# Educating during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Educator Perspective on Mental Health

## TL;DR

This paper explores how the pandemic affected educators' mental health and work environments, highlighting increased stress and a lack of decision-making power.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into educators' mental health and occupational challenges during the pandemic through a large-scale survey.

## Key findings

- Educators reported increased stress (38.0%) and feelings of isolation (45.9%).
- Many felt increased work responsibilities (34.0%) and unaddressed concerns (28.2%).
- A lack of decision-making agency was a systemic issue reported by educators.

## Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators were impacted across domains of psychological, physical, social, and occupational health. Occupational environments, including classrooms, changed significantly due to COVID-19. This study aimed to characterize the nuanced experience of educators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants included 918 United States educators (e.g., teachers, paraeducators, support professionals, and administrators). Educators completed the survey via Qualtrics during November and December of 2020. The survey included eight qualitative questions, and responses were randomized to inductive or deductive datasets for analyses.

Our deductive results showed that individuals reported changes in several facets of health, with educators reporting increases in stress (38.0%) and feelings of isolation (45.9%). Our results also showed impacted occupational health, citing increased responsibility at work (34.0%) and feeling as though their voice was not heard after voicing concerns to either building- or district-level administration (28.2%).

One of the key findings that emerged at the systemic level was educators reporting a lack of decision-making agency within the workplace. Through including educators in the conversations regarding decisions at all levels, agency may be increased. Educators not only shape the students they teach, but the communities within which they work, making a focus on their health paramount.