All living organisms experience stress. Stress was evolutionarily critical for survival as it enhanced the fight or flight response (Medina, 2008; McTighe & Willis, 2019). In nature, organisms that adapted better to stress survived. Human beings are no different. In the classroom, like in nature, both teachers and students must adapt to stress in order to avoid classroom burnout. The statistics regarding teacher stress are well-documented (Karsenti & Collin, 2013)—teacher stress affects students’ learning and overall well-being. Although there are independent factors for teacher and student burnout, what we are increasingly seeing is that teacher burnout is in a vicious cycle with student burnout (Shen et al., 2015), ultimately affecting both parties in the classroom. Teacher stress can be caused by a whole host of factors, but it boils down to an imbalance between resources and demands (Karsenti & Collin, 2013). This is to say, what is expected of teachers significantly outweighs what is given to them. This leads to stress, poor performance, and early retirement. Similarly, students’ mental health can be impacted by many factors, but it boils down to an imbalance between what is given and what is expected. The expectation is that students will learn and get good grades in a safe environment. However, if they are bullied by their peers or presented with content that is not meaningful due to poor teacher performance and high turnover rates this can lead to student stress and eventual burnout.
Studies have shown that trauma can cause changes in brain circuitry that lead to disruption in emotion regulation and the inability to effectively cope with stress (Navalta et al., 2018). In students, this disruption is manifested in a variety of ways including hypersensitivity, isolation, and other responses that are controlled by the lower, more reactive, brain. The exhibition of these responses is a precursor to classroom management issues, which in turn, demoralizes the teacher and can lead to emotional exhaustion.
However, due to the neuroplasticity of the brain, there are strategies that can facilitate the reorganizing of the affected brain circuits through neurogenesis (formation of new connections), and synaptogenesis (strengthening of existing connections) (Fotuhi, 2013, as cited by Conyers & Wilson, 2016).
This article is written from a teacher’s perspective and explores some adaptations and intervention strategies that can help both parties cope with stress. I will discuss how nutrition and exercise, striking an effective worklife balance, building strong relationships, art and music therapy, and other strategies can help both teachers and students cope with stress and prevent burnout.
WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE BODY IS GREAT FOR THE BRAIN
The maxim, you are what you eat, ties your mental health to diet and exercise. The brain represents only about 2% of most people’s body weight, yet it accounts for about 20% of the body’s total energy usage (Mergenthaler et al., 2013). According to our understanding of nutritional psychiatry, the human brain operates much like an expensive car, requiring the cleanest fuel for optimal function. According to several reports on Harvard Health Publishing, eating nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and lean sources of animal protein, protects the brain from oxidative stress and inflammation, whereas processed foods promote inflammation, which leads to mood disorders and depression (Selhub, 2020). Consuming highly processed food reduces the volume of the hippocampus in the brain—the structure associated with learning and memory—and affects mood regulation (Jacka et al., 2015). Jacka et al. (2015) provided the first human study to demonstrate that a diet lacking nutrient-dense foods reduces hippocampal volume in humans. Therefore, it is important for schools to have effective breakfast programs that provide students with the clean fuel that will help kickstart their day, especially those coming from marginalized communities. One way to incentivize students and staff to eat healthier is by providing enough time for meals. If they feel rushed, students and staff will resort to fast-food or processed food that can be consumed faster, instead of nutrient-dense foods. I recommend providing a minimum of 45 minutes for both the breakfast program and the lunch period, allowing everyone to better pace their meal consumption. Although there are many other factors that lead to the shrinking of the hippocampus, the effect of diet cannot be overlooked.
Even more important than consuming cleaner fuel is your ability to transport the fuel to the brain cells, which is facilitated by exercise. By vasodilating blood vessels, exercise allows better transport of oxygen and energy to the brain. Studies by Hearing and colleagues (2016) have reported that exercise releases the neurochemicals endorphin and serotonin. Serotonin helps with feelings of well-being and happiness, while endorphin is produced to relieve stress and pain.
To promote the importance of physical education, each March, our school plans a school-wide “March Madness” activity, named after the NCAA football and basketball competitions. Each teacher organizes an activity, ranging from dodgeball and basketball bump, to tug-of-war and a scavenger hunt. Students from each homeroom compete and are able to earn points for their class based on achieving first, second, or third place. The winning class is rewarded with a trophy to keep in their homeroom.
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
There is no question that technology has facilitated communication among individuals. This, however, came with a price. Teachers tend to receive messages from fellow staff members and students at all hours of the day. This can lead to a poor work-life balance, and you find yourself not able to separate your home life from your work life. Szempruch (2018) points out that the inability to achieve this balance leads to emotional exhaustion, the first stage of burnout. It is therefore imperative for teachers to set boundaries. For example, teachers can stop checking their messages after 5 pm. If you find yourself in a leadership position, it might be difficult to completely avoid communications during the evening. A strategy that I employ is having a window, between 5 and 8 pm, designated strictly for me or family time.
PICK UP A BOOK
In the digital age, social media has been the platform of choice for news, communication, and even education. In many cases, children have access to cell phones and learn to use them before learning to read (Heros, 2016). According to a 2016 report in the Globe and Mail, social media has drawn students to spend more time in front of the screen, and less time sleeping, which, in turn, has induced mental health issues in adolescents (Anderssen, 2016). Our brains have evolved to use our imaginations for a wide range of functions, from critical thought to entertainment. Unfortunately, the night sky has been replaced by tracking “likes” on social media, which requires little to no imagination, a skill that is uniquely human. Stronger imagination, which could be stimulated through reading and writing, promotes attention, creativity, and language development, all of which promotes both neurogenesis and synaptogenesis.
BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS
The human brain has evolved to be social, which allows us to cooperate and form allies with others. Historically, for a successful hunt of game that was too large, too fast, or too dangerous for one individual to trap, forming allies was essential (Medina, 2008). The presence of social skills is further demonstrated by what is known as mirror-neurons (Heros, 2016). Mirror-neurons help to explain why we cry when we see someone else cry.
An important social resource available to teachers to meet the growing demands of the profession is their colleagues. Having weekly or biweekly meetings within your professional learning community (PLC) is an effective way to work together and support one another. The PLC could include the entire staff or be more focused by grade level and subject area. At my school, in addition to staff and department meetings, we hold grade-level meetings. This is an effective way to collaborate; since the teachers in the same grade level share similar challenges, student needs are met more effectively.
As a person in a leadership role, my primary goal has been to support teachers in my team not only with teaching resources, but also with coping with emotional exhaustion. An important strategy to balance the resource-to-demand ratio is to provide teachers more autonomy over their instructional planning. Another way to empower teachers is to ask for their input in making school-wide decisions. Apart from curriculum responsibilities, strong relationships can be built with colleagues by collaborating on extra-curricular projects. For example, I recently invited a new teacher at our school to help me coach the boys’ basketball team. Appealing to teachers’ interests outside of the curriculum helps to alleviate the feeling of emotional exhaustion and isolation, which is the second stage of teacher burnout (Szempruch, 2018).
It is equally important to foster positive relationships among students in your classroom. One of the ways I promote this is through cooperative learning strategies. Positive social skills are best fostered through face-to-face interactions, where students are in close proximity to one another (Blosser, 1993). During cooperative learning activities, each student in the group is assigned a particular role, and not until they complete their individual task, can the next phase of the activity be completed. Through cooperative learning assignments, which involve effective seating arrangements and grouping strategies, the teacher can facilitate a positive learning environment.
Another way to create a safe learning environment is by using an icebreaker activity that can be conducted at the beginning of the semester. Students in my class are encouraged to design a classroom flag that includes a symbol that represents each student in the class. The purpose of this activity is two-fold. First, students gain a sense of belonging and feel included in the classroom environment. Second, it allows me as their teacher to learn more about their background and interests. For example, if a student drew a professional basketball player as their symbol, I immediately learn that this student has an interest in basketball and that can help to influence lessons and spark conversations.
LEARN ABOUT YOUR BRAIN DAY
Cavazos (2016) highlighted a school-wide initiative by teachers at Crooked Creek in which both teachers and students learn about neuroscience. This allowed for terms such as neurons and trauma to be used in all classes, not just in biology. This experiment reported that learning about neuroanatomy eased students’ stress levels as they became more aware of the causes of stress and as they realized that they were not alone in experiencing stress and anxiety. To carry out this initiative, an afternoon could be dedicated to learning about the different parts of the brain through colouring, labeling, and discussing how the structures work together to carry out certain functions.
MEDITATION
Another example from Crooked Creek is their three-step process to de-escalate a conflict or feelings of frustration. The three steps include movement, time, and breathing: when such feelings arise, move away and go for a walk, then sit and focus on your breathing. By focusing on one’s breathing, time passes, allowing the stress hormones that flow through the brain during stress to dissipate (Cavazos, 2016). During stressful situations, blood flows to the amygdala, a structure that is responsible for emotions, instead of the prefrontal cortex, the structure responsible for judgement and cognition (McTighe & Willis, 2019). This form of meditation helps to avoid reactive behaviour. Schools can also explore other ways to incorporate meditation practices into their routines.
ART AND MUSIC THERAPY
Music therapy, which involves creating and listening to music with the help of counsellors, has shown to treat depression and anxiety in students. Algoodkar and Sunitha (2019) demonstrated that classical Indian music calmed students by slowing down their breathing and heart rate. They also indicated that music released dopamine, the pleasure drug, which helped students experience pleasure and satisfaction. Another study found that listening to music increased endorphin secretion, relieved stress, and helped to lower blood pressure and pulse (Gagner-Tjellesen et al., 2001, as cited in Osmanoglu & Yilmaz, 2019). To have a music therapy program the school should ensure that the teachers and counsellors are well trained and the elements of music such as lyrics and rhythm are carefully selected to have a positive effect on mental health. It is also worth noting that a sound-proof music room should be used, and it is equally important to schedule this therapy class into students’ timetables, instead of as a drop-in system.
Art therapy has also shown to help with processing grief and trauma. Jones and colleagues (2018) demonstrated the effectiveness of art therapy on military soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These researchers carried out their intervention by asking the veterans to make a collage representing their greatest fears and comforts. This type of intervention helped patients safely express their inner psychological experiences non-verbally, especially memories resulting from trauma.
By learning and experiencing something new like music and art, your brain not only forms new neural connections but also strengthens existing ones. Hence, investing in art and music therapists in our school system is vital, as it can help those with adverse childhood experiences.
CONCLUSION
The adaptations and interventions mentioned in this article will not be effective in isolation. Of course, each school must adopt a blended approach that meets its unique needs. And without sufficient resources and funding these strategies will be futile, leading to an imbalance between resource and demand. What’s more, additional challenges have surfaced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only added new demands on teachers but also magnified pre-existing imbalances in under-resourced schools.
References
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Anderssen, E. (2016, July 21). Number of Ontario teens with psychological distress rising at alarming rate: study. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/number-of-ontario-teens-with-psychological-distress-rising-at-alarming-rate/article31042541/.
Blosser, P. (1993). Cooperative Learning in Science Education. The Science Outlook, 1-9.
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Antik K. Dey
Antik K. Dey is a high school science teacher from Guelph, ON. Over the past nine years he has been teaching at a Canadian International Program in China, teaching a wide range of courses from English to Chemistry. He is also currently serving as the Science Department Head. Previously, his work has been published in Canadian Teacher Magazine, STAO (Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario) Blog and STAO Connex.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2022 issue.