A new tool for educators running on empty

Throughout the nation, a new school year is well underway. As we all get back into the swing of bell schedules, educators are also adjusting to unprecedented (and often unreasonable) demands for accountability as a result of new anti-DEI laws, educational policies and proposals to eliminate the Department of Education. Due to heightened levels of public scrutiny, educators must be poised to respond to the impact of these initiatives in their classrooms. 

These mounting pressures have increased the typical work-related stressors that educators experience. Findings from the 2024 State of the American Teacher Survey conducted by RAND reveal that 59% of the teachers surveyed experienced frequent job-related stress.

Despite these high-stress levels, educators continue to center the needs of their students and families while delaying self-care they need to sustain themselves. But there are measures educators can take to address and mitigate the stressors they will encounter this school year, including something I call identity-based radical self-care. 

Identity-based radical self-care is when individuals make the proactive decision to care for themselves by centering their social identity needs and engaging in activities that feed their souls. For example, as a Black woman educator who leads, I often encounter intersectional, identity-based discrimination. I have found great benefits in spending time with fellow Black women leaders. Social self-care activities like these can change a person’s lifestyle and allow them to put their own needs before others consistently, reducing the impact of stress and combating stress-related illnesses.

Here are some ways educators can start:

Periodically conduct a self-care assessment.

Identity-based radical self-care entails more than exercise and eating a balanced diet. There are several types of self-care: physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, social and professional. 

1. Take a self-care survey at the beginning and end of the year, and as needed.
2. Schedule time to review, analyze and make plans to address the results.

Select proactive and reactive self-care strategies. 

Most comprehensive self-care assessments include strategies for each type of self-care. When considering which strategies to practice, educators should identify proactive strategies that will help them decrease daily stress and reactive strategies to mitigate the intensity of personal or societal stressors. 

1. Review the results from the self-care assessment. 
2. Analyze the assessment to identify self-care areas of strength and areas of growth.
3. Identify strategies they would like to practice to address anticipated and unexpected personal and/or work-related stressors.

Develop a strategic plan to practice identity-based radical self-care.

Educators often have internal and external stressors. To address my stressors, I meditate every morning using a guided meditation app. It helps me resolve internal conflicts and remain calm when I encounter oppression and marginalization stemming from racialized experiences. 

1. Decide which self-care strategy will most effectively meet their needs. 
2. Make a plan that includes specific times and spaces to implement their self-care practice.  
3. Implement the plan and celebrate the small wins based upon self-designated milestones. 

For USC faculty, staff, alumni and students, I also recommend Mindful USC for additional self-care practices, support and ideas. I have found their meditation drop-in sessions to be extremely calming and beneficial. 

Just as it is important for educators to create a self-care practice, it is also essential for schools and systems to offer their support. Creating policies, systems and structures to provide educators with tools to practice self-care has the potential to yield benefits that will increase workplace well-being, promote a positive school climate and produce culturally relevant supports to retain educators during this period of high turnover and teacher churning.