On Teachers’ Self-Care: An Interview with Veronica Wylie

Veronica Wylie is a graduate intern in NASA’s STEM Engagement and a science high school teacher in Mississippi, USA.

Tell us a bit about your personal experience during the pandemic in terms of mental and physical exhaustion and how you tried to circumvent it.

“Thankfully during the pandemic, I had no physical ailments. I was mentally drained, however. During that time I lost a cousin, an aunt, and several family friends. Some of these deaths were due to COVID, some violent, and others due to illness or old age. When death appears to loom, there is a sort of dark cloud that hovers along with it.

During the pandemic, I exercised often, eventually getting up to 10miles a day on my bike. I also did a lot of planning and worked on other endeavours. I took the time to read, draw, and write. All of which are things that I generally never have the time to do. These things brought me great joy and kept me feeling that I had accomplished something and could set my sights on something positive. Perhaps the most important thing is the time that I spent digging into my family and my faith. We were able to spend time at home in peace, building relationships and enjoying each other's company. I engaged in prayer, read my Bible, and took fasting to a new level. These practices kept me healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

Do you feel like teachers’ well-being has been overlooked during the pandemic at the expense of all the other issues raised from education disruption?

“Yes. Teachers' concerns, stresses, and struggles have very much been overlooked during the pandemic. I would say this is also the case though for grocery store workers and regular folk who were previously deemed “essential workers.” Teachers were superheroes for the first two months of virtual learning, and very quickly became unimportant to the people whose children we work hard to teach and care for. Our fears and such though real, are often dismissed. We are stressed with trying to meet a multitude of needs, many of which are out of the ordinary, while simultaneously attempting to care for ourselves and keep up our regular teaching routines.”

Teachers concerns, stresses, and struggles have very much been overlooked during the pandemic.

There are teachers all over the world who are on the verge of burning out. Not to mention the health crisis is still evolving and many are still grappling with the most intense effects of the pandemic. What are your recommendations to them? In what ways can they protect themselves?

“Teachers are not burning out… We are burned out. For teachers, teachers' assistance, custodians, and others who are feeling the same, here are a few tips for keeping your head above water:

1. Dig into your faith. - I am a devout Christian, and the time that I spend in prayer, church, or otherwise practising my faith seems to “fill my gas tank” when I am about to break down.
2. Remember what is important. - As educators, we are stretched, stressed, and pulled to the limits. We have to keep our priorities in mind and be unafraid to say no. Not every paper needs to be graded today, your lesson plans can wait until you wake up, and your administrator will not die if you stop responding to your emails after you leave the building. No one pays you for overtime, so work your hours during the day and remember that your off time is your time and that some things are more important than others.
3. Plan ahead. - One thing that has helped me greatly, is creating a yearlong calendar with plans for each day (the standard and activity). This means that I am not up planning at the last minute, I know what topic I should be on, and I tend to be better prepared in advance.
4. Find some peace. - There is always something that brings a smile to your face, and when you are about to power down, it usually means you have stopped doing that thing. Take a few minutes each evening for you. Even if all you do is paint your toenails, or work a puzzle. Do something that helps you exhale and centres you.
5. Know your triggers. - Sometimes we respond to things and grow stressed/upset etc… because we are triggered. We cannot explain our feelings, and neither can the person we are frustrated with. I have really had to make it a point to whisper to myself, “you aren’t actually upset with _______. You were triggered when _________ happened.” This has helped me to be aware of my emotions and behavior, and to be in charge of myself. I tell my students the same thing. When I feel myself being triggered, I know to say, “give me just a minute honey I need to get my words right before I respond.” After my students and administrators have gotten to know me a bit better, they understand that this is one of the ways I get my mind in the right place before I say the wrong thing, to the wrong person, for the wrong reasons.
6. Know that your students are people. - Student behavior can really make things difficult. We have to remember that most often when students are acting out, it is because they are wrestling with something. Let’s be honest, as adults, we don’t always know how to handle our emotions; do we really expect students to be better at it than us? Don’t be afraid to pull a student to the side and simply ask how they are doing. Genuine concern changes everything, and I can say from firsthand experience that when you show students concern it can change everything. The same way that we wish our administrators would ask if things were alright before they blew up on us, is the way that we need to check in with our students. I say, be to them whatever you need from your administrator… Patient, compassionate, consistent, and fair.”

It is a common conception among teachers, and surely many more, that teaching requires total dedication. How does self-care play into this? How can teachers make sure that making self-care a priority doesn’t undermine their commitment to their careers?

“It would depend on what you call total dedication. I am 100% dedicated to my students; from 7:30 am-3:30 pm. After I leave the building, I reclaim my time. Think of it this way. I made a pitcher of orange juice last week and poured juice into two cups. Because there was juice left, I was able to pour some later in the day. The next day I went to get some juice, but the pitcher was empty. I had poured all of the juice out and had forgotten to fill it back up. Needless to say, the 3-4 drops of juice that I was able to get from the pitcher did me no good.

What I have learned over the years is that, if total dedication means being the empty pitcher, the few drip drops that I have left to give to my students are of little to no value. I only have something valuable left to give them if I take the time to fill my pitcher back up. I suppose I would say then, that taking the time to fill myself/my pitcher is part of total dedication. We must be mindful to balance the pouring and filling of ourselves. We pour ourselves out daily, especially when we love what we do. I would challenge every educator to ask how they are filling themselves back up.

For some of us, being filled happens through prayer. For others, it happens through exercise, family time, books, peace and quiet, or sleep. However the filling looks, it must happen, or we will reach a point where we are so empty that there is nothing left for our students, us, or anyone else who depends on the goodness that we have to offer.”

We must be mindful to balance the pouring and filling of ourselves. We pour ourselves out daily, especially when we love what we do. I would challenge every educator to ask how they are filling themselves back up.

What do you recommend people with decision-making power, i.e headteachers, deans, government officials do in order to protect teachers’ mental health?

I think the best thing that “people with decision-making power” can do to protect teachers' mental health is acknowledge that we are people with needs. It is difficult because some teachers take advantage of compassionate people in power. But when people remember that teachers are human, they stop demanding that we do work for which we are unpaid… They stop expecting us to respond to emails during the nights, and they do not suggest that we never take days off. They give space for wellness activities after hours and understand the value in not wasting time or micromanaging. I cannot tell you what a difference it has made when I worked for administrators who said, “you look stressed, are you alright?” as opposed to saying, “why weren’t you in the hallway like I told you to be, and where are your lesson plans?!” In my first year of teaching, I had an administrator who would walk me through responsibilities to which I was new. Veronica, let me show you how to… Veronica, do you have any questions for me? Veronica, this is an example of what ___ should look like… Let me partner you with ____ who can help you understand how to____. That made all the difference in the world. When I came back the next year, I had a new administrator, and in all honesty most days I was angry at the sight of him and found myself struggling to make myself come to work each day. I loved my students, so I didn’t quit, but every day I contemplated walking out of the door and letting him figure out how to teach my class on his own. Seeing my humanness is everything.