond to these things and not dwell on them. As a middle school and high school teacher in a former life, I would constantly remind myself that parents who were complaining just care about their kids, and I would try not take it personally. Stephen Smith A SSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF KINESIOLOGY AT RIO HONDO COLLEGE Rio Hondo College Faculty Association 22 cta.org Stephen Smith Feature