Managing Emotions: A Landscape Review of U.S. School Personnel in 2021

• In Event: Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty and Stress: Findings From a Free National Course for Educators 2020–2022

Abstract

School personnel- including classroom educators and specialists, education support professionals, mental health providers, and school leadership, play a pivotal prosocial role in support of a healthy school community, and are often presented with difficult circumstances and intense pressures that have been associated with increasing rates of attrition among the profession (García-Arroyo et al., 2019). Emotion management has been shown to improve the social, professional, and mental well-being of school personnel (Bracket et al., 2010). This skill as fundamental to a flourishing education system, became apparent during the 2020-2021 year. This was a time of extreme uncertainty and stress, when educators balanced remote learning and a global pandemic, experienced a historically unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as economic insecurities, climate emergencies, and heinous racial injustices. Objective. This study explored three questions within the context of the 2021 year: (1) How are school personnel feeling about work?, (2) What are their sources of stress and joy?, and (3) What are their sources of support? Theory. This work is guided by the Prosocial Classroom Model (Jennings & Greenberg, 1997). Method. This study employed a quantitative correlational research design. We established five cohorts utilizing dates significant to the U.S. education system in 2021 (e.g., the Capitol insurrection, vaccine rollouts, end of the school year 2021, summer 2021, and start of the new school year). Exploratory analyses were run to better understand the array of emotions and support school personnel experienced within these cohorts. Overarching themes as well as cohort-level responses will be presented. Evidence. Data was collected from December 1, 2020, through December 1, 2021, and a sample of more than 10,000 educators responded to at least one question. Participants reported on their emotional experiences, sources of stress and joy, and recommendations for support through open-ended and closed-response questions. Results. The sample reflects participants from all 50 states and Puerto Rico, majority female (68%) and white (54%), average age 43 (SD = 12), with a mean of 14 years’ experience. See full demographic breakdown in Table 1. Participants reported the most common affective experiences of Compassionate and Empathetic. The most frequently reported negative affective experiences for all participants were Tired and Exhausted. Throughout the year the cohorts reported differing levels of support, affective experiences at work, and sources of stress and joy as a function of time and demographic group membership. Significance. Understanding school personnel emotional well-being in context has implications for the field of education, students, burnout, and attrition, as well as personal and professional well-being (Sutton & Harper, 2009, Mérida-López & Extremera, 2017). Although times of uncertainty and stress are nothing new for school personnel, particularly in the wake of the traumatizing experiences of 2021, it is imperative that effective emotion management and support are made available. Implications for school personnel and the importance of emotional intelligence training will be discussed within the context of the 2020-2021 U.S. sociopolitical climate.

Authors

• Miranda Wood, Yale University
  Presenting Author

• Christina Cipriano, Yale University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marc A. Brackett, Yale University
  Non-Presenting Author