Who takes care of the teachers?

In the “Change Starts Here” podcast, host Dustin Odham chatted with author and associate at Marzano Resources and Solution Tree, Dr. Tina Boogren. As an advocate for the well-being and needs of educators, Boogren talked about a new shift towards emphasizing the wellness needs of teachers.

In her prior studies of educators, Dr. Boogren came to the conclusion that there was a link between efficiency in teachers and their wellness.

“One of the things that I found in doing that study … the most effective teachers are effective at the sacrifice of something else in their lives. So every single one of them had health issues and personal things going on,” said Boogren.

This realization offered an explanation to Boogren about going back to the drawing board. She stated that much of student achievement goals place a lot of importance on teachers and the instructional strategy. However, she added that teachers are also human beings who need to be well and healthy to provide the best education to their students. Because without that, strategy is ineffective.

“If the person providing that strategy is totally burned out, worn out, exhausted, compassion fatigued, that strategy is not going have the impact, and as schools move towards the incredible important work for social-emotional learning for students, all the research says... that work starts with the adults,” said Boogren.

She added that too often educators' needs are not prioritized nor considered because the system normally favors students' needs over theirs.

But the COVID-19 pandemic helped people see a new perspective as everyone faced lockdowns, and worried about their well-being away from socializing. That is when Boogren and a partner got to work on creating a wellness and self-care framework for educators.

Much of it includes ensuring educators get adequate sleep, make movement, be it in the classroom or exercising, and drinking water. But as simple as it may seem, the busy lives of educators can interfere with even some of the most basic daily functions. Boogren mentioned that self-awareness plays an important role in how they can incorporate Boogren’s four dimensions of wellness.

Boogren said there has never been a time where education wellness has focused on educators. But with the current work that is being done now to combat that, she believes future educators will change gears and said that change will start sooner than later.

“The next generation is going to force us to. They’re not going to work the way we do and did,” said Boogren.