Sharpen the Saw: Sustainable Self-Care for Early Career STEM Teachers

• In Event: Calling in Well-Being: Critical Examinations of Black and Brown STEM Students

Abstract

Covey and Covey (2020) presented habits of highly effective people which includes being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, and putting first things first. The last habit is the focus of this study – sharpen the saw. This habit focuses on preserving and enhancing the greatest you have – you. It is devoting the time to renew ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially. This study focuses on early career science and mathematics teachers who are Teaching Fellows in a federally-funded scholarship program (STEM Teacher Leadership* - a pseudonym). The goals of this program are to: (a) recruit and prepare STEM professionals who are willing to remain as highly-effective teachers in high-need secondary schools, and (b) engage in robust professional learning experiences for teacher leadership. In supporting our fellows in becoming highly effective teachers and leaders, we emphasized sustainable self-care and their ability to sharpen the saw.
Teacher wellbeing has become increasingly important with burnout-stress from anxieties related to COVID-19, teaching, administrative support and communicating with parents (Pressley, 2021). A study focused on teacher pedagogical well-being indicated the omnipresent culture of performativity and its consequences with how teachers interact with students and their colleagues (Murphy et al., 2020). Research suggests that novice teacher attrition rates can be attributed to factors such as job insecurity and an exceeding workload, especially for those who have difficulty with classroom management or feel demoralized in the profession (Amitai & Van Houtte, 2022). Furthermore, states are increasingly controlling educational decisions and eroding teachers’ professional autonomy in the classroom.
Understanding the importance of retention and career satisfaction during a time when there is a mass exodus of teachers leaving the profession is critical. Therefore, we conducted an embedded single case study (Yin, 2003) within a larger study examining the recruitment and preparation of STEM teachers. The overall data were collected within clusters to crystallize themes around our efforts to promote sustainable self-care for early career STEM teachers (Ellingson, 2009). Data sources included the Signature Experiences, self-care presentations, and follow-up semi-structured interviews to understand the extent to which Teaching Fellows accomplished their self-care goals. Constructivist grounded theory was the analytical approach employed in this study (Charmaz, 2017).
Teaching Fellows in the STEM Teacher Leadership program explored the Dimensions of Self Care, created goals for sustainable self-care for the school year, and engaged in and other cohort-organized programming. Participants defined critical self-care, engaged in restorative practice circles, and received strategies on how to implement those practices; they also received tools to ensure long-term sustainability.
Preliminary findings revealed how teacher professional collaboration enhanced classroom practices and teachers’ sense of well-being. While the demands on the teacher participants were great, the community they fostered provided accountability in prioritizing their own physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional health. Furthermore, they learned about their rights as a teacher and became agentic for the safety and overall well-being of their students and themselves. An emphasis on mental health is critical for increasing productivity and effectiveness and sharpening the saw!

Authors

• Natalie S. King, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author

• Andrea Dziengue, Georgia State University
  Presenting Author