Zoomed-Out: Teacher Fatigue in the Age of Distance Learning and COVID-19
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
14-1-2021 2:00 PM
End Date
14-1-2021 2:20 PM
Abstract
K-12 educators are seen as super-human, being able to scale all life has to throw at them on a daily basis in the classroom. Challenges can happen anytime during a school day from students who are not feeling well, unexpected fire drills to a dogged parent who is unrelenting in contacting teachers about their student’s grades. The role of an educator is to support student learning regardless of the obstacles. But what happens when COVID-19 strikes, the school shuts down, and distance learning is implemented? How do teachers adapt to endless zoom meetings to acquire the skills needed to learn and employ a new platform, deliver curriculum and content, hold students accountable for their learning, teach parents how to log into the learning platform and support student learning at home, hold office hours, and attend online meetings including IEP/504, department, school, and district-wide? The mental health of classroom teachers is directly affected by the stress, exhaustion, and demands of their job, which may result in fatigue or burnout (Abraham-Cook, 2012; Gewertz, 2020), coupled with the responsibilities at home, especially if they have school-aged children. The intent of this narrative analysis is to describe and understand the experiences and insights of K-12 educators who are experiencing teacher fatigue during this time of COVID-19 induced distance learning. The findings suggest insights to how K-12 educators apply personal strategies, creativity, and professional values as they attempt to bring normalcy to their classrooms during this unusual time.
Keywords
Teacher Fatigue, Distance Learning, Learning Platforms, Student Education, COVID-19
ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2393-5477
Zoomed-Out: Teacher Fatigue in the Age of Distance Learning and COVID-19
K-12 educators are seen as super-human, being able to scale all life has to throw at them on a daily basis in the classroom. Challenges can happen anytime during a school day from students who are not feeling well, unexpected fire drills to a dogged parent who is unrelenting in contacting teachers about their student’s grades. The role of an educator is to support student learning regardless of the obstacles. But what happens when COVID-19 strikes, the school shuts down, and distance learning is implemented? How do teachers adapt to endless zoom meetings to acquire the skills needed to learn and employ a new platform, deliver curriculum and content, hold students accountable for their learning, teach parents how to log into the learning platform and support student learning at home, hold office hours, and attend online meetings including IEP/504, department, school, and district-wide? The mental health of classroom teachers is directly affected by the stress, exhaustion, and demands of their job, which may result in fatigue or burnout (Abraham-Cook, 2012; Gewertz, 2020), coupled with the responsibilities at home, especially if they have school-aged children. The intent of this narrative analysis is to describe and understand the experiences and insights of K-12 educators who are experiencing teacher fatigue during this time of COVID-19 induced distance learning. The findings suggest insights to how K-12 educators apply personal strategies, creativity, and professional values as they attempt to bring normalcy to their classrooms during this unusual time.
Comments
References
Abraham-Cook, S (2012). The prevalence and correlates of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout among teachers working in high-poverty urban public schools. http://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2820&context=dissertations
Gewertz, G. (2020, April 16). Exhausted and grieving: Teaching during the coronavirus crisis. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/04/16/exhausted-and-grieving-teaching-during-the-coronavirus.html