Teacher Mental Health
As a long-time attendee of teacher conferences, I can say that the topic of teacher mental health was never a topic for a session of professional development.
This has certainly changed in the past decade, especially after the pandemic!
The number and variety of sessions on teacher mental health and well-being as well as teacher burnout has increased tremendously and, quite frankly, are quite well-attended at conferences.
I, myself, present often these days on this very topic, and as a result, have gathered quite a bit of research on the topic.
- 21% of teachers report poor mental health (American Federation of Teachers)
- 75% of teachers experience stress (Education Support)
- 41% of teachers experience anxiety (American Psychological Association)
- 44% of teachers report feeling burnt out (National Center for Education Statistics)
- 25-74% of teachers experience clinically significant burnout (ResearchGate)
- Teachers are more likely to experience burnout than other professions
- 68% of teachers feel overwhelmed by their job (NEA)
- 48% of teachers are dissatisfied with their job (EdWeek Research Center)
- 55% of teachers plan to leave the profession earlier than expected due to burnout (Education WalkThrough)
- Teacher mental health has been declining in recent years
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among teachers
- Younger teachers are more likely to experience mental health problems
And it is just getting worse by the day.
The mental health of teachers is declining. The Spirit of Teaching is committed and dedicated to helping teachers with the struggles and the challenges that they face every day in the classroom.
Here is how we are helping. (more…)
