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What Educators Can't Ignore By Lori Lavalee, BA '93, BEd '96 |
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Aritha van Herk, a well-known Alberta writer, has recently published a book entitled Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta. In it she describes Albertans as “people who step out of bounds, refuse to do as we are told, take risks, and then laugh when we fall down and hit the ground.” A recent teacher’s strike involving 22 school jurisdictions, within the Public School Board Association of Alberta, is perhaps reflective of this state of mind. While all provinces have been struggling with reduced funding in the public education system, PSBAA teachers “voted overwhelmingly to support (a government-supervised strike vote),” said Larry Booi, president of the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA). He further stated that “The work we do is consistently undervalued and our classrooms are inadequately supported by the provincial government.” Teachers services were withdrawn for up to three weeks in some districts, until the provincial government ordered strikers to return to work on February 21. It was the biggest strike in the history of the province, involving over 21,000 teachers. On March 1, however, the ATA successfully appealed these orders in the courts and Booi has vowed to continue calling on the government, “to work with us to solve the underlying problems that gave rise to this dispute.” The central goal is an improved collective agreement that not only increases teachers’ salaries, but improves classroom conditions through reduction in class size, thereby attracting new teachers while encouraging experienced ones to remain. The most fundamental problem however, is that of work overload and stress. Teachers are telling administrators that “workloads are increasing,” as are the numbers of teachers on Extended Disability “due to stress” (ATA). Although stress is considered to be an occupational hazard in many of the helping professions, in the teaching profession it has been described as “physical, emotional, and attitudinal exhaustion” that begins with a feeling of uneasiness and mounts as the joy of teaching begins to gradually slip away (http://interact.uoregon.edu/wrrc/Burnout.html). This condition is commonly referred to as “Burnout,” and negatively affects an individuals’ physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual well-being. Teacher-stress and burnout is so predominant that it is referred to as a syndrome in its’ own right, “TSB”, and it affects both veteran and beginning teachers. One pre-service teacher describes for example, being in the “process of burning out--washed up before I even began.” This was despite considering himself an idealistic and enthusiastic person, when he made a crossover to elementary school teaching from “corporate America” (Keiffer, Jonathan: Teaching and Change; Winter 94, 1:2). Soon afterwards, he recalls telling his cooperating teacher “in no uncertain terms” that he had a problem: “I hate them [students] and I am tired of all this. I don’t need it.” In order to overcome these circumstances, Keiffer embarked on an “action research project” and learned that beginning teachers are just as likely to burn out or leave teaching as anyone,” as they often experience even more stress than seasoned teachers do.” As Keiffer discovered, there is a fine line between stress and Burnout. An even narrower line exists between Burnout and Depression, a form of mental illness that ironically, is particularly difficult to diagnose in high functioning individuals. Robert Schweitzer, in Law Today, indicates, for example, that certain “personality features” or “obsessional traits” are not uncommon in certain professions (19:1; Feb ’99). These characteristics may include a desire for organization, high achievement or perfectionism. Ultimately though, it is the degree of intensity that determines the light that these characteristics are seen in: While perfectionism is often associated with excellence, “perfection, coupled with a punishing attitude towards one’s own efforts can cripple the imagination, kill the spirit, and so handicap performance” (www. nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/peters.htm). The actual causes of Depression however, include biological, genetic and environmental factors and its’ onset tends to be insidious: It is well established before it becomes apparent, having an almost parasitic quality. In essence, Depression is “characterized by changes in emotions that cause subjective discomfort and hinder the ability to function” (Schweitzer). Not surprisingly, Depression is also known as a “disease of the self- esteem.” There are many forms of Depression including Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is a con-dition whereby individuals experience depressed mood, extreme sluggishness, irritability and anxiety, generally during late fall and winter. A more prolonged disorder is called Dysthymia, and is characterized as a chronic, lowgrade depressive state, persisting for at least two years. While the symptoms are not com-pletely disabling, this condition can be either preceded or followed by Major Depression, a more severe form. All forms of Depression can have a serious impact on both the personal and professional lives of those affected. Moreover, given the current political environment of the educational system in all provinces, TSB and Depression should be understood as a significant risk factor in the teaching profession. One
in five Canadians will “hit the ground” and be affected by
mental illness at some point in their lives (Canadian Mental Health
Association). Unfortunately, they won’t be laughing. |
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