Villainized and Victimized: How the Pandemic and Anti-Teacher Legislation Contribute to the Nationwide Teacher Shortage

• In Event: Teachers as Policy Experts, Agents, Activists, and Advocates

Abstract

Objectives or purposes:
The purpose of this study was to analyze teachers’ experiences of stress, burnout, and mental health while teaching during the pandemic.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework:
Agency is often theorized as one’s capability to act based on constraints and affordances within the environment (Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson, 2015; Ehren, et al., 2021; Toom, Pyhalto, and O’Connell Rust, 2015). The impact of the environment on human agency has grown within critical social theory and ecological models that explore how the phenomena is situated, nurtured, and thwarted (Leijen, Pedaste, and Lepp, 2020). Autonomy (Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson, 2015) and empowerment (Lawson, 2004) are often connected to the discourse on teacher agency, highlighting the many factors that impact teacher’s ability to exert their agency. Buchanan (2015) argues that teacher agency is directly related to teacher identity, “as teachers construct an understanding of who they are within their school and professional context, they take actions that they believe align with that construction” (p. 704). We contend that the constant changes in response to the pandemic, the uncertainty regarding school reopening, and the public discourse on demands to reopen school, greatly impacted teacher agency.

Methods and data sources:
This mixed-methods study consisted of a survey of 3,000 teachers, nine focus groups, and 25 interviews. The survey consisted of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, and PHQ-8. Survey participants represented all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, while focus group and interview participants came from 30 different states. Grounded theory was utilized for the qualitative methods.

Results:
The qualitative work revealed reduced teacher autonomy and lack of respect to be contributing factors to teachers’ dissatisfaction with their profession. Many teachers had left the profession, retired early, or were making plans to leave their positions within the next two years. Teachers’ voices went unheard/ignored within districts during planning for the school 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. Teachers’ recommendations were generally ignored, and when they indicated fears about safety, district officials publicly blamed teachers for pauses in face-to-face instruction, resulting in large divides between teachers and the community. Several teachers with documented health conditions were denied ADA accommodations, forcing them to choose between health and income. Additionally, parents’ rights groups began forcing issues, furthering mistrust and blame against teachers.

All of this stress has resulted in high levels of stress, burnout, and poor mental health. Data from the PHQ-8 indicated that when disaggregated by state/territory, only teachers from Alaska, Oklahoma, Utah, and District of Columbia indicated mild depression, teachers in Hawaii indicated severe depression, and the teachers in the remaining states/territories indicated moderate depression. In the focus groups and interviews, teachers described feelings of exhaustion and depression. These results coupled with experiences teachers shared in the focus groups and interviews point to a looming crisis in education.

Significance of the study or work:
We will provide many potential policy changes at the federal, state, and local levels that can be implemented to reduce the teacher shortage.

Authors

• Denisha Jones, Sarah Lawrence College
  Presenting Author

• Brianne Kramer, Southern Utah University
  Presenting Author