Today’s post is a call to action of sorts. In recent posts I’ve been exploring the idea of stress and teacher burnout and what it means for our collective future. This represents one slice of that “burnt pie,” but an important piece nonetheless. As always, I’ll appreciate your thoughts at the end. Let’s begin…
If you’ve been teaching long enough, you’ve encountered a student whose work just keeps piling up. You can remind, call home, incentivize, or whatever other strategy you use, and still the work accumulates.
At a certain point, their to-do list can become so long that even you are daunted by it. So, probably, you modify it a bit. And eventually, if they are particularly steadfast, you may just settle for them doing anything at all…
Whether they are playing us like a violin or there’s something else going on is taken case by case, and it’s not my concern for this post…
The feeling I want to capture is that moment when even you as their teacher look at their workload and say “it’s too much. It’s just not realistic.”
Maybe even somewhere in there is the sentimentality that “there’s no value in them even trying to tackle the entire mountain of work.” You know they couldn’t possibly do it with fidelity. Instead you’d prefer that they focus their energies on doing a few things really well.
This is my hope for how we approach schooling as well. We need to thin and cull. Whether it’s the curriculum, the workload on students and teachers, the demands on the front office, or anywhere else under the massive umbrella of education, we need to start taking away instead of adding.
To capture this sentiment, I have created a new mantra.
“Less is more or stress is more.”
I believe we would all do well to implement it and live by it. Then we can realistically expect to make education what it was actually intended to be…
You Can’t Do it All!
Like the student with a mound of work and little time to complete it, you just can’t reasonably expect a classroom to cover everything that is in today’s curriculum as currently constituted.
It happened slowly over time. Little by little, more and more has been added on to the responsibilities of the schools to give a complete, well-rounded education.
And to be clear, I understand why. If the data shows that a disproportionate amount of students are being bullied, for example, then it makes sense that an anti-bullying curriculum would be introduced. The same can be said for anti-racism, mental health, special education, nutrition, mindfulness, 21st century skills and the list goes on and on.
It’s all very important and I absolutely appreciate that.
The problem arises when you try to add it all into the already existing curriculum without taking anything away.
The problem is further compounded when some of the existing curriculum runs counter to the newer curriculum that gets added on. As I write this (5/22) I still have to give a grade on our report cards for the student’s “cursive writing”.
The end result is that students and teachers are spread too thin trying to do everything that is expected of them. And either you do many things superficially, or you make massive cuts in the curriculum so that you can do some things well.
Either way it’s stressful for the teacher. Uncertainty is woven into the fabric of the entire year. “Am I supposed to teach cursive and typing skills?” “How do get to all of this? Which should I slash?”
This is partly why we need to cull. Right now we are continually adding on without taking away. As a result, everyone is running around like a headless chicken. Stress levels appear to be at an all-time high. Schools need to take a collective deep breath.
“Less is more, or stress is more.”
That’s just the beginning for Teachers
We really can’t teach it all. We want to, but it’s just not realistic. Something has to give. And I know many a dedicated teacher that tries valiantly. Some may even succeed.
But it comes at a price. It takes an inordinate amount of time and energy to even consider tackling all the expectations put on teachers.
I’m talking about having the janitor kick you out of the building at 11 pm kind of energy. Every single night!
I don’t think it should have to be that way. Teachers shouldn’t have to choose between a personal life and their jobs. There should be a more sustainable path and I think a large part of the answer lies in “less” rather than “more”.
Unfortunately, similar to adding onto the curriculum, the workload for the teacher has been piled onto as well. I’m sure it’s all in the spirit of doing well by our students, but it’s just added to the stress. This ultimately detracts from the student experience.
We need to take massive amounts off of the teacher’s plate, before it’s too late.
Less is more or stress is more.
The Teacher’s Workload
I’ve discussed this at length in my post entitled “The #1 Reason I Burnt Out Teaching“. And truthfully, I’m certain I didn’t get it all. Give it a read and let me know what I missed so I can update it!
Ultimately, what it comes down to is that a teacher is spread way too thin. In my mind, I think of a person juggling balls in the air.
What happens if you finally learn to juggle 6 balls (which is impressive) and someone lobs in a seventh? Then an eighth, ninth, tenth, etc?
They all come crashing down, that’s what!
And maybe it’s not as visually dramatic as that, but the end result is that the teacher is told they need to be able to juggle 17 balls, and the impressive number of 6 is not nearly enough.
The end result (or at least what happened to me) is that the teacher gets completely overwhelmed, and feels bad about everything (even what they are doing well) the entire time.
Not only are we being asked to teach everything under the sun (which we’ve already decided cannot be done well), we’re also being asked to enter data on it, fill out reports on it, show proof that we’re doing it, communicate it to families, attend meetings on it, get trained in new methods, take surveys and fill out forms, and so, so much more.
The fact of the matter is that teachers are reaching their limits. They’re heading for the exits, and they’re not looking back. It’s a shame too, because many of them are doing so well at their juggling. (As a fun aside here’s an interesting post on the theoretical maximum number of balls that can be juggled at one time.)
But how can you feel good about the 6 balls you are juggling when you are asked to do 17? Unless, you are incredibly self-assured, feeling good about the process is usually not in the cards. When the teacher hits their limit, they start looking elsewhere.
Eventually, there’s a price to pay for losing so many good teachers. But there’s also a solution. The solution is less…
What Are You Taking Away?
How many of you teachers have heard the words “self care” mentioned in the last few years? Do you know why? It’s because we’re leaving. The powers that be in education are seeing teachers leaving at alarming rates. They’re also seeing far less people filling that void.
So, as is natural in education, they decided to come up with a “solution”. They know we’re stressed out so they thought that more “self care” would do the trick. As a result, teachers across the land have been hearing “self care” for a few years…
It’s a nice idea, but to me it rings hollow. Do you know why?
Because, quite simply, I don’t have time for self care. If I’m to accomplish all of this busy work you are piling on top of my already demanding job of educating 24 students in a small room about everything under the sun, then where does the self care come in? At midnight? No thanks, I’d rather just sleep.
Those are the thoughts in my head after hearing a few mentions of “self care” at various staff meetings. I wonder, how do you receive those particular buzz words? Let me know in the comments.
My solution used to be that whenever someone proposed something new, the response should be “What are you taking away?”
Now, I don’t even think that is sufficient. It’s piled too high. Better solutions need to be found…
Real Solutions
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I have all the specific solutions to this problem. You know where my answer lies. It lies in “less”.
How you successfully pare down an expanding curriculum in an exponentially expanding age of information is no small task.
Getting it all to coalesce with some of the more “classic” educational standards brings an added degree of difficulty as well. It can be done, but it’ll take a lot of work
All I really know is that, as currently constituted, the job is completely unsustainable. Real solutions need to be found, and they need to be found before it’s too late.
In education, we’re already losing too many good teachers. How does that bode for our future citizens/society? I for one don’t like the thought of it…
We can’t just say “self care” and hope it all works out. Drastic measures need to be made to make the noble profession of teaching sustainable once more…
Rather than adding something new at the start of the new school year, every district across the land should be taking a hard look at what they have in place, and make hard decisions on what needs to be discarded.
The same can be said for what is being asked of the teacher. Questions like “Do we really need the teacher to still do this?” need to be asked. And when the answer is “no”, then take it out, and let the teachers know that you did.
“Less is more, or stress is more.”
What I Want
I want to start hearing that phrase uttered in orientations at the start of a future school year. I want to hear it in staff meetings too.
Then, I want to be told, at the beginning of the year, all of the responsibilities I no longer have to do. I also want to be told that this is just the beginning.
Eventually, I want to show up to school knowing that I can actually sit and eat my lunch at lunch time without having a million things hanging over my head. Imagine that!
I would like to talk to a coworker without backpedaling down the hallway to let them know, in a not-so-subtle fashion, that I don’t have time for them right now.
I’d like to be able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. I would like it even better if I didn’t have an “urgent to-do list’ that I need to accomplish, just to survive that day, waiting for me when I walk into class.
I’d like to be able to give my students the time to dig deep into a topic that they feel passionately about. Not having to skip superficially between subjects or make major slashes to the curriculum would be nice too.
I could go on and on, but you get the point.
But does any of that sound unreasonable? I don’t think so. If you agree, then let’s do something shall we?
A Call to Action
I’m not going to get too carried away here. It’s not in my nature. But if this idea of less rings true with you, then pass it on.
Give education that catch phrase it so covets. But this time, instead of having it add to your overloaded plate, let’s make the catch phrase actually lighten your load.
“Less is more, or stress is more”
As we discussed earlier, over time, more and more has been added to our respective plates. Eventually it reached a tipping point. Now, as a result of slowly accumulating tasks and extra work (among other things as well), stress levels are at an-all-time high. We see it in the teacher attrition rates, as well as the levels of anxiety in our students.
If, like me, you believe part of the solution lies in less, then let it be known. Let this mantra be the one you hear at the start of your school year. Let it echo down the hallways and into town halls.
Less is more, or stress is more.
Use this post if you want, or spread it some other way. Just get the message out. Let’s not make “being overextended and stressed out” the “21st century skill” that we’re teaching our kids.
Let’s make a school a place where we can calmly grow and challenge our students, secure in the knowledge that we’re doing what’s best for them…
Until That Day Comes…
Until that day comes, where the powers that be are actively trying to take work off of our plates, we need to do our own form of “self care”. And sure, yoga and meditation can be part of it.
But another part of it might have to be that we cut back on the work load. This can be incredibly difficult to do, and it’s certainly not for everyone. Nevertheless, hard decisions need to be made.
My favorite book I’ve read so far in my year of leave has been Deep Work. You can read my review of it here and I recommend that you do. Essentially, it outlines how we’re all happier in a state of deep work. But to get there, you have to eliminate superficial work that prevents you from achieving the deeper depths where the good stuff is.
In the end, this can only mean that we have to jettison all the burdensome cargo so that our students and we as teachers can benefit. I’m not sure how, but I’m going to try this when I get back. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes!
In the end, what I’ll attempt to do is find a solution to make this job sustainable in the long term. Maybe then, I can reach more students as I am able to do the job for longer… This is what I want for you as well.
Less is more or stress is more.
While You’re at it…
While you’re at it, you may want to take a look at your financial future as well. Personally, I don’t want to be another casualty of education, burnt out and looking for a new job in some other field just to stay afloat.
So, my general plan is to save my money, invest it wisely, and create my own safety net. This has given me great peace of mind moving forward. There are no guarantees in this world, but I feel confident that I have a good plan moving forward.
Rather than trying to endure 18 more years to get my full pension, I’m planning on trying to retire in 5 years.
If you’re interested in this idea, you can start by reading my general plan for early retirement and start looking at other posts on my personal finance page. Everything I’ve learned over the past few years will be stored there. Best of all, it’s low maintenance and anyone can do it.
Have a look if you are interested in having that as a backup plan…
“Less is More or Stress is More!” – A Summary
In my very humble opinion, teachers are overworked and underappreciated. For that matter, I believe everyone working at the school, teacher or not, is overworked as well. Even the students have too much on their plates.
The result is a stress-filled environment whereby everybody is trying to cram massive amounts of work into small windows of time. But quite literally, there isn’t enough time in the day.
To remedy this, we need to take work off everybody’s plate. Otherwise, teachers are going to keep leaving and anxiety levels for students will continue to rise.
A conscious effort needs to be made to jettison that which we don’t need. We then to be extremely selective about that which we keep.
In essence, you can distill it down to a mantra that should be disseminated to schools and districts across the land.
Less is more or stress is more.
Pass it on.
Thank you for reading everyone! As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments below. I’m new to this online writing game (since 2/2/22) but I encourage you to come along for the ride and subscribe (same page as the contact section). Together perhaps we can learn from one another and find solutions to the problems facing our profession.
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