How burnt out are Sunshine Coast teachers?: Survey

In a survey of nearly 200 Sunshine Coast teachers, more than 45 per cent said their mental health is declining. 

Teachers Jacquie Shields and Alison Liddicoat said their goal is to alleviate some of the main stressors teachers face as they presented the survey findings at the SD46 board meeting on Sept. 13. 

Shields, who is the president of the Sunshine Coast Teachers Association, said she heard from teachers that they felt their wellness was on the decline and that they were feeling burnt out. So she and Liddicoat started the survey to see how widespread the feeling was. 

Shields clarified that “Burnout is defined as physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” 

After working with the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) research department, Shields and Liddicoat conducted their survey on Sunshine Coast teacher workloads and well-being last spring and 199 teachers participated. Of the teachers who took part, 120 were classroom teachers and 50 were special education teachers, and over 71 per cent of participants had a post-baccalaureate or higher.  

Of the participating teachers, 17 per cent said their mental health was “significantly worse” than at the same time last year, and 31 per cent said it was “slightly worse.”

In a followup interview with Coast Reporter, Shields explained that most of these issues come down to staffing, and that teaching staff becomes stretched thin when they are constantly pulled away from their job to cover for others, which results in a reduction of available services to students. 

“It's always that delicate balance of recruitment and retention. And sometimes we focus all our energy on recruitment, and we forget that we need to make sure they have a work-life balance as well,” she said.  

Findings

The survey identified three main themes that contribute to teachers' stress levels. 

1. Need for connection within the school district.

 Liddicoat explained that increased paperwork and online reporting takes time away from authentically connecting with students.

Teachers teaching on call (TTOC)s feel disconnected without a home base to work out of or regular colleagues. TTOCs also reported miscommunication which caused them to miss important information about their classes, adding stress. 

School hubs where students and teachers connect outside of class are often closed when schools are short-staffed. 

Staff also commented that they feel less connected to upper leadership and that there is a lack of understanding of teacher workloads.

Participating teachers said they felt the most disconnected from the BC Ministry of Education, followed by their superintendent and school board. 

2. Need for student support.

The survey found that stress and worry about students' mental health contributes to teachers' burnout.

Teachers also reported an increase in intensive behaviours among students and a lack of support to manage these students. Intensive behaviours often present as externalized behavior, bouts of anger, elopement from class, disruption of the classroom or other form of non compliance.

Classroom teachers also struggle to understand their role in supporting students with diverse needs when an Instructional Support Team (IST) teacher is in the class.

Often specialist teachers are pulled to cover for shortages, resulting in reduced service to that student.

3. Consistently increasing workload.

The survey reported many teachers said that their roles are continuously being added on to each year, with nothing being removed. 

Staffing shortages have resulted in many workshops being held after school hours or during holidays, this contributes to an overall reduction in personal time, and decreases work-life balance.

To avoid students being without an instructor, a “shocking” amount of teachers reported not taking sick days when they should, and miss medical appointments in order to teach their students. 

Suggestions

Based on the findings of the survey, Shields and Liddicoat came up with a list of suggestions to improve teacher well-being. 

They stated that an increase in specialist workers, who can specifically address challenging behaviour and help reduce caseloads would help alleviate teacher workloads.

It was also suggested that workshops should be held on Pro-D days, and that it be clearly defined what is voluntary and what teachers are expected to attend.

Shields and Liddicoat also suggested that part-time positions and increased flexibility in contracts be explored, this would make it easier for overworked teachers to reduce their hours without going on leave.

They also suggested bringing in the Professional Linking Program in order to train educational assistants who want to become teachers.

“I do believe that our board, and our superintendent, will work with the SCTA to find solutions so that we can get [teachers] over here,” said Shields. “And find ways to alleviate the increased workload on our teachers that are already here.”

Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.