Why Is Teaching So Stressful?

This week, I read the article “10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today” which focuses on multiple challenging aspects of education. The section “The Pressure Is On” is about how the amount of stress that school puts on both students and teachers is steadily increasing. 

One idea that I found interesting was that teachers are actually just as stressed as students. According to a study done at the University of Missouri, 93% of elementary teachers reported having high levels of stress (Alvarez), and I don’t think that’s something that’s widely discussed. Personally, when I look back at my elementary school years, I realize that my teachers managed to hide their stress and responsibilities from us so well that we didn’t notice. To this day, it's even often hard to tell when my high school teachers are stressed. It made me wonder what exactly is making teacher’s stress levels so high, so I looked up some more information about this idea.

        On the website The Graide Network, I found more information about why teachers are more stressed based on their responses to various surveys. One piece of information I found was that during a survey done by the American Foundation of Teachers, a majority of teachers said that they don’t have enough influence on academic standards, curriculum, school funding, and disciplinary policies ("The Rise of Teacher Stress"). That lack of say plays a huge factor in their rising stress levels. With everything that our teachers need to deal with and worry about, we already see that over one-third of teachers quit after just five years ("The Rise of Teacher Stress"). We as a society need to find a way to change that statistic and keep our teachers wanting to be in the classroom.

Percentages of Teachers Who Quit After 1 to 5 Years of Teaching

(Campbell)

        Communities should make support groups for teachers, and we should find ways to make our school leadership more stable and accepting of teacher's proposals. Our teachers deserve to have a voice at our schools.

Students Effect On Teachers

Mark Greenberg, who conducts research on teachers and their stress levels, said that there are three main sources of pressure: student's behavioral problems, standardized tests, and unstable school leadership ("The Rise of Teacher Stress"). The effects that we students have on our teachers are often seen as a cause of their stress. Hostility towards the teacher, lack of effort in class, and damage to school property all put a strain on them, among many other factors ("The Rise of Teacher Stress"). Our society needs to realize that children are also at fault for this issue. The responsibilities that teachers hold when with their students put a huge weight on their backs, and when students cause trouble it could double that weight.

("Top 3 Causes...")

We need to find a solution to our teacher’s stress levels because at the rate they keep rising soon most of them will quit. If you have a child, be sure to educate them on the proper way to behave, and maybe open their eyes to how appreciative they should be of their teachers.

And if you are a student yourself, even if not in elementary school, take a moment to think about your actions and be sure to not put extra weight and stress on your teachers. It may be a temporary fix, and it won't come near to solving the problem, but at least they may have a little less to worry about.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Brenda, et al. "10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today." National Education Association, 3 Aug. 2018, www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/10-challenges-facing-public-education-today. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.

Campbell, Jeff. "Teacher Burnout Statistics 2020 – Definition, Causes and Solutions." New Middle Class Dad, newmiddleclassdad.com/teacher-burnout-statistics/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2020.

"The Rise of Teacher Stress." The Graide Network, 13 Apr. 2020, www.thegraidenetwork.com/blog-all/2018/8/1/crayons-and-cortisol-the-epidemic-of-teacher-stress. Accessed 8 Dec. 2020.

"Top 3 Causes of Teacher Stress and How It Affects Students." Learning Liftoff, K12, 23 May 2018, www.learningliftoff.com/how-teacher-stress-affects-students/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2020.