Is This What They Really Signed Up For?

Throughout this pandemic, teachers have had to step up into a role so much more than their job title let on. They became our emotional support and mentors throughout learning during a pandemic. Having to be these supports for their students and then go home and be a support for their family is grueling and without care, can be emotionally damaging work. While teachers have been able to push through the worst of online learning, some seeming completely unaffected by it, has anyone truly paused and asked them what they needed in order to get to a mentally healthy headspace? It feels like we forgot that teachers are people which means they have feelings and have experienced the challenges of living through a pandemic. Has it gotten to a point where we are asking too much of our teachers?

According to Education Week, “researchers found that between May and October 2020, the proportion of K-12 educators seriously worried about burnout rose from one quarter to 57 percent.” If teachers are getting burnt out, it’s no secret that the possibility for the same sentiments to spread to the students. Education Week also reports that “researchers found that one-quarter of teachers said they were likely to leave the profession when they finish the 2020-21 school year, a rate that—if it were to materialize—would be more than triple the normal rate of attrition.” 

This pandemic has been affecting teachers more than we can ever understand. Having to deal with the pressure of making sure students at least have the basic knowledge of subjects they need to know for the following school year with very limited instruction time is not what they signed up for. Obviously, a pandemic can't be planned, but resources should have been made available for teachers to take part in so they don't feel so overwhelmed or alone through a very difficult time.

Not to mention, most teachers also have the responsibility of supporting their families emotionally. According to Chalkbeat, “About half — 48% — of all public school teachers have children living at home, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution’s Michael Hansen and Diana Quintero.” It’s unfair that they are expected to be the sole support for students when other adults like parents/guardians and other school officials have the ability to share the burden. 

To expect teachers to put the well-being of their students above the well-being of themselves and their family is unrealistic and unfair to contemplate. Upon receiving their diploma, they didn‘t agree to sacrifice their mental health in order to ensure the relative success of their students. If we are starting to expect a sacrifice from teachers, then the rewards they get throughout the year should match the extra work they were required to do. 

I originally had my teacher from last year freshman year, throughout that whole year I remember being so surprised at the amount of energy he had. When we were online junior year, he was drained and looked like a shell of the person I once knew. I would stay after the google meet ended to get extra help and we would end up talking about how different teaching was. He would be staying up till 2 am planning lessons in a way that would make sense for us and stay on google meets until 7 pm with students who it's not clicking for. He has two daughters, and I doubt they saw very much of him throughout the school week. 

As a student who was also struggling through online learning, I took on the role of being his support as well. We would check in on each other and make sure to support each other the best way we knew how. I realize now that never should have been my job. It shouldn't be the job of a sixteen-year-old to ensure her teacher was in a productive mental health state. 

The mental health of our teachers should be at the forefront of administrators’ minds. If teachers are unable to mentally be at a point where they are capable of teaching, then schools need to put in place support for the teachers to shamelessly indulge so they are able to do their best. We can’t expect them to give us all of their energy when we don't do anything to replenish it after a long three years. We need to remember that coming home mentally drained every day, burnt out, and stressed beyond comprehension is not what they signed up for. Teachers are a privilege and it's about time school administration starts to see that.