Welcome to Teachers At Risk
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17
Students’ second-hand stress is contagious and can transfer to teachers
Filed Under SOS for Teachers, The way I see it | 1 Comment
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Stress is contagious. We have come to understand the effects of second-hand smoke, and now we are beginning to understand the effects of second-hand stress.
When students come to school anxious, frazzled, or tense, stressed if you will, teachers pick up subconscious signals from students’ facial expressions, gestures, or even students’ nervous sweat. These subconscious signals can elevate teachers’ levels of stress.
The subconscious signals teachers’ pick up affect the autonomic nervous system, the very primitive part of the brain. The autonomic nervous system
houses mirror neurons, which are brain cells with the unique ability to map the actions of others onto our pathway of motor nerves. Mirror neurons fire automatically when an action is carried out, but also when the same action is observed (emphasis added). If you watch someone furrow their brow, the neurons required to furrow our own brow activate, although your facial expression does not change” (emphasis added).
Teachers simply observing students’ negative responses to stress, negative moods or negative mental states can result in a subconscious transfer of the stress, the negative moods or the negative mental states from students to teachers. In short, students’ second-hand stress caused by negative moods and negative mental states can transfer to teachers to negatively affect teachers.
This theory of second-hand stress helps me make sense of my own recent experience in the classroom and why I ended up on medical leave for significant stress. I didn’t realize that just observing students who were experiencing stress, negative moods, or negative mental states could make me experience their stress, negative moods or negative mental states as if it were my own. But, it makes sense when I think about how I felt with . I felt more and more stressed when my students came to class stressed, in negative moods and in negative mental states and not prepared to take responsibility for their own learning or be respectful of one another or me. I just kept wondering why I felt so stressed when I loved teaching and loved working with teenagers. It was all very confusing.
Most of my students are academically at risk for one reason or another. Some of my students hate school for any number of reasons, usually boredom, but they still have to attend school until they are 18, so they come to school with a negative attitude. Other students have very stressful relationships with parents and other adults in their lives and come to school in a negative mental state. When I see the negative expressions and negative body language of students in class, in the hallways, and in the cafeteria, my mirror neurons fire automatically to create and transfer the students stress, their negative moods and their negative mental states to me so I mirror their emotional and mental state.
So knowing about the dangers of second-hand stress, what are we going to do about it so teachers don’t end up burning-out?
Resource
Galea, M. (December 2011). Second-hand stress. Alive, Canada’s Natural Health and Wellness Magazine, 39-41.
Oct
2
Ontario College of Teachers and school boards need to do more to protect students from teachers’ criminal behaviour
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, maintaining a safe, SOS for Teachers, The way I see it | 6 Comments
The Ontario College of Teachers and school boards are supposed to protect students from teachers who engage in criminal behaviour that does not respect teacher/student boundaries. Is OCT doing enough? Are school boards doing enough? I don’t think so and here’s why. Kevin Donovan, a Toronto Star staff reporter, reveals that a Toronto high school teacher who
- sent a message to a female student telling her how he dreamt of preforming oral sex on her;
- invited four female students to his room and they cuddled on his bed while on a field trip to England :
- invited a female student to come over to “spoon”or cuddle while his wife was away.
received a 30 day unpaid suspension from the Toronto District School Board and a transfer to Toronto’s Adult Education Centre while the Ontario College of Teachers completed its investigation. The OCT suspended the teacher for 12 months and then advised him if he took a “boundary violation” course he could go back into the classroom. Presumably, the teacher did take the “boundary violation course” because the OCT now says he is a member in “good standing” and can teach again. The Star could not determine if and where the teacher is teaching now.
I must confess, I don’t have much forgiveness in my heart when it comes to teachers who take advantage of their students in this way. Especially, when a teacher does it repeatedly. I want to ask questions like
- Where is the teacher’s common sense?
- Why was the teacher hired in the first place?
- Where is the mutual respect teachers and students ought to have for one another?
- How can we be sure the violations don’t happen?
Donovan also tells us that the criminal back ground check that all teachers have to have isn’t worth much. In fact, these criminal background checks can give a false sense of security. He notes that all but one of the teachers who sexually assaulted, abused or exploited young students over the last ten years had clean records before they were convicted. Sometimes teachers will give false information in order to hide a criminal record. Some of these teachers go on to conduct themselves inappropriately and not respect teacher/student boundaries. Even Michael Salvatori , OCT’s registrar, maintains that relying on a criminal background check of teachers isn’t enough to ensure that individuals are of good character.
What more can we do to make sure individuals are suitable to be teachers? In a report dated 2000, retired Judge Sydney L. Robins suggested that each school board needs to do a complete background check on individuals. This background check needs to include a detailed interview with a teacher before hiring. What do you think the system should do to protect students from the criminal actions of teachers?
You can read more on this topic here and here at the Toronto Star. I’d like to thank Kevin Donovan and the Toronto Star for making us aware of the deplorable situation. Things need to change.
Update:
Canadians for Accountability Blog has taken the OCT to task for it’s lack of transparency. I encourage you to read the article. I wasn’t aware of the issues involved. The grassroots needs to get involved here. I’m going to ask how I can help bring about the requisite transparency.
Photo of stop sign thanks to doublegrande
Sep
21
Teachers are victims of cyberbullying
Filed Under Bullying, Computers In The Classroom, Dealing With Stress, maintaining a safe, SOS for Teachers, The way I see it | 1 Comment
Teacher cyberbullying is a hot topic. I recently had the pleasure (?) of being able to talk about teacher cyberbully on Metro morning, Radio 1, our local Toronto CBC radio station. I talked about why and how kids and parents bully teachers using the Internet and how teachers can protect themselves from cyberbullying.
Just today I got an email from Kevin Phang who is a media associate at on-line schools. He thought I might be interested in sharing the info graphic about cyberbullying with my readers. The info graphic was created using data gathered by Professor Andy Phippen of the University of Plymouth. I’ve shared it below. Thanks Kevin.
What do you think administrators need to do to protect teachers from cyberbullying?
Courtesy of: OnlineSchools.com
Jul
16
Are you frustrated and stressed in your teaching practice because you have to spend more and more time doing things you don’t value?
Filed Under Goals, SOS for Teachers, Teacher Support, The way I see it, The Way I See It | 4 Comments
“So much of our frustrations and stress arise from incongruity- incongruity between what we think, feel or say is important and how we actually spend our time” (Cirocco, p. 52)
Isn’t that the truth. I don’t know about you, but in my teaching practice I seem to be spending more and more time doing what I think isn’t important and less and less time doing what I think is important. That’s so frustrating. I don’t want my teaching practice to be distracted by the frustrations of having to do things that I don’t value, so I plan to find a way to match my values to more of my actions in my teaching practice.
I have to be realistic. There’ll be forms I have to complete, meetings I’ll have to attend, and PD sessions that aren’t optional. Oh yes, there’ll be hall supervisions I can’t escape . But, I think I can find a way to spend most of my time doing what I actually think, feel and say is important.
The first thing I have to do is clarify what I value as a teacher and decide how these values can inform my teaching practice so that I’m not stressed and frustrated. Now, I remember doing value clarification exercises years ago when I was a newbie teacher or more likely during teacher training, but I haven’t really sat down and made a list of what I value as a teacher in a long, long time. I think I know, but maybe there’ll be surprises. Maybe I can’t walk my talk in the classroom anymore because of all the changes and the directives from the-powers-that- be . What do I do then? Any ideas?
Cirocco’s book Take the Step: The Bridge Will Be There offers guidance on how you can eliminate or more realistically reduce the incongruity between what you say you believe and what you do. I find it ironic just as I was thinking about refining my teaching practice to avoid frustration and stress as much as possible, I find a book just lying on a table at my local bookstore that I can use to help me do this. I’m just reading the part near the beginning of the book about choosing core values and using them to create a compass to guide your actions.
Usually, there’s more than one way to do anything. Have you found a way to avoid frustration and stress at work that allows you to remain true to your values? I’d love to know if you have or are in the process of finding a way that lets you walk your talk at work.
Resource:
Cirocco, Grace. (2001) Take the Step: The Bridge Will Be There. Toronto. On: HarperCollins Publishers LTD.
Photo by oddstock
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