Written by Kavita Rajagopalan, Programme Director, Global Schools Forum and Deborah Kimathi, Executive Director, Dignitas

Global Schools Forum (GSF), in partnership with Dignitas, recently concluded a learning series on supporting the evolving needs of teachers. Through this series, aimed at identifying key challenges faced by teachers as schools reopen, we focused on the critical linkages between teacher and student well-being and identified strategies that schools can adopt to support both groups.

The pandemic and resulting school closures have exacerbated gaps in teacher well-being. While more than 60% of teachers globally have been provided instructional support and over 50% have received content for remote learning, only 40% of teachers have received any professional and psychosocial support (4% in Sub-Saharan Africa!).

As the pandemic continues, teachers are facing a multitude of challenges: like many workers, their income and job security has been compromised; they are overwhelmed by digital solutions and their inability to access those that matter most; and in many cases, they are struggling to re-connect with students. There are also ongoing health and safety concerns, particularly in countries with low vaccination rates, and the pressure is now on teachers to help students catch up as quickly as possible. All of these factors are adversely affecting teachers and their well-being, which undoubtedly has knock-on effects on students’ well-being and learning. It is essential that schools actively address well-being issues and support teachers as effectively as they can over the next few months.

Over the course of the learning series, we identified the following key strategies that schools can adopt, to meet teacher and student needs.

Make teacher well-being a priority
It is important that school leaders actively make teacher well-being a priority, and create and nurture a school environment in which well-being is at the centre. Schools must invest time into identifying and mitigating key stress factors for teachers. This could include , among other things, addressing workload concerns, providing specialised professional development, offering socio-emotional training programmes, creating opportunities for peer mentoring and coaching and holding spaces for teachers to speak openly. It is only when teacher well-being has been addressed that student well-being can become a priority.

Assess teacher well-being
It is important that schools accurately assess teacher well-being and really understand how their staff are feeling. Surveys, adapted to the school’s context, can be used to allow staff to self-assess their current well-being. Insights from such surveys can be used to enable school leaders to develop individualised or group support programmes for teachers. Schools should periodically check in with teachers and adjust support structures as needed. Of course, this will be most effective where there is a school culture of listening, support and growth. This kind of school culture will lay the foundation for teachers to be open, perhaps vulnerable, receptive to support, and willing to take on board new strategies.

Build supportive peer communities
Schools should use the existing capabilities within their teaching staff to build strong, supportive peer communities. Teachers within the school can create a community of practice, which need not be solely focused on professional development but can also be used to reaffirm teachers’ commitment toward the school’s mission, help teachers to refocus after long closures, and solve emerging challenges in an agile manner. Most importantly, communities of practice can help build a trusting, positive environment through which teachers can affect change with accountability. School Leaders should use these spaces intentionally to develop teacher leadership and autonomy, which in turn can be a powerful tool for whole school improvement. Making peer to peer support a routine practice in the school will ensure teacher development and support is embedded in a school’s culture.

Define strategies for teachers as they re-engage students
Schools also need to support teachers to evaluate socio-emotional well-being of their students and provide strategies to re-engage students. Cognisant of their own well-being, and with adequate support in place, teachers can then more fully comprehend the impact of the pandemic and school closures on students, more effectively communicate with parents and use the well-being data they are collecting to prioritise strategies that will get all learners back on track with learning and well-being goals. Schools can create protocols for daily or weekly check-ins between teachers and students that will help teachers identify students who require extra attention, and provide differentiated support as necessary.

Schools can also create a list of crucial parameters that teachers can track that will help them identify students at risk and who need special care. Teacher peer communities can also develop a set of re-engagement activities and well-being activities for multiple grades within the school.

It is clear that teacher well-being is a critical element of school reopening and recovery across countries. Teachers are known to be the biggest determinant of a child’s ability to thrive at school, and if education systems and school leaders do not provide space, resources and tools that support teacher well-being, we will see a secondary crisis unfold in our schools. In some countries, such as Kenya, there are already spikes in student unrest, and violence within schools. Well-being strategies that support and equip teachers, so that learner well-being can be prioritised, must be given urgent attention.

Co-Published on Global Schools Forum, September 2021