Bigger workload puts teachers’ well-being on the line over stress
Longer working hours and increased administrative tasks are putting teachers in the UAE at higher risk of stress, a forum in Dubai heard.
For many, who move to the UAE to teach, being away from families and support systems back home can also contribute to loneliness and stress.
“They struggle to adjust to the culture, the new ways of teaching, the environment … adjusting to being here without their families, their friends, social support,” Tanya Dharamshi, clinical director at Priory Well-being Centre in Dubai, told The National at Gess Dubai, an annual education conference dedicated to well-being.
“Often teachers are asked to work late and their mental health is often the last thing on schools’ agenda.”
Frequent changes to the school curriculums means teachers are regularly bogged down with extra administrative work.
“They need to write reports, get data and they are doing these things on their time, which means they are not able to recharge their batteries,” said Ms Dharamshi on the final day of the conference.
She said schools need to do more to support their staff, including allocating safe places where teachers could engage in open dialogue without feeling judged.
“Build work-life balance, stress management and mindfulness into the professional development days. This is not something [teachers] should be doing on their own time,” she said.
“If teachers are exhausted they will feel frustrated.
“People go into teaching because they are committed to helping, but they put their needs on the back burner.”
She said teachers end up feeling demotivated, which results in poor teaching that in turn leads to low self-esteem.
This also contributes to a high level of turnaround in the profession.
An international survey conducted by the National Education Union in the UK last year found that four in 10 teachers plan to leave the education sector.
This year, teachers in the UAE told The National that heavy workloads were pushing them to leave private sector jobs for government schools. Teachers reported working 70 hour-weeks before school inspections.
On Thursday, Ms Dharamshi presented the findings of a study conducted in December 2018 that showed more than half (56 per cent) of teaching staff worldwide felt emotionally drained by their work most of the time.
Well-being in International Schools, by ISC Research and Cardiff University in the UK, polled more than 1,000 teachers worldwide, including in the UAE. About 43 per cent of the respondents said their school was not concerned about their well-being, while 42 per cent reported feeling frustrated in their jobs.
More than one in five teachers said they felt under pressure over unfinished work tasks, and three in 10 would not recommend working at their school to a friend.
But some schools are introducing measures to improve conditions for their teachers.
Rosemin Guerrero, a secondary school psychology teacher at Jumeirah English Speaking School, said communication played an important role in breaking down the stigma of speaking out about mental
Often teachers are asked to work late and their mental health is often the last thing on schools’ agenda TANYA DHARAMSHI Director at Priory Well-being Centre
health. “Teaching as profession is stressful but it’s about coping with stress,” she said.
The school, in Arabian Ranches, has counsellors for teachers to speak with.
“The more we open up channels of communication, the more we break the stigma.”
Monisha Gurkar, holistic therapist and life coach in Dubai, said schools would benefit from helping teachers learn about emotional intelligence and gain perspective, so they may feel motivated.
“Teachers are so exhausted by the end of the day as they have given up everything else for the sake of their job,” she said.
Authorities are making efforts to address the well-being of staff.
The results of an Adults@ School Well-being Survey – conducted by Dubai’s private school regulator, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority – are due to be released this month.
A total of 20,000 school staff were polled, with the data compiled to be used to create action plans to improve morale.