d districts should prioritize social and emotional supports for educators to help them process the stresses of remote learning and adjustments to the “new normal.” This well-documented brief evinces the toll pandemic-related stressors continue to take on educators in 2021-22, and provides detailed recommendations to transform how educators are supported in their profession, not just during the recovery but also in the long term.
It's A New Era for Mental Health at Work: Discusses convergence of factors contemporaneous to the COVID-19 pandemic that are impacting and challenging mental health across our whole population, citing data on increased employee attrition, high incidence of mental health issues, widespread disclosure, and implications for diversity, equity and inclusion. The Harvard Business Review examines roles and responsibilities for employers, and offers recommendations for what employers should provide. “The future of workplace mental health demands culture change — with more vulnerability, compassion, and sustainable ways of working. We’ve already started down the path of culture change thanks to Covid-19. Let’s use this moment to be intentional and, instead of rushing back to the status quo of 2019, imagine what could be.”
Restart & Recovery: Leveraging Federal COVID Relief Funding & Medicaid to Support Student & Staff Wellbeing & Connection: Highlights how state and local education agencies can use federal COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to support student and staff mental health and wellbeing. This guide, developed by the Council for Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], Healthy Schools Campaign [HSC] and National Center for School Mental Health [NCSMH], explains how to leverage these one-time-only funds to access additional funding streams, such as Medicaid, to ensure efforts are sustained. It offers a roadmap for strategic and sustainable investment that can help advance student and staff wellbeing and connection for years to come.
How to Grow Teacher Wellbeing in Your Schools: Describes ways to achieve well-being through social emotional learning-focused activities that promote positive and supportive relationships with colleagues and students. This infographic was developed by REL Pacific and National Center for Education Research for ED’s institute of Education Sciences [IES].
New Provider Self-Care and Online Engagement Products!: Provides a series of one-page exercises detailing self-care techniques, as well as guidance on conducting and facilitating engaging online meetings. These products, offered by SAMHSA’s Addiction Technology Transfer Center [ATTC] Network – though geared towards healthcare providers – are more widely applicable.
8 Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout: Offers suggestions from an instructional designer to help teachers cope with the high demands of instruction in the COVID-19 era including on-line and polysynchronous class formats, increased teaching loads, and work-from-home problems. The author asserts that the wide range of newly popular teaching formats — HyFlex, blended, and others — are here to stay. The strategies are offered through the Chronicle of Higher Education to help college faculty regain appropriate work/life balance in the context of whatever mix of online formats they plan to use this semester.
Tips for Supporting Employee Mental Health Toolkit: Offers a new toolkit from Mental Health First Aid [MHFA] at Work to support employees’ mental health during the transition back to in-person work more than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Principals Are Stressed and Anxious, Especially Now. Here's 10 Things They Can Do: Reports on a discussion among an expert panel for Education Week about strategies that K-12 school principals can use to manage their own anxiety amid the pandemic, to be able to provide sufficient emotional support for their teachers and students.
Educator Self-Assessment for Supporting Student Well-Being: Furnishes an educator self-assessment for supporting student well-being, and an array o