Q&A Live Chat
The Pandemic of Educator Stress: Supporting the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Educators
January 26th, 2022 – Bell Let’s Talk Day
1:00 pm (ET)
Bell Let’s Talk Day is Wednesday, January 26 and we’re joining in to help drive meaningful progress in workplace mental health and wellbeing in the Canadian K-12 education sector.
If you’re a teacher or employee wellbeing lead – or a K-12 staff member with an interest in workplace wellbeing – we invite you to join us for a live chat with Danna Thomas, the Founder & CEO of Happy Teacher Revolution, as we discuss the impacts of burnout and vicarious trauma while exploring how self-care and collegial support are integral to educators’ professional development.
During this online Q&A Live Chat, you will have the opportunity to receive guidance on your most pressing issues and challenges related to stress and burnout in the K-12 workplace. Send us your questions and challenges so we can tailor the discussion to your needs and priorities.
*The question submission form is intentionally separate from the registration form to ensure confidentiality. All submissions will be kept confidential.
SYNOPSIS
Educators have been grappling with an ever-present demand to be flexible, to think on their feet, and to pivot at a moment’s notice. They are accustomed to feelings of uncertainty while simultaneously putting on a brave face as they continue to show up day in and day out. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers were tasked with supporting students in the midst of the most seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an educator burnout pandemic.
We know that stress and burnout are not new phenomena to educators, but unfortunately they’re getting worse. According to research, teachers are dealing with increasing demands, lack of resources, and limited autonomy. When teacher burnout increases, teaching quality decreases, which results in less effective classroom management and reduced student engagement. When teacher stress increases, it contributes to student stress, which has been linked to learning and mental health problems.
In response to these challenges, Happy Teacher Revolution launched in Canada in partnership with Well at Work by EdCan in early 2021. The partnership provides Canadian K-12 staff with professional development to organize and conduct support groups for teachers in the field of mental health and wellness to increase teacher happiness, retention, and professional sustainability. Later on into 2022, these professional development offerings will be expanding to further meet the needs of Canadian K-12 staff.
Founder & CEO Danna Thomas struggled with anxiety, depression and panic attacks throughout high school and college, but she didn’t suffer in silence. Several of Danna’s teachers noticed her problems and encouraged her to seek treatment. Danna got help and became inspired to become an educator herself, so she served as a Baltimore City public school teacher for seven years. Throughout her teaching career, she noticed that many other teachers suffered from the same issues that Danna dealt with in her time as a student. Now, Danna wants to give back to the educator community by addressing the stress-induced mental health issues that arise from teaching.
WHAT TO EXPECT
In addition to your specific questions, the conversation will dig into key questions such as:
When it comes to looking after my wellbeing, how can I differentiate between the factors of my job that I can control versus those that I can’t?
What are some first steps to create a school environment where mental health, wellbeing, and the social-emotional and intellectual demands of teaching are openly discussed?
What actions and strategies can we use to combat educator stress and burnout in 2022?
Overall, you can expect to learn about:
Burnout, vicarious trauma, self-care, and collegial support in the context of K-12 workplaces
Real-life stories of how educators have managed stress or overcame burnout
Actionable next steps to address educator stress and burnout including tips on crafting a self-care plan.
Articles by or featuring Danna Thomas
The Pandemic of Educator Stress: Actions, steps, and strategies to combat caregiver burnout this school year (via Well at Work by EdCan)
Teachers Are Not OK, Even Though We Need Them to Be: Administrators must think about teacher well-being differently (via Education Week)
How Teachers Can Practice Self-Care in the Classroom (via Education Week)
Happy Teachers Practice Self-Care (via Education Week)
Self-Care Is Not Selfish, Self-Care Is Professional Development (via Bored Teachers)
Meet the Entrepreneur: Danna Thomas of Happy Teacher Revolution (via Johns Hopkins University)
Social Innovation Lab helps accelerate a revolution in teacher happiness (via Johns Hopkins University)
References and Further Reading
Presented by: Danna Thomas, Founder & CEO, Happy Teacher Revolution
Hosted by: Well at Work by EdCan
ABOUT DANNA THOMAS
Danna Thomas is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher turned founder of a global initiative to support the mental health and wellness of educators. Her organization, Happy Teacher Revolution, is leading an international movement to increase teacher happiness, retention, and professional sustainability by providing educators with the time and space to heal, deal, and be real about the social-emotional demands they face on the job.
Danna served as the national spokeswoman for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Maryland and the “Music for Mental Health” campaign. She is the recipient of the 2019 Johns Hopkins Community Hero Award and the 2019 Winner of the Johns Hopkins Social Innovation Lab. Danna’s favourite forms of self-care include playing backgammon, community hot yoga, and rocking out on the saxophone.