To address student mental health, first we need to address teachers' mental health

If you're an educator or you read the news, you know that for teachers, as well as for our youth, times are tough.  A recent USA Today article states "Overworked, underpaid?  The toll of burnout is contributing to teacher shortages nationwide".  Another states that "The Sunday Scaries are at an all-time high". Their students, aren't faring any better.  From NPR: "Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide have risen in recent years. NY Times reporter Matt Richtel says we lack the therapists and treatment centers to care for teens who are suffering."  When therapists are lacking, many students look to their teachers for support.  As a teacher, I experienced this countless times, and I made serveral reports to social services over the years.  But for all the publicity that both issues are generating, there seems to be little or no discussion of the relationship between the two.

While the debate continues about whether teaching Social Emotional Learning (SEL) or otherwise supporting students'mental health is part of teachers' role, few seem to acknowledge that teachers' mental health can affect students.  The connection is supported by research, however:

It was found out that positive emotions made teaching effective.  Negative emotions made teachers lose control, shout, and become careless when talking.  Teachers' negative emotions made learners humiliated, scared and ultimatley withdrew from talking during learning.  It was also found out that negative feelings, thoughts, and actions encourage negative behavior."  (Mahkwathana, 2017)

If you've spent any time in a classroom, you know this is true.  The old adage, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" applies to teachers and students as well.  A former colleague of mine who spent decades as a teacher, principal and instructional coach used to say, "If you don't believe your emotional state affects your students, try working up a really foul mood and starting your class that way - if you dare!"   Despite this being common knowledge, it seems to be a blind spot in the debate over how to address the two of the biggest challenges facing schools right now:  the teacher shortage and the youth mental health crisis.  I don't mean to imply that happier teachers will automatically lead to mentally healthier students, but it certainly seems like an obvious place to start.  

So what are teachers supposed to do if they're struggling?  Fake happiness to support their students?  Let's face it, most teachers have done this countless times, as depicted in this video.  But this is certainly contributing to teacher burnout.  Faking wellbeing is exhausting and unhealthy - and students with traumatic childhood experiences are often experts at detecting others' true emotions - it's a survival instinct.  The answer seems obvious.  We need to take better care of teachers so that they can impart and model genuine happiness and well-being in the classroom.

We already know that teachers need better pay, more autonomy and fewer responsibilities.  Unfortunately, we also know that none of this is happening as quickly as teachers are burning out.  In the meantime, teachers also need a way to overcome the stress, feel more calm, productive and positive.  They need support to build their mental fitness.  Studies indicate that simple mental fitness exercises combined with positive intelligence coaching can accomplish this. 

Like many universal truths, the science behind Positive Intelligence is deceptively simple.  Researchers at Stanford University performed a factor analysis and determined that all of our negative thoughts and emotions can be distilled into 10 “saboteurs”, and that all of our positive thoughts and emotions are rooted in five “sage powers”.  They also determined that the reason people are unable to maintain lasting change when learning new behaviors is that insight is only 20% of the equation - the other 80% is mental fitness.  Think of physical fitness:  you can’t simply learn about how to build muscle; you have to perform the exercises repeatedly over time to strengthen your muscles.  The Positive Intelligence program works the same way, and thus produces lasting results both professionally and personally.  

Teachers have stated clearly that they don’t need condescending advice to do more yoga or try aromatherapy.  They need to be empowered with the tools to help them function at their best despite multiple crises.  They deserve the same training that employees get at top corporations.  Google, Microsoft and Nestle, among dozens of others, have all trained all of their employees using Positive Intelligence.  It’s time to invest equally in teachers.

This winter break, I'm hoping to help some teachers being to rediscover their happiness, and hopefully their joy in teaching.  I've created this free resource for teachers to use. Though it's intended to accompany the seven week Positive Intelligence program, it's designed to be helpful as a standalone resource. If you know someone who might benefit, please share widely.