Primary school teacher mental health and well-being and support for this throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
Further reading
Abstract
Teacher mental health and well-being has long been a topic of interest, given the high-stress nature of teaching and the consequent implications, not only for teachers but for entire educational communities.
Recent years have seen teachers attempting to fulfil their responsibilities in unprecedented circumstances as a result of COVID-19. With the pandemic placing significant strain on people the world over, I was interested in exploring the effects of the pandemic on primary school teacher mental health and well-being. I also wanted to examine how the effects of the pandemic influenced participants’ views on teachers remaining in the profession.
The concept of resilience is used as a lens to explore the extent to which different factors contributed to primary teachers’ experiences, either protecting or acting as a risk to teacher mental health and well-being.
I adopted an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology which allowed me to consider primary teachers’ experiences within the context of my own experiences and understanding. Semi-structured interviews were carried out remotely with seven English primary school teachers.
Nine main themes were identified as contributing to primary teachers’ experience and these are discussed, considering how each was capable of either protecting or adversely affecting teacher mental health and well-being. Primary school teachers spoke unanimously about the increased pressure on them throughout the pandemic and the difficult nature of having to carry out usual responsibilities in a changeable context with significant additional considerations. Despite this, participants’ desires to meet the needs of their children acted as a crucial factor protecting their mental health, creating continuing motivation to provide support for children’s education and well-being in the face of adversity.
Discussion of findings sheds light on participants’ experiences through the pandemic and explores how key stakeholders can promote and support primary teacher mental health and well-being more generally.
