Teacher Pressure
 As with any profession, teaching comes with its share of joys and difficulties. The difficulties of the teaching profession are not always well understood by the public, but those familiar with teaching are well aware of the pressures that teachers face. Below some of the issues facing teachers will be discussed as well as how those pressures change and can be dealt with. |
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What kinds of pressure do teachers face?
The teaching profession is not an easy one; not only is it difficult because of the amount of interaction that occurs in each day, but the hours are long. School hours may be from approximately 8-3, but there are many hidden hours in a teacher’s work day. Below are some of the pressures that teachers all over face on a day-to-day basis:
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Time management: As mentioned, teachers do not only have work to do in the class; there is always work to do outside of the class to prepare for what happens in class. Lesson plans need to be made, homework and tests need to be marked, projects need to be planned, resources need to be found, and when needed, phone calls to parents need to be made. These are just some of the responsibilities that arise; teachers without good time management skills will find themselves under a lot of stress when trying to deal with all these responsibilities.
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Extracurricular duties: It is often expected that teachers will contribute to the school community by helping out in extracurricular activities. This contributes to the amount of time committed outside of school hours and increases the need for good time management on the part of teachers.
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Isolation: Many teachers feel a sense of isolation from the rest of the school as they must all prepare their own classroom and lessons, not to mention handle what happens in each class on their own; without reaching out to others for support and help, this sense of isolation can grow and contribute to teacher burnout.
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Only Teacher: Sometimes a teacher can be the only teacher in a school who teaches a particular subject; this can contribute to the sense of isolation mentioned above, but in a different fashion. Not only might the teacher feel isolated, but even reaching out for support will be difficult as no one else is teaching the same subject. A teacher in this situation must make a concentrated effort to reach out beyond the school environment to find the necessary support.
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Advocacy: As every person has different values, naturally there are subjects that students, parents, and even other teachers will value less than others. Teachers of these subjects must be prepared to advocate for their subject and describe its benefits and importance to others.
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How do the pressures of teaching change?
The experience of being a teacher is not static; a teacher's growth and development is a dynamic process which changes as their experience expands. As teachers develop, the pressures on them change as well.
- 1st year teacher: A first year teacher faces many challenges: getting to know the school and staff, taking on their own classes, planning lessons and units, finding effective assessment techniques and dealing with the full pressures of the job for the first time are just some of the challenges. A new teacher can often feel overwhelmed with all the tasks on their plate and without proper support, the experience can turn into a negative one.
- Experienced teacher: An experienced teacher will have developed many techniques to deal with the pressures mentioned above, and they will have collected many resources to use which will reduce their planning time, although the need for preparation and planning never completely disappears. The more experience a teacher has, however, the more he is expected to contribute to the school community whether through extracurricular activities or by helping newer teachers to become integrated.
- Mentor Teacher: Teachers with sufficient experience are often asked to become mentor teachers. Taking on a student teacher is a rewarding experience, but is not without its challenges. A good working relationship with the student teacher must be developed, and the mentor teacher must be prepared to provide all the support that the student teacher needs. The amount of how much support a student teacher needs varies but no matter how qualified the student teacher, the mentor teacher always has a responsibility to promote the student teacher’s professional growth.
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What can teachers do to overcome these pressures?
Teachers can do many things to deal with the pressures of their job. Below are just some of the basic solutions, can you think of any others?
- Be realistic: Problems are going to happen and some days will be better than others. Teachers who are patient with their own pace of development will feel a lot less anxiety over the problems that they are facing.
- Be organized: Lesson planning can be stressful, as can the long days and the after-class work. Being as organized as possible will minimize unnecessary stress. Keeping a daily planner to organize important dates and responsibilities and developing a system to organize resources will minimize unanticipated problems.
- Be balanced: Scheduling times to do relaxing and healthy activities is extremely important. It emphasizes the need for good time management as the healthier a teacher is mentally, physically and emotionally, the better a teacher he or she will be.
- Look for support: Isolation is a serious problem in the teaching profession that doesn’t need to exist. Reach out for support, as there are those who are willing to provide it. Chances are good, there will be others who will be happy to give and receive help.
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