Strategy Four: Self-Care

Teaching is a highly stressful occupation, right alongside law enforcement and nursing. In addition to the dynamic nature of classrooms and students, educators also face the secondary trauma associated with having close relationships with their students and often bearing witness to their experiences. The Covid-19 crisis has added a significant layer of stress and uncertainty to every educator.

First, student and student family stressors have increased significantly, raising the overall stress level in the school. Combined with the loss of our usual community connections, this increase is even more dramatic. Additionally, concerns for our own family members, our own health and risk factors, the novel move to high levels of on-line instruction, and the uncertainties of the next school year are real stressors that have been layered on top of an already stressful occupation. School-wide awareness and discussion of these “occupational hazards” is important to both validate staff feelings and allow for the open discussion of the impacts of secondary trauma and Covid related stressors on our work and our personal lives.

Additionally, providing professional development and support for educator self-awareness and self-care is central to empowering educators to develop sustainable school/classroom communities where they can be adaptable and responsive to the needs of our students.

Trauma-sensitive schools:

• Recognize the reality of secondary trauma and acknowledge its effects;

• Provide staff with professional development on self-care;

• Devote resources to activities that promote staff well-being.