Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

In the rush to get back to school, let’s not forget teachers’ mental health

Melissa Corrente
Conditions
September 3, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

Teachers in Ontario, Canada never imagined they would leave for March break and not return to finish the school year with their students. Many classrooms were frozen in time with Friday, March 12, 2020 still displayed on the walls.

Before COVID-19, the rotating strikes by Ontario teachers were the big news story in education in the province. Issues such as mandatory e-learning, securing funding to hire special education teachers, maintaining seniority hiring rules, and increasing class sizes became outstanding matters between the Ontario government and teachers.

Stress in teaching was prevalent prior to COVID-19. Increasing job demands, lack of administrative support, and violence in the classroom, are frequently cited sources of teacher stress. Work context and personal factors, as well as family context, contribute to teacher mental health, stress, and attrition, and can also impact temporary leaves of absence.

Teaching during a pandemic has meant teacher stress is at a whole other level.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have had a steep learning curve trying to support their students from a distance. Most teachers have not trained for online teaching.  Moving content online in a short amount of time and worrying about the mental health and well-being of their students has also taken an emotional toll.

At the same time, teachers stand in a privileged position compared to many because they are fully employed during a period when countless others have lost their jobs and their livelihoods. How do we support teacher wellness when people are struggling to keep wellness in their own lives?

Teachers cannot meet the needs of their students if they are struggling and stressed out themselves.

Teachers are used to being compared to other teachers to a certain extent. However, this comparison has become heightened during COVID-19. Social media is filled with parents commenting on how well their teacher is connecting or not connecting with their children. The pressure teachers feel during the pandemic to ensure their students’ needs are being met likely increases stress. Their own isolation is also a factor.

Ontario’s Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce was quick to tell teachers what they should be doing for online learning instead of respecting the relationships teachers had built with students and their knowledge of students’ home situations prior to COVID-19. In a memo to school boards, Lecce called on teachers to increase virtual instruction and to embrace the use of synchronous learning during the school closure period. A focus on real-time classes makes learning prohibitive to some students because every child’s home situation is different.

Many teachers went above and beyond to connect with their students. There are heartwarming stories of teachers reading to students from sidewalks, dressing in costumes during video chats, and dropping off care packages to student households.

However, some teachers struggled to adjust to online learning for a variety of reasons; for example, they were caring for aging parents or young children.

It is clear when speaking with parents there was a wide variety of experiences — both positive and negative — with online instruction.

COVID-19 provides an opportunity to highlight the amazing qualities that teachers already possess, such as creativity, flexibility, perseverance, and compassion. Moving forward, it is clear that teacher mental health needs to be part of a teacher’s professional identity. Self-care and well-being are not just personal practices but something that should be taught to teacher candidates as a mandatory part of their journey in joining the teaching profession.

ADVERTISEMENT

We also need to continue asking what can be done to improve teachers’ mental health and well-being as they support their students returning to the classroom in September. We’ll be doing just that with our cross-Canada study based at the Telfer School of Management that will collect data in order to understand teacher mental health, leaves of absences, and return to work.

When we embark on our new routine involving masks, hand sanitizer, and social distancing, let’s remember the importance of teacher mental health too.

Melissa Corrente is a teacher.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Direct primary care: Great for some doctors, but challenging for patients

September 3, 2020 Kevin 1
…
Next

How virtual learning enhanced my immersion and mentorship in neurosurgery

September 3, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Direct primary care: Great for some doctors, but challenging for patients
Next Post >
How virtual learning enhanced my immersion and mentorship in neurosurgery

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Sharing mental health issues on social media

    Tarena Lofton
  • The new mental health education mandate doesn’t go far enough

    Brandon Jacobi
  • Improve mental health by improving how we finance health care

    Steven Siegel, MD, PhD
  • We need a mental health infrastructure bill

    Jennifer Reid, MD
  • A step forward: a way to advance the mental health of health care professionals

    Mattie Renn, Thomas Pak, and Corey Feist, JD, MBA
  • Mental health issues and the African American community

    Lashawnda Thornton, MSW

More in Conditions

  • Who are you outside of the white coat?

    Annia Raja, PhD
  • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

    Kim Adelman, PhD
  • The humanity we bring: a call to hold space in medicine

    Kathleen Muldoon, PhD
  • The truth about fat in whole milk and your health

    Larry Kaskel, MD
  • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

    Alex Siauw
  • Protecting what matters most: Guarding our NP licenses with integrity

    Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Love, birds, and fries: a story of innocence and connection

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Why physician strikes are a form of hospice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
    • The silent cost of choosing personalization over privacy in health care

      Dr. Giriraj Tosh Purohit | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who are you outside of the white coat?

      Annia Raja, PhD | Conditions
    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Physician practice ownership: risks, rewards, and reality

      Paul Morton, CFP | Finance
    • How peer support can save physician lives [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why AI in health care needs the same scrutiny as chemotherapy

      Rafael Rolon Rivera, MD | Tech
    • The humanity we bring: a call to hold space in medicine

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Love, birds, and fries: a story of innocence and connection

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • Why physician strikes are a form of hospice

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
    • The silent cost of choosing personalization over privacy in health care

      Dr. Giriraj Tosh Purohit | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

      Angela Rodriguez, MD | Conditions
    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Who are you outside of the white coat?

      Annia Raja, PhD | Conditions
    • How hospitals can prepare for CMS’s new patient safety rule

      Kim Adelman, PhD | Conditions
    • Physician practice ownership: risks, rewards, and reality

      Paul Morton, CFP | Finance
    • How peer support can save physician lives [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why AI in health care needs the same scrutiny as chemotherapy

      Rafael Rolon Rivera, MD | Tech
    • The humanity we bring: a call to hold space in medicine

      Kathleen Muldoon, PhD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...