HR and Staff Wellbeing

The Cost of Caring – Supporting the Mental Health of Staff

Vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue are increasing in teachers as many of the children they work with are exposed to traumatic experiences. Dr Asha Patel and Sal McKeown explore how schools can support the mental health of their teachers as a way of benefitting their students.
Child being comforted by a teacher

Teaching is often advertised as being one of the most rewarding careers. A recent Department of Education television advertisement is called ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’, showing a heart-warming picture of a young person developing through their school year and implying the profound impact teachers and schools have on young people’s lives.1 But, at whose cost is this? Or who pays the price? Educational staff at all levels, from teaching assistants and lunchtime supervisors to teachers, senior managers and head teachers, often come face-to-face with the problems society prefers to forget. On a daily basis, staff are dealing with adversity, the impact of poverty, family breakdown and trauma. Exposure to these difficulties can leave people feeling exhausted and demoralised. Schools are gradually recognising that staff need to be in a mentally healthy place in order to have the capacity and capability to support their students.  

According to The Teacher Wellbeing Index, there has been a substantial increase in mental health difficulties and a stress epidemic across the entire UK education workforce.2 The findings reported that 31per cent had experienced a mental health difficultly in the previous year and over 30 per cent of educational professionals were experiencing symptoms that could be signs of anxiety or depression. 50% of these individuals reported that their symptoms were diagnosed by a GP. Consequently 57 per cent had considered leaving the profession during the previous two years because of health pressures.  

These themes are also substantiated by other sources right across all phases of education. The National Day Nurseries Association Workforce Survey reported that  86 per cent of nurseries had lost staff in 2017/2018.3 The survey found that experienced qualified staff were leaving the sector and moving into jobs that were unrelated to child care. Their report claimed that the ‘majority of practitioners (79 per cent) are working overtime to cover for staff shortages’. Education Support Partnership’s helpline dealt with a total of 8,668 cases between April 2017 and March 2018. This was a 35 per cent increase.4 Working longer hours in stressful conditions can increase the risk of staff experiencing emotional wellbeing and mental health difficulties and impact on educational outcomes. 

Contributing factors that affect teachers’ mental health

There are a number of contributing factors that can make educational staff vulnerable to mental health difficulties. Research has highlighted that there is a relationship between these factors and experiencing mental ill-health, but there is no causal effect. 

Chaplain’s research was focused on developing a picture of the sources of stress and job satisfaction among primary school teachers.5 The results identified that three factors were related to occupational stress: professional concerns, pupil behaviour and attitude and professional tasks. The strongest correlation was found between professional concerns and occupational stress. The research also identified that high levels of occupational stress were related to low levels of job satisfaction.

Travers and Cooper presented findings on a nationwide investigation into stress among teachers in the UK.6 The findings revealed that teachers, as compared with other highly stressed occupational groups, experienced lower job satisfaction and poorer mental health. It was identified that the ‘job pressure factors’ of ‘management/structure of the school’ and ‘lack of status and promotion’ were the major predictors of job dissatisfaction. Mental ill-health was predicted by a variety of job pressures and personal factors, but predominantly linked to job pressure from ‘ambiguity of the teacher’s role’. Intention to leave was found to be most closely linked to mental ill-health.

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