著名音樂人Prince的歌曲《覆盆子貝雷帽》(Raspberry Beret)甫一響起,大約20名新罕布什爾州的教育工作者齊刷刷地拿起木棍,跟著節拍敲打桌子。
作為這場為期兩天的職業倦怠研討會的主持人,埃米莉·丹尼爾斯鼓勵包括教師、學校輔導員、職業治療師和社會工作者在內的小組成員在酒店的會議室里站起來。沒過多久,這群人就開始敲打墻壁和他們可以找到的任何東西。會場上不時傳來陣陣笑聲。一些人開始跳起舞來。
“創造節奏能夠為身體提供一種不同的可預測性,而且這件事情你每天都可以做。”丹尼爾斯說。這位昔日的學校輔導員創造了一個名為“規范課堂”(Regulated Classroom)的訓練項目,悉心培訓教師如何管理自身的神經系統,從而減輕他們在課堂上的壓力。
這套課程反映了一個日益加強的趨勢:全美各地都在采取措施來解決教育工作者的心理健康問題——有些人認為早就應該這樣做了。
應對新冠疫情后學生的心理健康問題,已經成為全美各地學校的當務之急。許多招不到老師的學區認為,在行為問題、對槍擊事件的恐懼等壓力因素困擾校園之際,照顧好教育工作者不僅有助于他們更好地幫助學生,還能夠讓學區留住更多的教師。
各個學區已經為員工團隊提供了更多的心理健康培訓、課堂支持,以及一些旨在識別倦怠教師,安排指導顧問提供幫助的資源和系統。
五年級教師卡倫·鮑登-格利說,她參加新罕布什爾的培訓是因為遇到職業倦怠,但她也感覺到了學生的倦怠情緒。
“整個教師群體面臨著非常高的要求,我們試圖彌補學生們在過去兩年耽誤的功課。但我們忘記了他們已經有兩三年沒有踏入學校了,在社交和情感這一塊是缺失的。我們正在課堂上處理這個問題。”
蘭德公司(Rand Corporation)的一項調查顯示,報告經常背負工作壓力的校長和教師的占比是其他職業群體的兩倍。新奧爾良心理健康組織聯盟的一項研究發現,許多在新冠疫情期間工作的教育工作者出現了情緒困擾問題,困擾率與醫護人員相似——36%的人焦慮不安,35%的人抑郁寡歡,還有19%的人患上了創傷后壓力綜合癥。
“這一切糟透了。”特拉華大學教育學院(University of Delaware School of Education)教師情緒、特征和健康實驗室(Teacher Emotions, Characteristics, and Health Lab)的首席研究員利·麥克萊恩說。他發現,小學教師的抑郁、焦慮和情緒疲憊水平比新冠疫情前高出100%至400%。
她發現,這些問題在新入職教師和有色人種教師中表現得尤為明顯。
“由此看來,教師的情況似乎反映了我們在普羅大眾中看到的不平等現象:代表性不足的群體受到的影響反而最大,這真的很不幸。”她說。
一些學區已經或打算將聯邦新冠紓困資金投資于教師的心理健康,認為這樣做也有助于改善課堂環境、提高留職率,并最終使學生受益。一些州已經將教師的心理健康列為優先事項,其中包括內布拉斯加州和賓夕法尼亞州。
亞特蘭大學區利用聯邦紓困資金與埃默里大學(Emory University)合作推出了一項心理健康服務。這項名為“緊急行為健康反應”(Urgent Behavioral Health Response)的服務資助11名來自埃默里大學的臨床醫生在上課時間為陷入困境的學校員工提供情感和行為援助。
與此同時,特拉華州的一個學區聘請了兩名社交和情感學習教練。他們的工作是幫助教師解決他們在課堂上遇到的問題。
“不難想象,如果學生上課時積極參與,互幫互助,課堂上洋溢著一種積極的支持文化,那么教師的工作滿意度可能就會更高一些。”科洛尼爾學區(Colonial School District)的身心健康事務主管喬恩·庫珀說,“如此一來,他們就不太可能離職,這反過來也會增強他們的幸福感。”
休斯頓開始建造專門幫助學生舒緩情緒的減壓室,并且希望為教師開設同樣的空間。獨立學區負責危機干預的高級經理肖恩·里克斯說,他發現“出現情緒問題的教師顯著增加。”
里克斯指出,不同于傳統的教師休息室,這些房間是一個讓教師在休息時間“冷靜和放松”的地方。教師們可以接受“一些芳香療法,聆聽一些輕柔的音樂或許也有好處。”
“我們希望他們能夠理解,在校工作期間有時也需要利用休息時間做一些正念修習,進行自我護理。”里克斯說。
在印第安納州,一所小學以“正念星期一”(Mindful Mondays)開啟一周的學習生活,要求教師在課堂上指導學生深呼吸技巧。在“沉思星期四”(Thoughtful Thursdays),學校號召學生給教職員工寫一封感謝信。此外,在“聚焦星期五”(Friday Focus)活動上,學生和教師就如何進行自我護理展開討論。
“我們學校的老師知道他們一天當中什么時候需要休息,我希望他們利用好這段休息時間。”奧班農小學(O 'Bannon Elementary School)的校長阿莉森·艾倫-倫佐說。
越來越多的團體開始提供呼吸練習、瑜伽、輕柔動作和冥想等訓練。
其中一個項目是在教育中培養感悟和復原力(Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education,簡稱CARE)。研究人員對紐約市的224名接受這項培訓的教師進行了一項研究。他們發現,這些教師在情緒心理方面的困擾顯著降低,因為時間不夠而產生的壓力,以及課堂互動質量也明顯改善。研究人員還發現,這些改善最終讓學生受益——他們更愿意參與課堂活動了。
弗吉尼亞大學(University of Virginia)的教育學教授蒂什·詹寧斯指出,“你的壓力可能會在不經意間上升,因為你的注意力過多地集中在周遭發生的種種事情上。”他是CARE開發團隊的負責人,也是研究該項目的首席研究員。“而這些練習的作用就是建立一種能力,讓你在任何特定時刻都可以更清楚地意識到自己的感受,這樣你就能夠變得更加積極主動。”
讓我們再次走進新罕布什爾的研討會。教育工作者把桌子推到一邊,進行一系列被稱為“氣功”的伸展動作。然后,他們圍成一圈,做一項旨在使神經系統同步的運動。他們開始齊聲拍手、打響指,這就是所謂的“集體律動”。
參加“規范課堂”培訓的教育工作者認為,這些新工具——盡管乍一看有點不正統——讓他們精神振奮。鮑登-格利表示,她學會了如何“訓練自己的大腦以不同的方式思考,”她還打算在課堂上使用這些工具來建立更好的社群意識,增強對學生的信心。
幼兒園教師凱利·赫德表示,這項培訓讓她對新學年可能發生的事情有了更好的感知。
“我愛教書,也愛孩子們,但這份工作真的很難做。”早在新冠疫情爆發前,她就經歷了職業倦怠,所以參加了新罕布什爾的培訓。“這場疫情如此嚴峻,影響如此之大,讓人不堪重負。我現在有了一種重獲新生的感覺,非常興奮。我真的覺得自己完全可以享受到校園生活的樂趣。”(財富中文網)
譯者:任文科
著名音樂人Prince的歌曲《覆盆子貝雷帽》(Raspberry Beret)甫一響起,大約20名新罕布什爾州的教育工作者齊刷刷地拿起木棍,跟著節拍敲打桌子。
作為這場為期兩天的職業倦怠研討會的主持人,埃米莉·丹尼爾斯鼓勵包括教師、學校輔導員、職業治療師和社會工作者在內的小組成員在酒店的會議室里站起來。沒過多久,這群人就開始敲打墻壁和他們可以找到的任何東西。會場上不時傳來陣陣笑聲。一些人開始跳起舞來。
“創造節奏能夠為身體提供一種不同的可預測性,而且這件事情你每天都可以做。”丹尼爾斯說。這位昔日的學校輔導員創造了一個名為“規范課堂”(Regulated Classroom)的訓練項目,悉心培訓教師如何管理自身的神經系統,從而減輕他們在課堂上的壓力。
這套課程反映了一個日益加強的趨勢:全美各地都在采取措施來解決教育工作者的心理健康問題——有些人認為早就應該這樣做了。
應對新冠疫情后學生的心理健康問題,已經成為全美各地學校的當務之急。許多招不到老師的學區認為,在行為問題、對槍擊事件的恐懼等壓力因素困擾校園之際,照顧好教育工作者不僅有助于他們更好地幫助學生,還能夠讓學區留住更多的教師。
各個學區已經為員工團隊提供了更多的心理健康培訓、課堂支持,以及一些旨在識別倦怠教師,安排指導顧問提供幫助的資源和系統。
五年級教師卡倫·鮑登-格利說,她參加新罕布什爾的培訓是因為遇到職業倦怠,但她也感覺到了學生的倦怠情緒。
“整個教師群體面臨著非常高的要求,我們試圖彌補學生們在過去兩年耽誤的功課。但我們忘記了他們已經有兩三年沒有踏入學校了,在社交和情感這一塊是缺失的。我們正在課堂上處理這個問題。”
蘭德公司(Rand Corporation)的一項調查顯示,報告經常背負工作壓力的校長和教師的占比是其他職業群體的兩倍。新奧爾良心理健康組織聯盟的一項研究發現,許多在新冠疫情期間工作的教育工作者出現了情緒困擾問題,困擾率與醫護人員相似——36%的人焦慮不安,35%的人抑郁寡歡,還有19%的人患上了創傷后壓力綜合癥。
“這一切糟透了。”特拉華大學教育學院(University of Delaware School of Education)教師情緒、特征和健康實驗室(Teacher Emotions, Characteristics, and Health Lab)的首席研究員利·麥克萊恩說。他發現,小學教師的抑郁、焦慮和情緒疲憊水平比新冠疫情前高出100%至400%。
她發現,這些問題在新入職教師和有色人種教師中表現得尤為明顯。
“由此看來,教師的情況似乎反映了我們在普羅大眾中看到的不平等現象:代表性不足的群體受到的影響反而最大,這真的很不幸。”她說。
一些學區已經或打算將聯邦新冠紓困資金投資于教師的心理健康,認為這樣做也有助于改善課堂環境、提高留職率,并最終使學生受益。一些州已經將教師的心理健康列為優先事項,其中包括內布拉斯加州和賓夕法尼亞州。
亞特蘭大學區利用聯邦紓困資金與埃默里大學(Emory University)合作推出了一項心理健康服務。這項名為“緊急行為健康反應”(Urgent Behavioral Health Response)的服務資助11名來自埃默里大學的臨床醫生在上課時間為陷入困境的學校員工提供情感和行為援助。
與此同時,特拉華州的一個學區聘請了兩名社交和情感學習教練。他們的工作是幫助教師解決他們在課堂上遇到的問題。
“不難想象,如果學生上課時積極參與,互幫互助,課堂上洋溢著一種積極的支持文化,那么教師的工作滿意度可能就會更高一些。”科洛尼爾學區(Colonial School District)的身心健康事務主管喬恩·庫珀說,“如此一來,他們就不太可能離職,這反過來也會增強他們的幸福感。”
休斯頓開始建造專門幫助學生舒緩情緒的減壓室,并且希望為教師開設同樣的空間。獨立學區負責危機干預的高級經理肖恩·里克斯說,他發現“出現情緒問題的教師顯著增加。”
里克斯指出,不同于傳統的教師休息室,這些房間是一個讓教師在休息時間“冷靜和放松”的地方。教師們可以接受“一些芳香療法,聆聽一些輕柔的音樂或許也有好處。”
“我們希望他們能夠理解,在校工作期間有時也需要利用休息時間做一些正念修習,進行自我護理。”里克斯說。
在印第安納州,一所小學以“正念星期一”(Mindful Mondays)開啟一周的學習生活,要求教師在課堂上指導學生深呼吸技巧。在“沉思星期四”(Thoughtful Thursdays),學校號召學生給教職員工寫一封感謝信。此外,在“聚焦星期五”(Friday Focus)活動上,學生和教師就如何進行自我護理展開討論。
“我們學校的老師知道他們一天當中什么時候需要休息,我希望他們利用好這段休息時間。”奧班農小學(O 'Bannon Elementary School)的校長阿莉森·艾倫-倫佐說。
越來越多的團體開始提供呼吸練習、瑜伽、輕柔動作和冥想等訓練。
其中一個項目是在教育中培養感悟和復原力(Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education,簡稱CARE)。研究人員對紐約市的224名接受這項培訓的教師進行了一項研究。他們發現,這些教師在情緒心理方面的困擾顯著降低,因為時間不夠而產生的壓力,以及課堂互動質量也明顯改善。研究人員還發現,這些改善最終讓學生受益——他們更愿意參與課堂活動了。
弗吉尼亞大學(University of Virginia)的教育學教授蒂什·詹寧斯指出,“你的壓力可能會在不經意間上升,因為你的注意力過多地集中在周遭發生的種種事情上。”他是CARE開發團隊的負責人,也是研究該項目的首席研究員。“而這些練習的作用就是建立一種能力,讓你在任何特定時刻都可以更清楚地意識到自己的感受,這樣你就能夠變得更加積極主動。”
讓我們再次走進新罕布什爾的研討會。教育工作者把桌子推到一邊,進行一系列被稱為“氣功”的伸展動作。然后,他們圍成一圈,做一項旨在使神經系統同步的運動。他們開始齊聲拍手、打響指,這就是所謂的“集體律動”。
參加“規范課堂”培訓的教育工作者認為,這些新工具——盡管乍一看有點不正統——讓他們精神振奮。鮑登-格利表示,她學會了如何“訓練自己的大腦以不同的方式思考,”她還打算在課堂上使用這些工具來建立更好的社群意識,增強對學生的信心。
幼兒園教師凱利·赫德表示,這項培訓讓她對新學年可能發生的事情有了更好的感知。
“我愛教書,也愛孩子們,但這份工作真的很難做。”早在新冠疫情爆發前,她就經歷了職業倦怠,所以參加了新罕布什爾的培訓。“這場疫情如此嚴峻,影響如此之大,讓人不堪重負。我現在有了一種重獲新生的感覺,非常興奮。我真的覺得自己完全可以享受到校園生活的樂趣。”(財富中文網)
譯者:任文科
With Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” blaring in the background, about 20 New Hampshire educators grabbed wooden sticks and began pounding their tables to the beat.
Emily Daniels, who was leading a two-day workshop on burnout, encouraged the group including teachers, school counselors, occupational therapists and social workers to stand up inside a hotel conference room. Before long, the group was banging on walls and whatever else they could find. Laughter filled the air. A few started dancing.
“Rhythm making offers the body a different kind of predictability that you can do every single day,” said Daniels, a former school counselor who created The Regulated Classroom which trains teachers on how to manage their own nervous system and, in turn, reduce stress in the classroom.
The training session is part of a growing and, some would say, long overdue effort to address the strains on educators’ mental health.
Addressing the mental health challenges of students coming out of the pandemic has emerged as a priority for schools nationwide. Many districts, facing hiring challenges, see tending to the educators as a way to help them help students and to retain them, amid stressors that range from behavioral problems to fears of shootings.
School districts have provided increased mental health training for staff, classroom support as well as resources and systems aimed at identifying burned out teachers and getting instructors connected to help.
Karen Bowden-Gurley, a fifth grade teacher, said she attended the New Hampshire training because of teacher burnout, but she also feels student burnout.
“The demands on all of us were really high and we were trying to make up for lost time for the couple of years that they fell back on their curriculum. But we forgot that they haven’t been in school for a couple of years so they missed that social-emotional piece. We are dealing with that in the classroom.”
In a survey by the Rand Corporation, twice as many principals and teachers reported frequent job-related stress as other working adults. A study from a coalition of mental health organizations of New Orleans found educators working during the pandemic reported rates of emotional distress similar to health care workers — 36% screened positive for anxiety, 35% for depression and 19% for post-traumatic stress syndrome.
“It’s all pretty bad,” said Leigh McLean, the primary investigator at the Teacher Emotions, Characteristics, and Health Lab at the University of Delaware School of Education, who has found levels of depression, anxiety and emotional exhaustion among elementary school teachers that are 100% to 400% higher than before the pandemic.
She saw those issues increasing the most among early career teachers and teachers of color.
“So it seems like the patterns among teachers are mirroring inequities that we’re seeing in the general population with underrepresented groups being hit the hardest, which is really unfortunate,” she said.
Some districts have or are planning to invest federal COVID-19 relief money in teacher mental health, seeing it as a way to also improve the classroom environment, boost retention and ultimately benefit the students themselves. Among the states singling out teacher mental health as priorities are Nebraska and Pennsylvania.
The Atlanta school district launched a service with Emory University using federal funds to provide mental health services. Dubbed Urgent Behavioral Health Response, it funds 11 clinicians from Emory who provide emotional and behavioral assistance during school hours for struggling school employees.
A Delaware district, meanwhile, hired two social and emotional learning coaches who work to address problems teachers are having in the classroom.
“If you can imagine a teacher has a classroom where students are engaged, they are helping each other and there is a positive supportive culture, their job satisfaction is likely to be higher,” Jon Cooper, the director of the Colonial School District’s health and wellness division. “They are less likely to leave the profession, and in turn, that supports their well being.”
Houston, which started building calming rooms where students can go to decompress, is hoping to do the same for teachers, according to Sean Ricks, the Houston Independent School District’s senior manager of crisis intervention, noting that he has seen a “significant rise in teachers that were in distress.”
The rooms would be different from the traditional teacher break rooms and a place where teachers could go during time off to “calm down and chill out,” Ricks said, adding they could have “could have some aromatherapy, maybe some soft music.”
“We want them to be able to understand that we have to take mindfulness breaks and self-care breaks during the academic day sometimes,” Ricks said.
An elementary school in Indiana starts the week with Mindful Mondays, where teachers guide their classes in deep breathing techniques. There are also Thoughtful Thursdays, where a student is called on to write a letter to a staff member to show appreciation, and Friday Focus, when students and teachers talk about self-care.
“My teachers know when they need to take breaks throughout the day I want them to take those breaks,” said Allison Allen-Lenzo, the principal at O’Bannon Elementary School.
A growing number of groups offer training that incorporates breathing exercises, yoga, gentle movements and meditation.
One of these is Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education or CARE. In studies of its use among 224 New York City teachers, researchers found statistically significant improvements including reductions in emotional psychological distress, stress that comes from not having enough time as well as improvements in quality classroom interactions. Researchers also found that it extended to the students who showed increased engagement.
“Your stress level can rise without you even realizing it because your attention is so outwardly directed at everything else that’s going on around you,” said Tish Jennings, a University of Virginia education professor who led the team that developed CARE and was the lead researcher studying the program. “So what these practices do is build the capacity to be more aware of how you’re feeling at any given moment, so that you can be proactive.”
Back in New Hampshire, the educators pushed aside the tables and were mastering a series of stretching movements known as qigong. Then, they gathered in a circle for an exercise that aims to synchronizing their nervous system. Known as collective rhythm making, they began clapping their hands and snapping their fingers in unison.
The educators at The Regulated Classroom training believe these new tools — though on first glance a little unorthodox — invigorated them. Bowden-Gurley felt they allowed her to “train her brain to think differently” and planned to use them in the classroom to build a better sense of community and more confidence with her students.
Kelly Hurd, a kindergarten teacher, said the training gave her a sense of what is possible going into the new school year.
“I love teaching and I love the kids but it’s also hard,” Hurd, who experienced burnout before the pandemic and was part of the New Hampshire training, said. “The pandemic was so hard and so impactful and so stressful. I feel a sense of renewal and excitement and I do feel like I’ve been given permission to have more fun and focus on joy in school.”