Rationale
In the province of Alberta, there is the attrition rate of 40% within the first five years of teaching- compared to 20% in Quebec, 30% in Australia and 46-50% in the United States (Jessica R. Danilewitz, Quality of Life and Sources of Stress in Teachers: A Canadian Perspective, 2017). A lot of this is due to the "burnout" that teachers can feel physically, emotionally, and mentally leading to a decrease in student academic achievement and overall school satisfaction.
Before my practicums, school has come relatively easy to me. I had the various ways that I dealt with time constraints, lots of assignments, and trying to balance life outside of school on top of it all. When I began PSI I noticed my stress levels increase but I made it though working the same way I always did. Then PSII happened- it felt like it went from 0 to 100 very quickly. I got lost trying to balance everything and plan for 3 very different classes in a way that felt natural, exciting, and engaging for my students and those observing me. I even considered quitting because my old coping mechanisms no longer worked. What kept me going was that I loved teaching. I had zero problems in the classroom- once the bell rang and we began, I relaxed and was able to make it through. What I learned from this experience was that my issues were more behind the scenes. An internal need to do things "perfectly" as well as a fear of looking stupid in front of the students gave me a new anxiety that I had not struggled with before. I would spend hours on a forty-five minute lesson just to go and try to spend even more time on my ninety-minute classes. It wore me out and my mental health began to decline. So I needed to spend time figuring out ways to help better my health and find ways to balance the need to do well with taking care of myself. As I began to talk to others about it, I learned that it is not just a battle that I alone am facing. Teaching is a difficult profession, it does not end when the final bell rings and so I wanted to see what can teacher's do to help them when they face stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues due to the job. Mental health can be a taboo subject with negative stigmas attached to it and so it can be "swept under the rug." Practicing, developing, and teaching ways to care for yourself in a healthy way can help students and other teachers to recognize the signs and tactics in dealing with their own stresses and anxieties. If you cannot help yourself, it makes it a lot more difficult to help those around you. |