The huge toll that Covid-19 has taken on the wellbeing of teachers in international schools has been revealed in research findings.
Staff have reported feeling “drained” and “frustrated” during the pandemic, according to a report published today by ISC Research.
The findings chime with a Tes survey of 7,000 UK teachers, in which 45 per cent said they were “drained and exhausted” earlier this term, while nearly a fifth - 17 per cent - said they felt “physically and mentally on the brink”.
Based on responses from international school staff in 109 countries, today’s report looks into how the wellbeing of students and staff has been impacted by Covid.
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Asked whether they felt emotionally drained by their work, almost half (47 per cent) of teachers, school leaders and administrators said they felt drained sometimes, while 17 per cent and 11 per cent said they felt emotionally drained by their work most of the time or always, respectively.
One teacher commented: “I just recently stopped, due to health-related issues, setting my alarm at 2am or 3am, getting up hours before work, to try and complete tasks, prepare for lessons in class and online to be ready for each day. I’m so physically and emotionally drained when I get home that I’ve been unmotivated to do school work in the evenings before falling asleep.
“I’ve cried more than I ever have before and felt unsuccessful more than I have in 23 years of education.”
In similar research conducted in 2018, a large proportion - 44 per cent - of respondents said they rarely felt emotionally drained by their work.
Teacher wellbeing: The ‘struggles’ of online teaching
Teachers in the latest report pointed to the difficulty of moving to online learning and an increased workload for teachers.
One teacher said: “The struggles of virtual and hybrid teaching are some of the most draining experiences in my career.”
And one curriculum coordinator added: “My teachers feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do. We all feel that we’re working more online than when we are on-site.”
More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of teachers said that teaching remotely and distance learning played a particularly negative role in staff wellbeing.
And 73 per cent said Covid was a “significant challenge”, while 62 per cent said the virus had increased their workload.
Only 44 per cent of teachers agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “As best it can, the school has supported my wellbeing through the challenges of Covid-19.” This compared with 84 per cent of admin staff and 74 per cent of leaders
Some teachers also said they were frustrated because they felt they never had enough time, or due to administrative tasks or learning evaluations taking away from their teaching time.
Asked how often they struggled to cope with the demands of their job in 2020, 11 per cent of respondents said daily, while 10 per cent said four to six times each week.
More than three-fifths (61 per cent) of the respondents said they struggled to cope with the demands of their job once a week or less.
‘On the verge of a meltdown’
School leaders also reported high levels of stress. One leader commented: “The key word here is ‘struggle’. The role of director is always demanding, so we tend to expect that.
“I have a highly capable team and generally supportive parents. I could say I do feel anger welling inside of me daily but I’m only on the verge of a meltdown once a week. In fact, I’m hiding out from my family now because I can’t take being needed much more.”
Active support from colleagues was seen as the most valuable contributor to staff wellbeing overall.
Respondents to the research, which was carried out in November and December 2020, include 124 teachers,112 leaders with a teaching role, 151 leaders with a non-teaching role and 193 administrators.
