9.15: Employee Wellness
The teaching profession is one of the most stressful; with many teachers reporting low wages, a lack of administrative support, risks to their safety, the ever changing and high demands of the job, and a lack of autonomy (Pitt Barnes & Lang, 2023). Teachers also experience socio-political pressures from politicians, media, and parents. They may be blamed for behavioral problems and declines in academic performance or college preparation. More recently, states have begun enacting restrictions on topics that teachers can discuss in classrooms, including gender and race - policies which are having a chilling effect on teachers even in non-restricted states (Woo et al., 2024). With early retirements and teacher burnout likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of educators have left the profession in recent years. In many states, recent increases in teacher salaries and teacher preparation support (including student loan forgiveness programs), is helping to reduce shortages and bring the number of teachers back up or even higher than pre-pandemic levels (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). However, problems with teacher retention were present long before the pandemic.
Offering a wellness program for employees can benefit all staff, as well as the students who attend the school. Healthy behaviors are modeled by everyone from the classroom teachers to bus drivers, cafeteria employees, administrators, office staff, and custodial employees. Positive employee morale influences the social-emotional climate of the school, and healthier employees can support student learning and adoption of health behaviors (CDC Healthy Schools, 2021).
As of this writing, the WSCC research on employee wellness particular to school employees has been sparse, and more is certainly needed. The few interventions in schools, as well as workplace wellness programs in other industries have shown mixed results for employee physical activity and nutrition behaviors, as well as stress reduction and mental health. Multi-component approaches with adequate, long-term funding may be the most beneficial. The provision of a wellness program for school employees should also be used in conjunction with addressing other needs, such as improving organizational support, increasing salaries, and offering adequate health insurance and sick leave policies. These can benefit the whole school, and all of the employees - including teachers (Pitt Barnes & Lang, 2023).