There is no denying that our school teachers are under great stress and burnout. According to RAND Corporation’s State of the U.S. Teacher Survey for 2021, teachers were 17% more likely to report symptoms of depression compared to the general population. One in four teachers reported they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of the 20-21 school year. With our teachers feeling this way, how can we expect our students not to experience the same? This article hopes to provide ideas to help your teachers feel appreciated and secure in their classrooms. While by no means a comprehensive list, these are things for you to consider:
1. Listen to your teachers’ purchasing needs
As a school purchaser, teachers and staff should come to you to make responsible purchasing decisions. Do they have the avenue to do this? Having an effective method to communicate their needs is the easiest way to keep track of what’s needed. If one teacher is expressing needs, others may need the same. Having the required tools will help teachers avoid frustrations and feel appreciated and wanted. Ensuring you are handling the purchasing process can also take one thing off your teachers’ minds as well.
2. Help them feel secure
If you want your staff to feel safe, you must ensure the school feels safe. With nine school shootings in 2023 so far (as of March 13), that will surely be on your staff’s minds. Does your school have a response plan that everyone understands? Are your facilities up-to-date? Does your school feel welcoming? You’ll want to provide everything to make each day a joy to come to school and help prevent problems and incidents.
3. Make sure they have counseling options
Sometimes, teachers will need to talk out their problems with a professional. Their mental health can be affected by the strain of their jobs, compassion fatigue from holding space for their students’ experiences, and additional challenges with loved ones. Providing options for your staff gives one way to receive emotional support and express concerns in a safe environment. With research showing workplace counseling positively impacts mental well-being, your staff needs to know it’s alright to use counseling. The option to use counseling or education addressing pre-existing attitudes towards counseling may reduce the stigma and encourage your staff to take advantage of the opportunity.
One of our vendor partners, Care Solace, can connect your staff and their family members to mental health care providers. Their 24/7 multilingual Care Companion™ team provides a hand to hold while navigating the chaos of mental health systems and makes accessing care easier, faster, and less painful than ever before. Individuals in need can also use Care Match™, their self-service portal, to self-refer and search for community-based services anonymously. With Care Solace, school systems ensure access to care for all community members — regardless of circumstances and insurance coverage.
4. Be a voice for the teachers
Finally, make sure you express the concerns of your teachers to those with decision-making power. You won’t provide for all the school staff’s needs as just a school purchaser. As you are probably close to school leaders who can bring about the change, be sure to share what you know. Are they having trouble with work-life boundaries? Do they need more time off? Better pay to feel more financially secure? Tell this to your school’s leadership to continue the conversation about providing a better workplace environment.
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This is just a taste of what to do to help your staff, but taking small steps will show that you care about them. As the school purchaser, you can make a difference in their lives and remind teachers how important they are to our students and societies. Be sure also to check out the U.S. Surgeon General’s new Five Essentials for Workplace Wellbeing and Well-Being Graphic and related resources, which gives the workplace environments needed for any employee, including teachers, to have good physical and mental health well-being.