Education Week - June 9, 2021 - 19

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Compassion Fatigue
Is Overwhelming Educators
They need acknowledgment and healing
I
n April 2020, my great-aunt suddenly died from
a rare and aggressive cancer. She was an adored
and hilarious high school " cafeteria lady " of 20
years, but her funeral wasn't the celebratory affair
I had envisioned: a procession of students past and
present, decades in the future. Rather, it was me,
her casket, and my cellphone. My grandmother,
her sister, could not travel at the time so I was elected to
facilitate a video-call viewing-a virtual goodbye for two
sisters. I remember my phone screen in those first moments.
My aunt's eyes closed, and my grandmother's were wide open.
And, then, in that moment, a notification flashed onto my
screen. A student needed to talk.
Since that moment, I have been supporting student after
student and teacher after teacher as they navigate their own
COVID-19-related grief. I started having trouble sleeping
at night and I live with an always present feeling of anxiety
and constant fatigue. I struggle to muster the same passion
I once had for my classroom work. With a little research
and some help from my instructional coach, I realized
that I was experiencing compassion fatigue, just like, for
example, 49.6 percent of education
workers surveyed in Alberta, Canada.
Unsurprisingly, the increased trauma
associated with pandemic teaching has
created a silent epidemic in education:
educators with nothing left to give.
Compassion fatigue is the cost
Most school leaders are aware that educators, including
themselves, are suffering, but they may struggle to talk about
it. While many times good-intentioned, leaders' efforts to
help educators dealing with compassion fatigue have further
exacerbated a decline in educator mental health. Calls for
teachers to exercise " self care " or administrators to " give
grace " are often superficial and do not acknowledge the
required healing process. Compassion fatigue cannot be cured
by shortened meetings, notes of encouragement, or working
fewer hours. Instead, educators need to be taught how to
identify symptoms, connected with high-quality resources,
and invited to help change harmful school climates.
So how can administrators support compassion-fatigue
healing for themselves and their teachers? It begins with
reframing the conversation.
1. Don't use language detours. Calls for educators to
By Shayla Ewing
EWING is the English
of caring, the secondary trauma
developed from caring for a person
who has experienced trauma. The cost
looks different for everyone, including
experiencing extreme exhaustion,
sleep disorders, increased anxiety,
and self-isolation in some of the more
serious cases. When supporting a
person with the trauma, like the recent
death of a loved one, the cost goes up. With more students
entering schools with shared trauma, teachers are exiting.
Of the teachers who left the classroom during the COVID-19
pandemic, stress was the most cited reason, not the need for
more money, respect, or pending retirement. Unfortunately,
an increase of secondary trauma and work-related burnout is a
bottomless cocktail of compassion fatigue.
be " resilient " can be harmful, making staff feel like they
should be able to sustain unmanageable workloads or actively
brush off signs of burnout. This kind of language detour
masks, dismisses, or ignores signs of compassion fatigue.
Normalizing detours can also perpetuate
schoolwide burnout-for example, when
teachers then encourage students to " build
resiliency " rather than address mentalhealth
struggles.
Moreover, pain-hierarchy language like
department chairperson at
Pekin Community High School
in Pekin, Ill., and a 2020-21 Teach
Plus Illinois senior fellow.
" their pain is worse, " " they need me more, " or
" do it for the kids, " enforces unhealthy martyr
mindsets. Educators are falsely encouraged
to neglect their own mental health in favor
of privileging a student's or staff member's
emotional distress over their own.
Calling out and correcting these and
other language detours can help educators
better uncover symptoms of compassion
fatigue and set healthy parameters for
defining their own success.
2. Celebrate teacher well-being. When teachers are
celebrated, it is frequently for achievements that result from
toxic work habits. An educator working contracted hours
is rarely heralded. While these educators give their all to
students, leaders that exclusively recognize educational
professionals who work endless hours set the expectation
that long days (and nights and weekends) are a prerequisite
for success. Educators who are already emotionally depleted
struggle to mimic these high expectations and feel like
" bad teachers " when they fail. A common symptom for this
fatigue is the inability to function productively.
Administrators can actively work to change this narrative
by celebrating educators who make positive mental-health
choices. Why not publicly acknowledge teachers who
practice mindfulness, educate themselves about appropriate
self-care, and invest in their own well-being outside of
school?
3. Normalize the language around compassion
fatigue and healing. Teachers are expected to be positive
people, but many times, this expectation can be harmful.
When teachers express their struggles, they may be met
with " look on the bright side, " " it could be worse, " or " don't
be so negative. " Meeting mental-health concerns with toxic
positivity gaslights educators, making them believe that
their compassion fatigue can be cured by thinking positive
thoughts.
This language muzzles teachers. We may feel like we
cannot express concerns without being labeled " negative "
or " complainer. " Instead, schools should educate teachers
on indicators of compassion fatigue and give us the space to
monitor symptoms, report concerns, and seek help. Turning
a response from " good vibes only " into, " It is OK to feel this
way. How can I help you? " welcomes healing and rebuffs
silent suffering.
If compassion fatigue is not addressed, it can manifest
into more serious mental- and physical-health issues. While
this fact alone should prompt action by those who lead our
schools and districts, it should also raise alarms for national
stakeholders. When was the last time educator well-being
was considered in discussions of education initiatives?
School and district leaders have a responsibility to
establish an environment that not only allows educators
to heal but encourages it. Not because we will leave their
campuses unless they do or student achievement will suffer,
but because they recognize the humanity of the individuals
who are educating our young people. This is the kind of
compassion we should all have time for. 
EDUCATION WEEK | June 9, 2021 | www.edweek.org/opinion | 19
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Education Week - June 9, 2021

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