We all know how stressful school can be. TikTok and Instagram are full of
rants from students, high school and university alike, about how stressful their classes are
or how hard it is to adjust to university life. Yet, something that many of us do not
become aware of is how difficult school life can be for the teachers themselves.
According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, forty-six percent of teachers
experience high stress on a daily basis. Teaching consists of long hours during the day and
night, and many teachers often face burnout and stress. Let’s explore what exactly
this stress means for teachers and even students and how we can improve the school
experience itself!
Stress can heavily impact teachers and how they give back to their
classrooms. Stress can compromise their health, their quality of life, and even how much
they sleep. Teachers make endless sacrifices at their own expense for the sake of their
students. Unlike in other jobs, teachers are responsible for guiding the world’s future
leaders, entrepreneurs, rocket scientists, and more! Often, teaching can become a lot more
personal than other jobs, pushing teachers to put in more work than many other
professionals for no increase in compensation. Teachers often stay at schools late to
ensure that their students can receive the best teaching, lesson plans, and activities that
they can!
The first step to helping our teachers deal with stress is to be able to recognize it!
When dealing with teachers and stress, it’s important to know that they are people and
experience emotions just like us. When a teacher gets angry at you, it isn’t always
because they strongly dislike you, but rather that they value your education and are
experiencing moments of stress. Of course, excessive anger from teachers is never okay,
but we must remember that teachers can get stressed, too! We may also see how stressed
out teachers are by their performance. When a teacher marks an assignment late, it may
be very annoying for you, but remember that it could be a sign that your teacher may
need some moments of grace.
This brings us to the topic of how to appreciate teachers and help them out when
they are experiencing stress. As mentioned before, often having grace and remembering
that every teacher is just a human can help them out a lot. Be gracious! Take it slow, and
don’t take every mistake personally. As students, we can also offer casual help to aid our
teachers in small ways! We can do this by offering to hand out papers, offering to close
the door when you’re closer, and even being quiet when they ask. It’s the small things that count most of the time, and helping them through simple things can have a great
impact! Another way to help out teachers is to let them know how thankful you are for
them! If you enjoyed a lesson, let them know! If you love an activity, mention it in
passing! At the end of a semester, get your classmates together and make a card for your
teacher! Knowing that their hard work and effort made an impact on your life can be very
motivating for them and makes all the difference!
The culture around teachers and stress is one that is not often talked about. But,
improving this culture and the resources that teachers have available can impact more
than just the teachers. When teachers are less stressed, it will positively impact the
students as well. As school continues, let’s all do our best to not only improve the school
scene for students but for teachers!
References:
Teacher Stress and Health (rwjf.org)
