Wellbeing Course Teaches Teachers To ​“Thrive”

After a too-long stint of feeling way too isolated, Brennan-Rogers second grade teachers Samantha Conway and Tracey Peterson found a way out of their ruts thanks to an investment in their professional wellbeing by the teachers union and the city’s public school district.

Conway and Peterson shared those experiences during the latest monthly meeting of the Board of Education’s Teaching and Learning Committee, which was held online via Zoom last Wednesday. 

The local educators spoke up as part of an update to the ed board committee on a partnership between the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) and the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT).

As part of that partnership, the district and teachers union partnered with a consulting firm called Educators Thriving as a part of a broader effort to retain and recruit NHPS teachers. 

During the professional development that took place through this program last fall, local educators learned about ​“The Five Pitfalls” that can occur while teaching, which include overwhelm, personal neglect, conflict, unexpected challenges, and isolation.

Conway said on Wednesday that, during the session, she self-reflected and learned, ​“I was personally in the pitfall of isolation.”

“This was ironic, it was like a double-edged sword because I was surrounded by people who are in the same boat as me,” she said. ​“Instead of running toward each other we were shutting our doors on our prep, we were complaining about other people complaining, talking in circles about the teacher shortage and just not really helping each other get out of this.”

Since going through the training Conway said she has joined forces with her grade-level partner Tracey Peterson and taken on a mission to ​“bring life back into the hallways of our school.”

This looks like being extra loud in the mornings to welcome students and staff, leaving their classroom doors open more often, and turning complaints into something more positive, Conway said.

“It was nice to be able to recognize that I was in isolation and take an active step to get out of that ” she said.

During Wednesday’s presentation, teachers union President Leslie Blatteau emphasized the importance of focusing district efforts on educator wellbeing. She said she was introduced to Educators Thriving through her work with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) on a teacher shortage task force.

According to an AFT survey, 75 percent of the union’s national membership would not recommend teaching to young people. That survey also showed that teacher and principal stress is ​“twice that of the general public,” and that one-third of teachers and principals in June 2022 had indicated that they were going to leave the profession.

“Recruitment is not gonna solve this problem,” Blatteau said. ​“Recruitment is a part of it but we know that there are not enough people going into the teacher prep programs for us to recruit them in. So we really have to bring a laser focus to retention.”

That means working to avoid burnout and demoralization Blatteau said.

And so, this past fall, 50 NHPS educators took part in a five-week professional learning series hosted virtually by Educators Thriving. Participating teachers received $500 stipends each, Educators Thriving paid these stipends with AFT support. 

Tyler Hester, the founder of Educators Thriving and a part-time vice principal at an elementary school in California, told the committee members that the program was originally created in partnership with the Boston Teachers Union. 

“We can recruit all we want but if we’re not retaining incredible educators and then positioning them to rise to the heights of their potential, we’re not going to get there for our kids,” Hester said. 

Hester described the program’s goal as ​“facilitating human flourishing” by providing educators with strategies to take care of themselves at an individual level while also addressing educator wellbeing at a system level. 

Hester said while burnout is rampant ​“there are a really predictable set of personal challenges that people face in the course of doing this work.” 

The fall partnership offered sessions on topics like the five pitfalls, prioritizing, core values, strengths, relationship, and habits for educators. The weekly sessions were a combination of sharing national data and inner personal development resources to provide educational learning experiences, Hester said. (Click here to see samples of the training materials.) 

Peterson said she would highly recommend the training because ​“I finally felt that this was a professional development that focused on us the teachers.”

“We took a time to not talk about curriculum per se and talk about us as teachers,” she said. ​“Every week it was an opportunity for us to reflect. We had time to talk about how we’re feeling, how we were coping, ways to take care of ourselves, but still getting the job done at the end of the day.” 

Peterson added that the professional development was beneficial because it was with several New Haven teachers who were dealing with similar obstacles, and it connected them with others beyond their own school. 

Peterson and Conway had a group that also included a high school educator who provided them with a new way of thinking and lots of feedback.

“It was just incredible to have someone outside of the walls of Brennan-Rogers to also give the same feedback,” she said. 

Click here to view the follow-up report collected by Educators Thriving about the participating educators’ experiences. 

Additional educator feedback noted in the report read:

“I loved being able to collaborate with other educators through the breakout rooms. …I also loved to discover that I am not going through this alone. Sharing and collaborating with my group and everyone else gives us more strength together.”

“Through these sessions, I have come to the realization that as teachers we need to prioritize our health and well being and deserve to be treated and valued more.”

“I always felt a lot better after each session, especially during really tough days.”

The report also showed that after the training, 77 percent of educators agreed or strongly agreed that they plan to stay in education for at least five years. 

Meanwhile more than half of the educators said they don’t feel ​“teacher and staff retention is a priority at my school or district.” 

Blatteau added that the alarming data around retention intentions was collected before the union and district settled on a new teachers union contract.

When asked why it is important to invest in teacher wellbeing, Conway said, ​“Teaching is not for the faint of heart.” 

She added that such investments can make the job of an of educator more manageable and is also an important recruitment tool. She concluded with a reminder to the group of the need to save yourself first in an airplane emergency with an oxygen mask before you can help others. 

“I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to focus on teacher wellbeing,” Peterson said.

She said a boost in wellbeing is not only a help at the start of the school year but ​“revives us” when done mid-year. 

Educator Thriving training facilitator Katie LaPointe pointed out that educators fill the cups of students on a daily basis and need to have their own cups refilled as well. 

In response to a question from math supervisor Monica Joyner on whether the training is only for teachers, the Educators Thriving team clarified that the trainings are for all school staff such as nurses, paraprofessionals, speech pathologists, and administrators. 

“We want to institutionalize this. We want this to be standard practice in American education, starting here,” committee chair Ed Joyner said. 

Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Leadership Keisha Redd-Hannans said the district is looking into offering the program for more school staff.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the Educators Thriving training was paid for by NHPS American Rescue Plan Act ESSER dollars which was incorrect. There was no cost to NHFT or NHPS for the fall program. The opportunity was a result of an invitation from AFT to NHFT to partner with Educators Thriving to support NHPS teachers wellbeing.