CBC News: Teacher Stress is Killing my Profession

Enjoyed this article about teacher stress and the changing world of teaching. It was posted in 2009 but just came up on my facebook feed recently. While I agree with some of the statements, I wonder about the long term impact of this systemic change to our profession.

he reality of every teacher trying to make even a modest go at this profession is a life of almost constant stress, overwork and, at times, emotional exhaustion.

Anyone who enters the teaching profession thinking otherwise is in for a rude awakening. 

So why am I griping? I chose this profession and I enjoy what I do. 

Well, it is because a storm of new and increasingly unrealistic demands, coupled with a noticeable decline in support from many principals and parents, is contributing to a growing incidence of illness among teachers, including mental illness due to work-related stress. 

I should note that teaching has not broken me. But it has broken the sanity and soul of some very motivated teachers I know. 

Burn-out profession? A Saskatchewan study says almost 60 per cent of teachers face job stress. (Associated Press file photo)

"I think that the whole idea of teaching has changed in the last 15 to 20 years," says Emily Noble, past-president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. 

"People are dealing with more high-need students, with more multicultural issues and with no-fail policies.

"Teachers want to make a difference, but the supports are just not there."

The best are falling

Add to this the largely undocumented group of what I call the walking wounded, those teachers whose energy levels have been sapped so much by all the new administrative demands that they have little left over to give directly to their students.

I have occasionally heard it said that these increasing demands and stresses are a positive development because they will weed out those whose commitment to the profession may be problematic.

But in my experience, it has been the most highly motivated and committed teachers who undergo the most stress and who break down simply because they truly care for their students and, against the odds, try to deliver.

Mediocre teachers, it seems, have less of a problem in detaching their personal well-being from that of their students. And that is not just my view.

"Burnout is more common in the young, highly motivated, energetic, hard-working teacher," says Prof. Martin. "The people who burn out are the people who pour everything into it without balance." 

Read the entire article here 

New Teachers Leaving the Profession

I have heard this statistic before... how a high number of new teachers leave the profession in the five years for various reasons. For that reason, I suppose, it is good that I am in my seventh year, albeit still not continuing full-time due to lack of jobs and the structure in which jobs are posted in my district (or not posted in many cases) but that is another rant.

Patricia Melnyk writes in the Montreal Gazette:

As a non-permanent or contract teacher, I have also had my share of positions where working conditions were far from ideal. For example, I have taught classes classified as “regular,” which are supposed to include mainly students whose behaviour falls within the normal range. In fact, sometimes these classes have included not only students who are coded (students with diagnosed conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism and academic or behavioural problems), but also a good number of students with undiagnosed disorders. Under these trying conditions, teaching in the normal sense of the word becomes almost impossible, with constant noise, disruption and chaos. Moreover, classes such as these are also relatively large. These vexing conditions can and often do lead to a teacher’s deep sense of frustration, hopelessness and even burnout.

Burnout is something I recently talked about with student teachers I presented to at Vancouver Island University. It is so important to find work-life balance and avoid burnout, but I digress.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered a different profession, I love teaching, it is my passion, which is why I am still doing it... but after the first three years of not obtaining a contract, feeling exhausted and abused at the end of the day as "a sub" I really debated if this was something I could maintain doing.... luckily in year four I had a contract a "class of my own" at least temporarily and started to realize I could never leave... still, I can see why some consider leaving and understand how many make that decision. Teaching is tough!

I read with great interest several articles recently written about the percentage of teachers who leave their profession in the early years.

According to McGill University statistics, nearly 50 per cent of all new teachers in North America leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. As a teacher in my 39th year in a public high school, I understand the many reasons they do so.

The article (which I encourage you to read, it is well written and addresses many things teachers will nod their head in agreement to) focuses on three reasons many teachers leave the profession:

1. False Accusations
2. Parents
3. Special Needs students (which I read as lack of support for special needs)

 “The education field is in crisis,” Jon G. Bradley, associate professor of education at McGill University has stated. It is easy to understand why this is so and why teachers are abandoning the merry-go-round of disgruntled parents, the staggering number of special-needs students and the false accusation syndrome for careers in which impotency, impossible demands and abuse do not thrive.

So what do we do about this problem? Nothing? Seems the problem is only being made worse...

Universities are still pumping out new teachers, with no growth of jobs, there is a surplus of teachers in many areas of Canada and the retention of quality teachers seems to be a non-issue. Many teachers leave the profession, but there are ten more waiting to take their place. The turn-over is like that of some jobs I held in my university days, new cook every other week, customers don't know the different, but guess what? Students do...

Montreal Gazette writes:

“Any other profession that had that kind of turnover would look at working conditions, would look at salaries and other things surrounding the teaching environment,” said Joel Westheimer, university research chair and professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of education. “Instead, in education, we bring up talk about testing teachers and linking their pay to the students’ performance. I mean, can you imagine Microsoft suffering a crisis because there were not enough programmers going into the profession and leaving after the first five years? Would (the company’s) response be to increase salaries, recruit better people, change working conditions so that they could work in different places, have free soda and free lunches? Or would it test them?”

Sadly, this isn't just new teachers feeling the pressure. Debra Berry writes:

I’d like to point out that it is not just the new, young teachers who are quitting. I left at 55, with 32 years of teaching high school, the last six with horrific, inhumane workloads. I taught 14 groups of students, 400 teenagers, twice a week, in what felt like a factory assembly line. As a teacher who ran multiple student activities and sports teams over the years, I was exhausted. The success of my students sat squarely on my shoulders with little or no support from a board obsessed with the budget over students’ needs, and an administration with so much paperwork they never came out of their offices.

Many of my colleagues are leaving for the same reasons, most before full pension. I am so glad I got out, but my daughter, after three years of teaching, is exhausted by her workload of four different elementary school levels, many special-needs children not properly supported and hours of unpaid and unrecognized preparation time.

I think education needs to be a priority for provincial governments. There needs to be adequate funding and support in the classrooms to help retain teachers and ensure students are getting the education they deserve.

Other related articles:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/lesson+fighting+back/7895140/story.html

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Janet+Bagnall+need+study+many+teachers+leaving+field/7907873/story.html

http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Opinion+Teachers+jobs+becoming+increasingly+stressful/7921769/story.html

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Accusations+impossible+demands+problem+parents+drive+away/7940986/story.html

What's a PSA?

What is a PSA?

A PSA is a Provincial Specialist Associations and it is an excellent way to connect with colleagues in a particular specialty area.

While there is currently no "TTOC" PSA (I would love to see that change in the future!!!) PSAs provide conferences, PRO D opportunities, newsletters and support for teachers. Every October there is a PSA Pro D Day where conferences and workshops are available.

PSA memberships are available to TTOCs and the first one is free! Additionally, ProD funds can help cover any conference fees etc. If you teach in Coquitlam call the CTA for details!

Due to the changing demographics of TTOCs and the number of TTOCs that are career TTOCs, TTOCs by choice, or awaiting conversion/contracts but spend more time as a TTOC than what used to be the norm, I think a TTOC PSA would be amazing! I am interested in learning more about how to get one started, so if you or a TTOC you know is interested, let me know!

Here is a list of the PSAs you can join:

Name	Description
ABCDE	Association of BC Drama Educators
AEA	Aboriginal Education Association (formerly known as First Nations Education Association FNEA)
AEGTCCBC	Association for Educators of Gifted, Talented and Creative Children in BC
AEPSA	Adult Educators’ Provincial Specialist Association
APPIPC	Association Provinciale des Professeurs d’Immersion et du Programme Francophone
BCAEA	BC Alternate Education Association
BCAMT	BC Association of Mathematics Teachers
BCATA	BC Art Teachers’ Association
BCATML	BC Association of Teachers of Modern Languages
BCBEA	BC Business Education Association
BCCASA	BC Culinary Arts Specialist Association
BCCLA	BC Co-operative Learning Association
BCDEA	BC Dance Educators’ Association
BCEDL	BC Educators For Distributed Learning: Hospital/Homebound & Distance Education Teachers
BCMEA	BC Music Educators’ Association
BCPTA	BC Primary Teachers’ Association
BCRSSTA	BC Rural & Small Schools Teachers’ Association
BCSCA	BC School Counsellors’ Association
BCScTA	BC Science Teachers’ Association
BCSSTA	BC Social Studies Teachers’ Association
BCTEA	BC Technology Education Association
BCTELA	BC Teachers of English Language Arts
BCTLA	BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association
CUEBC	Computer-Using Educators of BC
EEPSA	Environmental Educators’ Provincial Specialist Association
ESLPSA	English as a Second Language Provincial Specialist Association
LATA	Learning Assistance Teachers’ Association
PAGE	B.C. Teachers for Peace and Global Education
PEBC	Physical Education Teachers of BC
PITA	Provincial Intermediate Teachers’ Association
SEA	Special Education Association
THESA	Teachers of Home Economics Specialist Association

Preferential Call-Out

Coquitlam is among many districts in BC that uses preferential call-out. While it is an ongoing debate as to if this method of call-out for teachers-on-call is fair or not, I can see both sides of the arguement.

I feel that new TTOCs who had their practicum int he district may have an advantage with preferential call-out (or requests) because their school associate and teacher's in the school they were at may call them in. Additionally, TOCs in the district a while may have an advantage because their name is well known and they get requested often. On the flip side, however, if a TOC is not known they may not work as often, making it unfair that a classroom teacher decides when a TOC works.

Surrey TOC Glynis Cawdell summarized both sides well when she wrote:
  

The debate continues in Surrey and across the province. To request, or not to request? I’ve spoken to many TOCs and contract teachers on this issue and yet I still struggle to know what’s right.

The truth is, there are some good things about preferential call out. When you’re one of the 800 plus TOCs in Surrey, and you can be dispatched to any of our 120 school sites (at 5:30 AM no less) it’s no wonder TOCs love to get requested. Being called back to the a school allows you to make connections and feel like a member of the staff. The students already know your expectations so less time is spent on behaviour issues. For special needs students, who require more consistency, this is especially true. As job requests often come in days or even weeks in advance TOCs know where they’re going ahead of time and can communicate with the classroom teacher beforehand. You feel prepared. You feel confident.

That’s not to say requesting is without its dark side. Should teachers really be acting as the employer and choosing who gets work and who doesn’t? Is it ethical to evaluate a TOC you have never seen teach? If a teacher legitimately felt a TOC did an inadequate job they have an obligation to contact that teacher and give them feedback. Unfortunately what happens more often is that the teacher just chooses not to request that TOC back, even telling colleagues to do the same. Sometimes teacher’s request TOCs just because they chatted in the staff room at lunch and the TOC was outgoing and friendly. Is this fair?

Glynis highlights some of the main arguements on both sides and while the BCTF is working towards seniority call-out across the province, I know that there are Coquitlam teachers-on-call and teachers-on-contract who support preferential call-out and some that do not.

That being said, Coquitlam implemented a new feature in their call-out system last year which has a "consistency clause" as I call it, though the SBO calls it "call-back with a cancel"

This is how it works....

If a teacher is away within 3 days of a previous absence, the call out system (CADS) will call back the TOC that was previously in the classroom (with in those 3 days). This will over ride a request (so if classroom Teacher is away on Thursday and TOC A comes in, but then classroomTeacher is away Monday and requests TOC B, because TOC A was in within 3 days, TOC A gets the call first, before the requested TOC B gets the call.

Further to that, if TOC A already has accepted a call on that Monday, they will get a "call back with a cancel" option which essentially lets them choose their job for that day...if they want to return to that class they were in Thursday and give up current call out, or turn down the return to the Thursday Classroom and keep the already accepted call out.

This feature essentially eliminates preferential call-out to an extent because it is the first stage of call-out before requests.

Now, the other "change" I think would make things more fair, is to give teachers only ONE or TWO requests. Currently there are multiple requests, so if your first TOC request declines or is not available, it tries #2, #3 and so on.

If there were only one or two spots, then classroom teachers would keep their option to request, but teachers who are not requested would have more of a chance of getting a call since it is more likely that two requested TOCs may be unavailable than say five requested TOCs.

I have seen the benefits of requests, as I often get request call-outs and enjoy being back in the same classes and schools, but I also know that from a union stance, it is not fair to have teachers "hiring" other teachers.

I do think there is a happy medium, but it will take time to explore those options and find one that works best for all.

Until then, the debate continues and I continue to hear both sides and remain unsure of what is the best way....

What if teachers adopted "Net Zero"?

*Read this on Kevin Epp's facebook page and loved it so much I had to share...

What if teachers adopted "Net Zero"?

Well, if they did, things would change dramatically in schools.

First, the "collaborative meetings" which Minister Abbott claims are so important wouldn't happen. Teachers are not paid, nor required to attend meetings (except for one staff meeting a month) outside the school day.

Field trips wouldn't happen. Since the planning, organizing, and collecting of money, forms and other things necessary for these trips to happen are not part of our work. While away with students, teachers are away from their families. Parents who chaperone go along by choice, and teachers who organize and run these trips also do so by choice.

Extra help at lunch time, or after school would also cease. Teachers are paid only for class time. Although, for a fee, tutoring would be available as it is in the classified section of the paper. The marking and preparation of lessons, report cards, adaptation of work for children with special needs, and many other things are all done on our time.

Sports, clubs, science fairs, music performances and theatre performances would stop. Most of these things are done outside of the work day and 'outside' of the 'hours of work' for teachers. Tournaments, play days, track meets, assemblies, performances, all require hundreds of hours of work. That work is unpaid. We get our summer off. Yes we do. Most of us need it to make it up to our families who don't see us when we're away on field trips, tournaments, or at performances.

Teachers would start telling students who don't have a pen, pencil, eraser, paper, or calculator that the classroom runs on "Net Zero". The teacher will no longer give them the materials. It seems that some people don't realize that there are no cupboards filled with these things in schools, and teachers spend, on average, $500 dollars of their own money for supplies they give away. Perhaps teachers should start to charge 'user fees' like the government does.

Graduation ceremonies would have to be taken over by others. Who? I don't know. Teachers at secondary schools spend countless hours organizing the grad ceremonies at every high school in the province. That is not paid work nor a requirement.

Reference letters and assistance with university applications would also need to be taken over by others, again, who would do this is unclear. If not, then perhaps, like others, letters and forms would be completed by teachers, however, under the Net Zero Mandate, those would be only completed for a fee.

Net Zero by teachers would mean, go to school just before the morning bell, teach your students, leave for lunch (since those in the private sector can go out for lunch...MLAs get lunch for free....) return to teach for the afternoon, and leave promptly after the last bell.

No lunch time activities like student council meetings, practices, extra help sessions, meetings, phone calls, parent interviews, rehearsals.....and.....

No afterschool practices, extra help sessions, meetings, phone calls, rehearsals, field trip organization, grad planning, open houses, and...............

Nope. Not anymore. Not under the Net Zero (teaching) Mandate.

Our government claims that along with no salary increase for teachers (who are ninth in salary in Canada but live in the most expensive province) they also need to take away other rights from teachers.

They want to roll back health benefits, take away job security, and provide even less for kids that need extra support.

Why haven't teachers adopted the "Net Zero" (teaching) Mandate? Because we are professionals who care about kids. Because we didn't get into this career to just earn dollars. Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for teachers is a lost tradition.
 
[copied this from Kevin Epp, President at Okanagan Skaha Teachers' Union status on Facebook]