Stress among teachers in COVID-19: What is it? How to manage it?

A Japanese proverb goes like this, “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher”. Not a tiny amount of doubt lies in the nobility of the very profession of teaching. But, is all of it a simple cakewalk? The answer is quite the contrary actually.

There is more than one instance when the teachers seem to reach the limit of their patience and are just inches away from losing it all and breaking it down. Teaching is not about coming to a class and saying things and then leaving the class when the bell rings-that is what online teacher training will let you know. It involves classroom management, tackling children or learners with varied learning traits and demands, developing lesson plans, and so on and so forth.

All these contribute to stress build-up leaving the person fatigued, frustrated, and lethargic. The situation has only worsened with the onset of the pandemic. Online classes and the impending pressure is taking their toll on the teachers also making them more stressed than ever.

Handling them in a tactful way while getting rid of this stress is what stress management calls for. We have come up here with various “why”s and “how”s to help you deal with stress more efficiently.

Scroll down to explore more!

Why does stress occur?

This cannot be answered in a word or two. Since the world has seen the rise of COVID 19, the stress factors have also risen significantly. A few of the reasons that have been causing stress piling up among teachers are:

Multitasking and overworking:

When it comes to teaching, and especially, teaching from home in the covid-19 situation, teachers are faced with more works to be done within the same time span. Working beyond the school hours, preparing grades and home works suitable for learners to submit online etc. have eaten up a lot of time of the teachers.

Teacher training institutes were never ready to make teachers familiar with this new kind of teaching. Of course, online learning was always there, but not on a regular basis, isn’t it? Communicating with the parents, following up with students, at the same time taking care of home chores- altogether stressful conditions are on the rise.

Lack of concentration and involvement of the students

Well, to be very truthful, the students of regular classes are all new to this system of learning. Going to classes, seating with friends and interacting with teachers face-to-face- this is what the norm has been. Online classes have snatched those things away from them leaving them less interested in the lessons given or knowledge imparted.

The teachers have to take extra effort to make the lessons interesting and enable the students get motivated. Making the students remain attentive towards the lesson is proving to be quite a challenging task. This again calls for behavior management, immense dedication and patience- failure to match these criteria is giving more stress to the teachers.

Lack of training opportunities and lack of support from administration

Yes, teaching is about delivering knowledge about a particular topic or subject. But one needs to upgrade and polish the teaching skills regularly. Covid-19 has closed those avenues.

In such situation if the school administration does not provide support, fuels are added to the fire of frustration and stress only.

Jeopardized work-life balance

Various research works by scholars have concluded that teachers, irrespective of whether they have completed a teacher training course or not, are experiencing increased level of anxiety accompanied by worry and depression. The main reason for this is the jeopardy in the professional and personal lives of them. Working from home means taking equal care of the home and the work while learning to rope the new technological tools.

Increased work pressure results in little or no free time. result? Negatively impacted physical and mental health.

How can you understand that you are stressed?

You should look out for a few common symptoms. If you are stressed from your teaching job, you are likely to experience any of the following:

• Irritation or exhaustion
• Prolong headache, fatigue or lack of sleep
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Lack of self esteem and avoiding people for socializing
• These may vary from one person to other. But, roughly these are the basic symptoms.

How can you manage stress? Will a teacher training course help?

Just as there is the dark cloud of stress, there are silver linings of effective stress management also. The course that you went through when you took teacher training, did give you some insights into managing the impending stress. Let’s have a look at the myriad ways you can gain an upper hand.

Patience is the key

Yes, it might sound cliché, but there is nothing truer than this. Diligence and sticking to the plan with immense patience- stress management calls for this. Gather up strategies and policies to burst the stress but do keep in mind it won’t go away at the blink of an eyelid. Being patient is the slow but steady magic element here.

Your routine your rules!

Organizational skill is one of the basic skills a teacher should possess and now is the best time you could make use of it the most. Create a routine, both for work and home, and do everything to stick to it. Trust us, strictly no deviation except emergency situations.

Have the schedule written. Take baby steps at first and choose three alternate days of the week when you have immense work pressure. Trust us, once you have all of it programmed out in front of you will feel a lot organized, calm and at peace with your work. Oh and also, don’t forget to take those coffee breaks!

Have a hobby? Tend to it!

How long has it been since you picked up the brush and gave your imaginations shape and color on canvas? Looong, right? Take time to spend for your hobby or grow a hobby so that you can take your mind off of the work and completely not related to teaching.

This will help you reduce stress for you will be absorbed in something that will not make you think about classes, notes, routines, lesson plans etc. It will be no time that you come out of mental tiredness and feel fresh than before.

Exercise and yoga

These can do wonders! Any form of exercising like walking, jogging, swimming, cycling can elevate mood for you release and burn a lot of energy. Invest at least 30-45 minutes of your time daily for this for best result.

Yoga, the ancient method of healing, can help you relax in the most efficient way. Some deep breathing techniques are all that you need to get rid of those work-toxins negative energy. Bid bye-bye to anxiety.

Spend quality time with your family and kids

You do not have to look far for the biggest stress busters; they are at your home only. Yep, we are talking about your kids and family, dear. A hug from them, a few minutes with them over a cup of your favorite drink and listening to what happened at their school or at home- enough to take away your stress.

Ashton Eaton, the famous athlete, once said, “My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused”. This is the mantra for a teacher dealing with stress too. Staying focused and not losing calm can help you overcome whatever is bothering you and make you reach the target you settled for.

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