stayed. We had meetings for new teachers,
but all we ever talked about was how impor-
tant it was to not suspend students because
of the new California Dashboard. I didn’t
feel safe admitting I was having classroom
management problems.”
Teachers who manage stress and exhibit
high levels of self-awareness, social aware-
ness, and management of emotions experi-
ence greater resilience and enjoy teaching
(Jennings et al., 2017). Providing teachers
with basic levels of support (e.g., teaching as-
signment, classroom supplies) is important,
but it is not enough to counter the stress and
emotional burnout driving teachers from the
profession.
A Plan of Action
Educators have recognized and responded
to the need to teach students the social and
emotional skills necessary for success in
school and in life. The research to develop
these social and emotional learning compe-
tencies can be leveraged to create systems of
support for teachers.
We know from extensive research that
when students learn in supportive and engag-
ing environments they are better equipped
to practice the interrelated behavioral com-
petencies essential in social and emotional
learning. Just like their students, educators
need positive learning environments in which
they utilize these same competencies:
• Self-Awareness—I am feeling (emo-
tions); I see my strengths and areas for
growth; I know I can adjust and respond
in positive ways and be successful (self-effi-
cacy).
• Self-Management—I can regulate my
emotions, thoughts and behaviors, including
stress and setbacks; I set goals and reflect on
progress with optimism.
• Social Awareness—I can see things
from another person’s perspective, consider-
ing their unique circumstances and possible
motivations.
• Relationship Skills—I can communicate
clearly, actively listen, solicit help, and han-
dle conflict with a “win-win” frame of mind.
• Responsible Decision Mak ing—I
can make decisions, taking into consid-
eration consequences and the well-being
of all involved.
12
Leadership
(adapted from: New Teacher Center,
2016; Osher et al, 2016)
Taking action to support teachers in
awareness and adaptation of their emotions
in response to the demands of teaching will
stem the flow of teachers leaving the profes-
sion. Thankfully, this does not call for “yet
another new program”. Rather, leaders can
adjust how they approach the work already
being done.
Step 1: Build emotional awareness
The first step in supporting teachers’ social
and emotional learning is to build self-aware-
ness and self-management by taking the
source of the stress out of the corner where it
is hiding and bringing it into the light.
So often we encourage teachers to be
transparent with their students. As a prin-
cipal, I often advised teachers to tell the
students when they were having a bad day,
how they were feeling, and what they needed
from students. For example, “I was up all
night with my baby, and I am tired today. I
would really appreciate your attention dur-
ing the lesson, so I can give you all of the
energy I have.” This models appropriate ways
to communicate emotions and needs.
While we may encourage this behavior
between the teachers and the students, do
we do the same thing when we work to-
gether as adults? As leaders, we must model
how to productively engage in conversations
in which we examine what specific factors
are creating stress, how we feel, and how to
advocate for what we need to move forward
with positive intention and action.
Emily, a first year teacher, ref lects, “I
know it is o.k. to share when I am stressed.
That was clear to me when our principal
talked about the problem of students being
tardy and getting detentions. She explained
she was frustrated because she had to spend
time following up with students and parents.
I was happy when she said she would rather
spend that time in classrooms. Because she
shared how she was feeling, teachers wanted
to help and suggested ways we could get
more of them to class on time.”
Through transparency in how we handle
our own self-awareness and self-manage-
ment, we also create a climate of trust.
Doing so breaks down teacher isolation: “I’m
the only one having this problem.” Taking
time to understand what is happening, how
we feel about it, and how we might address
the issue sends a critical message to teachers
that they are both human and valued.
Step 2: Listen and reflect
The second step is to help teachers develop
social awareness, relationship skills, and re-
sponsible decision making. These skills are
often taken for granted and making trans-
parent how they are manifested within an
educational setting is essential.
The first two years in the classroom are
critical. Administrators are deciding if a
teacher will attain permanency, and teach-
ers are making decisions about whether the
school is a fit for them. Unfortunately, some
struggle to determine if they will continue in
the teaching profession at all.
Just as we want students to monitor their
own learning, we need to support teachers in
reflecting on their emotions as well as meta-
cognition about their practice and its impact
on others. When individuals set goals, re-
flect on their areas of strength and growth,
and examine the impact they have on others,
their level of learning deepens.
Reflection plays many roles in social and
emotional learning. To build social aware-
ness, we reflect on our feelings to understand
what is happening and our reactions. When
teachers ref lect on their emotional state,
they are better prepared to plan for the un-
expected and to respond “in the moment”
when an unexpected event occurs.
The classroom observation and subse-
quent debriefing conversations are rich op-
portunities to model and teach the power of
reflection and positive relationship skills. In
these sessions, principals model authentic
listening and prompt reflection.
We see the power of listening and reflec-
tion when Dante explains his evaluation
experience: “I look forward to observations.
The principal really focuses on what is hap-
pening for the students. When we debrief,
he asks how I felt during certain parts of the
lesson. He keeps asking until I really unpack
what I was doing, why I was doing it, and
what it did for students.”
Setting norms for listening and reflection
during teacher collaboration is also critical.