Each morning, my own kids enter
the gates of their Tacoma Hilltop elementary school and they are greeted with three
prominent phrases painted on a cement wall outside the building: “Care for Yourself, Care for Each Other and
Care for This Place.” While at first glance you cannot help, but want to
embrace these words, you wonder if these words were part of a student art project
that started and ended just as quickly as they were painted or if these words
have life and a true context beyond that static wall. When you dig a little deeper
you realize that “Care for Yourself, Care for Each Other and Care for This
Place is the school’s mantra. Kids own these words and the staff have embraced
the culture surrounding them. Even my kindergarten son has told his younger
brother that, “we need to care for each other and care for this place.”
I suspect that the school’s mantra
and its culture was spurred through Tacoma Public Schools’ Whole Child Initiative,
which has redefined how our schools addressed the social emotional needs of students.
Prior to the inception of the Whole Child Initiative in 2013 our students were struggling
and we had a difficult time responding to their social emotional needs.
It has been five years since
Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) launched the Whole Child Initiative. We have been
nationally recognized for this work and our kids are better supported. They are
safer, healthier, better challenged and more engaged. Today however, in the path
of a national teacher shortage and a polarized society we are now asking, what
about are educators?, Do they feel supported?, Are they safe?, Are they healthy?, Are they engaged?
In the last month alone, the
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) shared survey results of 5,000 educators.
61% reported that work is “always” or “often stressful” (Toppo, 2017). The article
went on to read that, “More than half of the educators point out their mental health is an
issue: 58% said their mental health was “not good” for seven or more of
the previous 30 days. A similar survey in 2015 found just 34% of
respondents felt the same.”
In addition to this trend of
educator stress, our teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. According
to an article published by the Washington Post, (Strauss, 2015) and research
from Richard Ingersoll a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, 40-50% of
teachers leave the profession by the end of their fifth year.
It has become more apparent than
ever that we need educators at the top of their game. The research alone suggests
that our employees need more support. Furthermore, healthier employees equal
better results. Dr. Anastasia Snelling from American University in DC and a
leading expert on teacher health and wellness said, “A healthier teacher
workforce translates into less absenteeism, higher retention rates, and
improved productivity,” (Snelling & Stevenson, 2013).
Because of this need, TPS district
level leadership began to ask questions. What does adult support look like in TPS?
How can we develop a system and a culture that responds to employee needs? One critical
question though emerged to the top and ironically, it was the same question we were
asking about our students five years go.
How do we support the Whole Educator? We began to rally. In our first attempt at answering this
question, we launched the Whole Educator Initiative and essentially replicated
the Whole Child tenants by focusing our supports on employee health, safety, and
engagement.
TPS
started this work by developing a one stop internal web site that allows TPS
employees to access several resources to support them. These resources include,
health and wellness options, a variety of professional development
opportunities, and community partner information to name a few. Over the last
three months, the Whole Educator Initiative has also been a staple at employee
events across TPS. A Whole Educator Academy was held in mid-August of this year
drawing in more than 500 teachers to attend this two-day conference. Teachers
could choose to attend a variety of sessions that supported their work in the
classroom and beyond. Our second phase to this initiative included developing the metrics to measure employee safety, health and engagement
as well as encouraging employees to get active every day.
Most
recently in our schools, some principals have taken on the Whole Educator
Initiative and made it their own. Employees
in these schools have reported being more energized and motived to attend work
each day. One specific example, is a newly established spin class at one of our
comprehensive high schools. Spin class participants gather after school in the
gym and spin for at least 20 minutes each day. Other schools have created time
in the main office to socialize and engage in collegial celebrations prior to
the first bell.
While
we have much more work to do around the Whole Educator Initiative to fully address
the needs of all our employees, it is
a start and we have begun to answer our original critical question, How do we support the Whole Educator?
It is our belief that once each employee feels safe, healthy and engage they
will truly thrive. In turn, so will the students we serve.
Forrest Griek, Ed.D.
Director of Labor Relations & Whole Educator Support
Tacoma Public Schools
@FMGriek
References
Snelling, A. & Stevenson, M. (2017, March 10). Helping
Teachers Get Healthier. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/08/21/01snelling.h33.html
Strauss, V. (2015, June 12). Why so many teachers leave –and how
to get them to stay. Retrieved November
08, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/06/12/why-so-many-teachers-leave-and-how-to-get-them-to-stay/?utm_term=.b107097e6565
Toppo,
G. (2017, October 30). Survey: Teacher’ mental health declining amid job
stress. Retrieved November 08, 2017,
from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/30/survey-teachers-mental-health-declining-amid-job-stress/811577001/
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