Like the beginning of a new calendar year, the start of a new school year is the perfect time to set new goals and intentions. And high on the list for educators and administrators this fall should be resolving to maintain self-care throughout the year.
Teachers and support staff are our greatest assets. Yet, as K-12 leaders know all too well, burnout is a real problem in schools today. Educators experience job-related stress at much higher rates than other working adults, and this stress is taking a huge toll on their well-being.
Teachers can’t do their jobs effectively if they’re feeling stressed or burned out. Research shows that when teachers are stressed, the quality of their instruction and their relationships with students suffer. Teachers must take care of their own mental and emotional needs before they can meet the needs of others—and K-12 leaders play a key role in helping them do this.
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Here are three critical steps administrators can take to encourage employee self-care:
1. Build a culture of self-care in your schools
Talk to your staff about the importance of self-care and share practical strategies for how they can do this. For instance, discuss how teachers and other staff can set attainable goals, establish smart priorities and use their time more wisely.
Emphasize the importance of getting regular sleep and exercise. Also, provide opportunities for teachers to practice self-care, such as breaks in their schedules, guided meditations and access to counseling services.
2. Make sure employees feel seen, heard, valued, and supported
One of the worst feelings in the world, either real or perceived, is to be ignored. Listen to your teachers’ concerns and acknowledge their hard work. Even if there’s nothing you can do to address their concerns right away, simply making it clear they’re important to you can go a long way.
Also, have your staff members’ backs. More than three out of five teachers in a recent survey said they just want more support around discipline-related issues. The best principal I ever had as a teacher said to me: “I will always have your back in front of a parent or other caregiver. We might have to have a conversation afterward about what you did, but I will support you in front of that caregiver no matter what, and we will present a united front.”
That takes no additional resources. As administrators, if we can get that trust and buy-in from our teachers, we can get so much more from them.
3. Give employees the gift of time
Teachers don’t need candy in their mailboxes. Above all else, they need time outside of work to decompress and have a normal life. K12 leaders can give employees this precious gift by reducing the administrative burden on them as much as possible.
Avoid unnecessary meetings and paperwork. Fifty-seven percent of teachers say they have too many meetings. Can some of those be replaced with memos instead? When you must hold meetings, create an agenda in advance—and stick to it.
Also, ensure staff training is meaningful and personalized to teachers’ needs. Don’t waste teachers’ time on activities that aren’t directly relevant to their classroom or curriculum.
When building a master schedule, how can you squeeze in extra planning time for teachers, so they aren’t forced to use their valuable personal time for planning? How can you spread out duties in a more equitable way?
Integrating self-care routines throughout the school year can significantly improve teachers’ well-being—and this has important implications for student success. Setting self-care resolutions for the new year is a smart and effective way to boost staff morale and achievement alike.
