1. What is well-being?
2. What factors can affect teachers' occupational well-being?
3. Problem-Focused Coping Approach
4. Applying Problem-Focused Coping Approach
What can you do to improve your well-being? Exercise, yoga, good planning, striking a balance between family and work, meditation, mindfulness – these are just some of the things you can find online if you're looking for new ways to improve your quality of life.
Obviously, there are different views on this, and I don't want to downplay the importance of different approaches to improving teacher wellbeing. It's a bit like that Coldplay lyric, "Nobody said it was easy," and anyone who's been there will know that teaching isn't easy at all.
That's why I've put together this article with some useful info on how to deal with stress and burnout. It'll help you stay on top of your game.
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| Picture 1: Credit Stuart Kime |
But, before you get into the nitty-gritty, let's quickly run through the basics. What is well-being? Why is it important? What factors can affect it?
1. What is well-being?
According to Wang et al. (2021) "Well-being is part of (...) psychological mechanisms and is considered a combination of feelings that can support work performance". Additionally, Hupert (as cited in Wang et al, 2021) said it "encompasses happiness, interest, participation, self-confidence, and other emotions that influence the development of potential abilities and control over human life" (p. 4).
"the more a person is stressed, the more he or she uses emotion-focused coping (...), and the more one uses emotion-focused coping, the more stressed he or she is"
These definitions show how well-being affects how you perform your regular activities, which can include our work and personal lives (Richter, 2021). In other words, when you're happier, you do better at work and in your personal lives.
Besides, Fraser (2020) defines four key dimensions: "cognitive well-being (self-efficacy and concentration at work), subjective well-being (particular feelings or emotional states, satisfaction, and purpose), physical and mental well-being (psychosomatic symptoms), social well-being (quality of the working relations)" (p. 5).
Why is it important?
Fraser (2020) pointed out that "research suggests that teacher well-being can impact the effectiveness of teaching, and, consequently, students’ own well-being and learning outcomes." (p. 2). Also, a high sense of well-being "low[er] stress, burnout, depressive symptoms, sleep problems and insomnia"(Aulén et al., 2021).
2. What factors can affect teachers' occupational well-being?
It's important to remember that even if you've found something that works for you, you can't take your well-being for granted. You need to keep looking for ways to improve it.
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| Picture 2. Credit: Depositphotos.com |
1 Differentiating Stress and Burnout
Stress is basically the constant exposure to demanding situations, like work, family concerns and so on. Kyriacou (as cited in Simon, 2016) defined stress as "the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions, such as tension, frustration, anxiety, anger and depression, resulting from aspects of his work as a teacher" (p. 352). Stress is the result of combining a chosen cognitive process to deal with a situation that affects your emotions and has a negative impact on your health (Simon, 2016; Richter et al., 2021).
On the other hand, burnout is a different concept. Cristina Maslach explained that burnout entails three dimensions: 1) Exhaustion which "is also described as wearing out, loss of energy, depletion, debilitation, and fatigue" (Maslach, 1982, p. 32), this exhaustion could sometimes be physical but also psychological and it involves "loss of feeling and concern, a loss of trust, a loss of interest, a loss of spirit" (ibid); 2) Depersonalisation "refers to a detached attitude towards the job itself and/or the colleagues, sub- and super-ordinates. Reduced personal accomplishment indicates a decrease in feelings of achievement and competence" (Simon, 2016, p. 350); 3) Reduced one's personal accomplishments, it means dissatisfaction, "depression, low morale, withdrawal, reduced productivity or capability, and an inability to cope"(Maslach, 1982, p. 32).
Knowing the difference between these terms will help you understand your situation and be open to getting advice from experts if needed.
2 Lack of individual resources to deal with new situations
According to Lazarus & Folkman (as cited in Bastian & Uta, 2021) "stress emerges when individuals fail to cope with the demands of their environment, hence when work-related stressors outweigh individual resources" (p. 503). Everyone has different ways of dealing with stress, and these are shaped by our own experiences in training and work.
What's more, as a teacher, you can't always cope with new and difficult circumstances in the interaction between teacher and student. Bastian & Uta (2021) claim that "there is ample evidence that student misbehaviour and problems with classroom discipline, motivating students, dealing with heterogeneity, or the establishment of relationships to students constitute major stressors" (p. 503), especially for beginning teachers.
3 Workload and use of new ICT
It's pretty amazing how everyone has managed to keep going with distance learning during the pandemic. Despite the fact most of us didn't have any experience in this new context, we've all managed to make it work! You're learning how to teach differently, you're using new technology, and you're dealing with students who aren't sure how to use some of these tools properly. (Zadok-Gurman et al., 2021).
Also, from my own experience, and yours as well, sometimes the paperwork goes up because the Ministry of Education asks for last-minute stuff at the last minute.
There were plenty of reasons to feel the strain and burn out under that heavy workload. With all these potential reasons for stress, how can the Problem-Focused Coping Approach help you to get through it all and succeed in your duties?
3. Problem-Focused Coping Approach
According to Folkman & Lazaruz (as cited in Aulén et al., 2021) "Problem-focused coping strategies are used when the problem is solvable or when further information on the problem can be obtained" (p. 2). Sometimes, it's not enough to just disengage from a stressor (Symptom-focused coping approach) or decide what to pay attention to and help yourself by doing exercise (both are part of the cognitive and behavioural aspects of Emotion-focused coping approach).
The Problem-Focused Coping approach is all about changing what's making the situation difficult to deal with. Instead of waiting for things to change, you re-evaluate your resources and try to make things better.
When you're under pressure, what's the first thing you do? Do you tend to disengage from problems by doing something else, or perhaps exercising? Again, I’m not saying it’s not worth doing it. If it works for you, keep doing it! But if that doesn’t sound like you, it might be worth trying some of the strategies of the Problem-focused Coping approach.
In fact, according to Aulén et al. (2021) "the more a person is stressed, the more he or she uses emotion-focused coping (...), and the more one uses emotion-focused coping, the more stressed he or she is" (p. 3).
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| Picture 3. The graphics show how stress and depression are connected. They also show two different approaches to dealing with stress and depression. The more an individual uses one of these approaches, the more stress or depression they get (Aulén et al., 2021). |
On the flip side, lots of studies suggest that burnout is linked to problem-focused coping in a negative way. Further, problem-focused coping is negatively related to depression. To find the large list of studies that support these two ideas, I recommend reading Aulén et al., 2021, which is cited in the references.
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| Picture 4. The graphic shows the negative relation between stress, depression and Problem-focused coping approach, in other words, the more an individual uses this approach the less stress and depression they get (Aulén et al., 2021). |
Now, it's time to see how you can apply this approach in your teaching practice to improve our own well-being.
4. Applying Problem-Focused Coping Approach
1. Improve your classroom management skills
If you get to this point and realise that the first piece of advice is nothing to get excited about, you're right. One of the biggest stressors that teachers will face during their career is classroom management. I remember a piece of advice from my principal at one of my previous jobs who said: "A lot of your expertise as a teacher will be shown in the way you apply classroom management techniques that are suitable for your students." Although there's no one-size-fits-all approach to classroom management, it's important to keep polishing our strategies by getting more training (Wang et al., 2021) or even advice from experienced teachers who work with us.
Kim et al. (2021) claim " the importance of providing teachers with proactive classroom management strategies [, above all if they are novices,] to enable them to create an orderly learning environment and alleviate stress" (p. 56). It's easy to use "punitive strategies" to control the classroom when we're under pressure and stressed.
If you're just starting out as a teacher, it's really important to find classroom management techniques that work for you. They can help you avoid burnout and become more assertive, which is a big plus.
2. Listen to what the students have to say about your lessons and which activities they think could be included
As you saw when you read the definition of well-being, it involves different positive emotions, such as happiness, interest, and participation. In other words, it means satisfaction. Regarding satisfaction, Wang et al. (2021) says "satisfaction is a concept that comes from the business field and involves customers’ intentions to purchase goods or to spread a positive attitude toward goods and services. In education, understanding learner satisfaction is the best way to assess the effectiveness of the training program" (p. 4).
Why not switch things up a bit in your next class? It'll get your pupils more engaged and interested in what you're doing. It'll also break up the routine, which is a great way to boost motivation. It's also a great classroom management technique. And if you try something new with your students' suggestions, you'll spend less time thinking of activities that will engage them. Plus, they’ll see that you really care about them and that you’re taking their opinions into account.
Besides, Kim et al. (2021) mentioned there is a "connection between teacher burnout levels and students’ physiological stress response and found that higher levels of teacher burn out are associated with higher cortisol levels in students" (p. 56). It's important to remember that high levels of cortisol can cause more stress. During this pandemic, both teachers and pupils are exposed to different stressors that might make things worse, regardless of their background.
If you're looking for some fresh ideas to shake up your routine, check out my posts: Virtual learning: 3 tips for multisensory teaching and if you are an English teacher PRONUNCIATION: WHAT, WHY AND HOW IN THE VIRTUAL ENGLISH CLASSROOM. Finally, if you think your students won't suggest anything, you can start improving the way you give feedback to set the example and improve your communication with them. To do that, you can find some useful tips in my post: How to give Effective Feedback in Virtual Learning
3 E-schoolbags with teaching materials and innovation
Don't you think it would be a good idea to have most of your materials ready at the start of the school year? It'll be great because it'll give you time to focus on other aspects of teaching, like assessment and classroom management. It's important to remember that a person who uses Problem-Focused Coping knows their limits and when they need help dealing with stress, they ask for it. That's why it's important to work with the teaching staff in our workplace. It also helps novice teachers to socialise (Bastian et al., 2021).
Now, let's talk about innovation. First and foremost, it doesn't necessarily mean having a great imagination. It means simply starting with doing things in a different way. Even if you've got a great classroom management system and you know how to engage students, it's good to mix things up every now and then. That way, you'll find your work more enjoyable.
4 Work closely with families
"A well-functioning relationship with parents allows the teacher to set common goals with the parents to support the children"(Lepp et al., 2021). It's really important to keep in touch with families, but there's no need to talk to them every day. However, we should try to avoid writing to families only when something bad happens. It's a good idea to change that practice and start writing about the good things their children do whenever you can. This will encourage parents to be more willing to work with us, especially when students misbehave (Paccaud, 2021).
Obviously, we're not living in a perfect world, so be careful because some families are more interested than others, which can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. It's a good idea to arrange a schedule, share it with families, and stick to it. I've found it helpful to let families know that I'm available from 8 am to 6 pm. If they send a message during this time, I'll reply right away. After 6 pm, I'll only respond to messages I deem urgent. Since I started doing this, only a few families have written to me after work to talk about a real emergency. This way, you can make sure you're on the same page and you'll become an "easily accessible teacher (...) , which in turn increases school satisfaction"(Paccaud, 2021, p. 3).
Conclusion
So, to sum up, no matter how much experience we have, we can always make teaching more satisfying by looking after our own well-being. There are lots of different ways to cope with stress and burnout, but this is just one approach. Also, if you think you're going through a rough patch, don't hesitate to ask for help. These ideas are just suggestions, and they're not meant to replace professional assistance.
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References:
Bastian, C. & Uta, K. (2021). Assertiveness and adaptation: Prospective teachers’ social competence development and its significance for occupational well-being. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 500–526. The Authors. British Journal of Educational Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.
Fraser, P. (2020). How Can Education Systems Better Understand Teachers’ Well-Being?
Kim, S., Crooks, C. V., Bax, K. & Shookohi. M. (2021). Impact of Trauma‑Informed Training and Mindfulness‑Based Social–Emotional Learning Program on Teacher Attitudes and Burnout: A Mixed‑Methods Study. School Mental Health, 13, 55–68.
Lepp, L., Aaviku, T., Leijen, l., Pedaste, M., Saks, K. (2021). Teaching during COVID-19: The Decisions Made in Teaching. Education Sciences, 11, 47.
Maslach, C. (1982). “Understanding Burnout: Definitional Issues in Analysing a Complex Phenomenon.” In Job Stress and Burnout, edited by W. S. Paine, 29–40. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Paccaud. A., Keller, R., Luder, R., Pastore, G. & Kunz, A. (2021). Satisfaction With the Collaboration Between Families and Schools – The Parent’s View. Frontiers in Education, 6:646878.
Pagán, E., Sánchez, J., Garrigos, F. J. & Guijarro, M. (2021). The Influence of Management on Teacher Well-Being and the Development of Sustainable Schools. Sustainability, 13, 2909.
Simon, D. E., Froehlich, C. D. & Philip, R. (2016). Effects of support on stress and burnout in school principals. Educational Research, 58(4), 347-365.
Wang, M., Wang, M., Cui, Y. & Zhang, H. (2021). Art Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Online Learning: An Empirical Study Using Self Determination Theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 627095.
Zadok-Gurman, T., Jakobovich, R., Dvash, E., Zafrani, K., Rolnik, B., Ganz, A. B. & Lev-Ari, S. (2021). Effect of Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR) Intervention on Well-Being, Resilience and Burnout of Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal in Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 3689.
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