#edreform

The Educator Shortage Crisis

It appears every single sector of the economy is facing a significant shortage of workers.  In many instances, there are few concrete explanations for these issues.  At least ones that are widely accepted.  However, many of the challenges have been forecast for quite some time and are now becoming more of a reality.  The data in certain fields with retirement age and the number of those entering…

Tosha, a 27-year old single parent and toddler teacher in a child care center was feeling extremely exhausted and emotional when she contacted her college advisor where she was studying. She stated “I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown and to my breaking point! I have had a group of toddlers for the past two weeks on my own, while my assistant teacher has been out with the virus. I’m working 12 hours a day, in college studying a full-time load and taking care of my three-year-old son alone. This is too much for me! I’m done and I want out!”

The college advisor asked Tosha what her typical day looks like. Tosha said that usually, she wakes early each morning around 6am to dress and prepare breakfast for her and her son, whom she awakens at 7am. After taking care of her son, making lunch, doing some laundry, they are off for the day to her job at the child care center—but lately, she has been working in the center from 6am to 6pm. She’s exhausted, tired, despondent, and feels guilty because she’s not able to manage as she used to juggle work, her son, and study.

Dinner is often fast food, and interaction with her own child is placing a tablet in the child’s hands so she can do her college homework. Now her son is beginning to exhibit challenging behaviors at home and in his classroom. The college advisor asks Tosha to think about how she can minimize the stress by perhaps delaying college at this point. Tosha resists saying this is the only chance she has, and with seven classes to complete before graduation, she doesn’t want to quit school. Additionally, Tosha also told her advisor she wanted to get a second job to pay bills because there is so much financial pressure on her low income from the child care center.

This scenario is real and affects early childhood educators worldwide.

The demands on Early Childhood Educators

Early childhood educators are usually the first port of call for parents as they transition their children from home to socializing and learning with others. Good early childhood educators are a dedicated group of professionals who take their responsibilities seriously. There has always been a big paperwork load to record progress, comply with regulations, follow frameworks, align with professional bodies, continue with professional development, and more. That’s before we even look at interacting with the children, planning learning experiences, documenting learning, developing relationships – all of the things that quality educators do each day. Things that those not in the profession wouldn’t see.

In recent times, these demands have increased. Stories like Tosha’s are becoming more common. Children’s behavior is becoming more erratic and challenging, parental expectations are becoming more demanding, paperwork, social distancing rules, child-adult ratios, space limits, illness, worry, and concern have all been added into what was already a demanding job.

Simple things like having a bathroom break can be problematic, so educators don’t drink a lot or have to wait until another adult can supervise while they step out of the classroom. Understaffing makes this harder. The constant difficulty of finding early childhood staff is the other pandemic that is sweeping the world. Some centers feel they have no choice but to hire someone who is not remotely interested in children just to keep the center doors open. The comparatively low wages don’t help the situation either when educators compare income from a less stressful job to working in an early childhood center. What does this mean for the quality of education and care that is available in the centers?

The statistics before the pandemic, tell us that in America:

42% of degree-qualified educators leave the profession in the first 5 years. At least 66% of experienced educators think about leaving and at any given time 36% are likely to find another career path to follow. Educators leave the profession due to many reasons, such as dissatisfaction with the job (55%), family or personal reasons (43%), are at retirement age (32%), finding a better job (32%), or financial reasons (18%). There is no space here to look into what is included in each of these reasons, but the point is that over half leave teaching because they are generally dissatisfied that the job is not what they signed up for.

Teacher burnout and trauma are real. It’s the other pandemic that we have to monitor, find a way to immunize our quality early childhood professionals use treatments so that they aren’t pushed to the breaking point like Tosha.

Demands on the Administrator

Administrators are stressed, can be overwhelmed with paperwork, the needs of families, and then must make ethical and professional decisions to hire people just to fill the staffing gaps. There is clear evidence about the importance of quality educators but sometimes there is no opportunity to choose high-quality staff. Sometimes the administrator must work in a classroom because of the ratio limits and being short-staffed AND continue with their administrative work too. This puts administrators and other staff members in the position of surviving – not thriving. In some cases, administrators and staff members are forced to make decisions that are morally and ethically uncomfortable.

The demands on the brain

When we feel stressed, the body floods the brain with the cortisol hormone. This is a survival technique cleverly used by the body to keep us safe. Cortisol triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response that puts us on high alert constantly. The brain is looking for danger so that it can move us out of harm (flight), help us defend ourselves (fight), or become invisible by not doing anything (freeze). The high level of cortisol during stressful situations means we end up with a foggy brain – hard to think, remember, make decisions – and it’s exhausting.

Educators and many others have been living in a state of high alert for many months. A small amount of stress and cortisol can be motivating in the short term, but long term, it causes serious physical and mental health concerns. Educators can feel overwhelmed trying to manage their personal and professional lives. They may experience ‘compassion fatigue’, a secondary trauma that occurs when ‘adults become overwhelmed by the suffering and pain of those in their care’ (Nicholson, Perez, Kurtz. 2019).

Ethical responsibilities

As a professional, we have ethical responsibilities to ourselves, colleagues, children, families, the community, school boards, and government agencies. The NAEYC Code of Ethics is utilized by many educators across the world to guide good decisions when we find ourselves in a situation where we must determine the best possible outcome for everyone concerned.

What is your ethical responsibility to colleagues if you know they are struggling as we saw with Tosha at the beginning of this article?

What is the responsibility of the administrator to notice and care for staff?

Who is going to care for you?

It comes down to self-care first, followed by caring for others. Noticing the small signs within yourself and others as the pressure mounts. Not waiting until the stress and burnout signs are obvious before making some changes.

Self-Care responsibilities

What can we do to mediate the effects on educators and administrators?

There are many strategies that will support self-management and self-care. Here are a few to get you thinking:

Self-awareness – Take some time to reflect on how you are feeling – pause, take a breath and notice your emotions. Be honest and it’s ok to cry, get angry, feel sad.

Feelings - Recognize and acknowledge the feelings that come up for you and know that having these emotions does not make you weak – it is a strength to honestly reflect and put steps in place to change the feelings or situation.

Coping - Think about some big life events that were hard to get through at the time. Try to identify the coping mechanism you used then. Perhaps talking to a friend of relative to normalize your feelings, taking a break from the situation, losing yourself in a novel to give your brain a break.

Start to cut - Write down what you could cut from your day or week to reduce the load you carry. It’s important to write down or draw your obligations to get them out of your head, see them clearly, then start cutting. You’ll find it liberating. Remember this is about your survival and not about making other people happy.

Take care of yourself first - Take a walk, have a Friday evening long bath with candles and music, listen to gentle music, download a meditation app and do this when you get into bed or in the morning. Start and end your day in a peaceful way.

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References

Nicholson, J., Perez., L, and Kurtz, J. (2019). Trauma Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-138-30639-4.

Campbell, J. (2020). Teacher burnout statistics. https://newmiddleclassdad.com/teacher-burnout-statistics/

©Dr Kathryn Murray and Dr Sharon Little, 2021.

Dr. Kathryn Murray is an early childhood pedagogical expert and creator of the Brain-SET Formula© for Classroom Design. She is the CEO of Future Strong Education - a global early childhood consultancy organization based in Australia. Kathryn supports educators and parents to give children the best possible start in life. Find Dr. Kathryn Murray at www.futurestrongeducation.com or connect with her through [email protected]

Guest Author: Kaitlyn A. Ferris

In today’s technologically-advanced society, it is hard to imagine virtual learning being unsuccessful or the reasons why public schools are struggling to provide students with high-quality virtual learning experiences. After all, many adults are dependent on their phones for survival and children are becoming technologically literate at earlier and earlier ages. Even though these may be true, the COVID-19 global pandemic has made it clear that not all students have equal access to supportive learning environments and the resources to support virtual learning. Inequities in these areas make it challenging for young learners to thrive and develop skills to help them succeed in the virtual classroom.

Imagine the following…

It’s early Monday morning. Another week of school is just beginning for you and your 4th-grade classmates. This week, like many school weeks since late March, is now conducted virtually. You will be participating in e-learning with your teacher and fellow classmates this morning. As you brush your teeth, pick out your school outfit, and grab your backpack filled with school supplies, your Mom yells to you and your younger siblings, “Hurry up, I am late for work!” Your Mom works cleaning houses across town, and her work schedule has not changed despite the global pandemic. She cannot leave you at home to babysit your younger siblings, you’re only in 4th grade after all. Even if you could juggle your role as a student and caretaker for your younger siblings, your house does not have reliable internet access leaving you unable to join your class’ morning Zoom session if you stayed behind. Instead, you pile into the car with your Mom and siblings and drive across town. Your Mom will be busy all day, and you cannot bother her while she is working. Plus, you remember that your teacher will be starting the morning Zoom session shortly. She’ll wonder why you are absent if you don’t log-on and probably call your Mom to ask why, which will only make your Mom more stressed out. Luckily, the house where your Mom works has really strong, reliable internet access so you don’t even need to leave the car to join your classmates on Zoom. You fire up your computer, connect to the Wi-Fi network that by chance does not require a password, and sign into Zoom. You see your classmates, joke about what you did over the weekend, and complain about how much time you spent doing homework all while your younger siblings giggle and squirm right next to you in the backseat of the car. Your internet connection is strong enough so you are able to make it through today’s math review lesson without any connectivity issues. Those two hours of virtual class time flew by. You sign-off Zoom just as the driver’s side door swings open and your Mom starts the engine. Your Mom puts the car in reverse and you speed away to her next job site. As your Mom pulls into the driveway at her next house, you think about starting your homework since this house does not have an Internet network that you can join and it’s only noon.

Now, close your eyes and envision what you just read.

Were you questioning how it was possible for this student to retain anything discussed during that morning’s Zoom session or how this student could have possibly participated in the lesson with younger siblings chatting and laughing nearby?

Are you struggling to believe this scenario is one many students are forced to navigate during the global pandemic?

Are you thinking that this example is fabricated?

Unfortunately, it’s not.

This situation and others like it are very real. Teachers across the country are signing into Zoom and observing their students learning everywhere and anywhere they can — in their Mothers’ cars or the Taco Bell parking lot — and in their living rooms using the one smart-device available for the whole family. The digital divide is widening at an alarming rate, and when we put a face to the statistics this is what it looks like when one student tries to navigate the challenges of virtual learning in the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Scientific research has shown that innovative teaching methods and approaches can significantly enhance the student learning process. Students engaged with Innovative Teaching Strategies can reach pinnacle because of the amenities they get. Explore teaching strategies of modern education.