I have just spent the last 10 minutes thinking about the factors that can cause stress to a classroom teacher. It is important to recognise that pressure and stress are related, we all need pressure or else we wouldn't get out of bed in the morning, but I take stress to be an adverse psychological and/or physiological reaction to excessive pressure. Given that I have only spent 10 minutes thinking about this I came up with a reasonable length list of factors that can cause stress and exacerbate other mental health conditions (and that's quite worrying). Here are my thoughts so far:
Over the next few weeks and months I will be writing about many of these stressors but I would like your input.
Further thoughts
I only posted this a few hours ago but something else has crossed my mind. I have worked in and led schools in difficult situations but the key factor that held the school together was how valued the staff felt. I have also worked in a decent school, great children, great location but a leadership team that could never be bothered to tell us we were doing a good job; the staff were generally very low and this all came pouring out when OFSTED came through the door.
Bear with me here. I hate flying. The only time I enjoyed flying is when I had a flying lesson; I felt in control. So much of what we do as teachers feels beyond our control. This is a topic well worth exploring in the future.
Most of these are in blue and these find their origin in the job itself, the two that aren't are beyond the scope of school. I would be very interested to hear what you think are the main stressors in the school life of a classroom teacher. So please consider this a first draft; together we should be able to explore every nook and cranny of school life that can have an adverse effect on emotional well-being.Over the next few weeks and months I will be writing about many of these stressors but I would like your input.
Further thoughts
I only posted this a few hours ago but something else has crossed my mind. I have worked in and led schools in difficult situations but the key factor that held the school together was how valued the staff felt. I have also worked in a decent school, great children, great location but a leadership team that could never be bothered to tell us we were doing a good job; the staff were generally very low and this all came pouring out when OFSTED came through the door.
Bear with me here. I hate flying. The only time I enjoyed flying is when I had a flying lesson; I felt in control. So much of what we do as teachers feels beyond our control. This is a topic well worth exploring in the future.
Some others might include:
ReplyDeleteResources
Environment, condition of buildings
Security (not job security but threat to safety, eg weapons in school, physical attack)
Bullying and harassment (could come under colleagues)
Government policies and legislation (external?)
Covering absent colleagues
Lack of ownership and forums to express and share ideas
Access to effective CPD
Thanks for your thoughts Kate. So much of this is about not being in control and being powerless to influence your own future. A couple of my previous posts (about the staffroom and banter) do deal with colleagues, but I have one planned on conflict between staff. I think your points about cover, environment, ownership and CPD are very interesting and I'll certainly be having a think about these.
DeleteThankfully, for me, many of those things are not stressors I have, but I do see them around me at school, a lot!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Kate, resources IS definitely a major stressor, as is access to CPD, specifically exam board cpd as teaching all new material - 2 new specs at both gcse and a-level this year!
Excellent points. I'll be starting ruminating on many these topics over the next few weeks and I suspect that I'll be discussing the points raised in these comments. Thanks for reading and commenting.
DeleteI'm jumping in here. I hope that's okay.
ReplyDeleteInitially I wondered about the definition of stress. I think it is the difference between how things are and how you want things to be. Stress is subjective. People may suffer stress at the same time in the same adverse circumstances but it's not the same for two people.
When I see people who have self dismissed, absented themselves because of work related stress or been excluded against their will they are suffering anxiety. That's panic about what's next and usually depression about what has happened. This is why mindfulness is such an important discipline. Staying in the here and now. Some people end up at home md as you state they have suffered stress because they are usually not in control of their environment, inside school and often outside school. As with any employee there are a multitude of factors and sometimes we realise it isn't work related stress. It's as you have posted debt, family, fitness issues or the like. In any event the employer can and should try to help and be seen to help resolve any of these issues by at the least offering information about where help can be obtained.
I agree with all of your markers.
I suppose people who teach are expected to think, behave and vote together. If they don't they are under pressure and that must be stressful. If they want to vote differently and colleagues cannot know, for example
Being separate, being excluded, feeling alone, singled out and so forth causes anxiety because we are supposed as human beings to be together.
I suppose the character of the individual and whether they are extrovert or introvert impacts on their ability to verbalise their feelings and to cope.
Unfortunately people suffering stress do the one thing they ought not. Exclude themselves.
The only thing the employer can control in this is as you say making sure the teachers feel significant and that there is a forum or place for all of them to be heard individually not just listened to but heard especially in the staff room and all those two way appraisals.
Employees in general need to understand that employers are not emotionally invested as employees are
Employees are emotionally invested in their careers massively and this puts a whole different shine on the employer taking procedural action. I find good employees take comfort knowing that their superiors are scared too. Scared that they are involved in perhaps what is unfamiliar process.
Knowing the markers of stress the employer should be fixed with the duty of bearing the cost of effective counselling and support on an individual basis.