Dear HLT Reader,

I hope you had a peaceful and fun summer break.

It’s back to school in the west hemisphere, the beginning of a new academic year, brand new faces in our classrooms, sometimes new colleagues, a very exciting moment in the life of every teacher. Or is it? How do we feel, really? Recently the New York Times asked some teachers to pick a word to describe how it feels to be a teacher right now, here’s the results: while some teachers are happy and are looking forward to a new academic year, most feel stressed, tired, overwhelmed, exhausted, rushed, overworked, unappreciated, tough and pressured. And students don’t fare much better, either: again, according to the same survey, most (college) students report feeling tired, overwhelmed, anxious, bored, lonely.  And this is reason for concern.

Evidently, the recent pandemic hasn’t helped: as one teacher said, ‘I feel kids don’t know how to talk to each other, we don’t even have the art of conversation anymore. I’ve been a teacher for 16 teachers, it’s always been difficult, but things have intensified’. What can be done then? As usual, there are no magic fixes in education, no magic concoction to make things better. One thing we should perhaps do is help teachers pay more attention to their emotions: there’s a lack of ‘real’ Emotional Intelligence training in our schools. Teachers (and students) need to be trained to recognize their feelings, identify the triggers so that they can self-regulate. This isn’t anything shallow, or fluffy or peripheral: numerous studies show that more emotionally intelligent teachers have greater sensitivity and empathy, are rated as more effective, and are better at staving off burn out.

On a much broader level, I believe we should let teachers be the drivers of policies created at admin, district or state level, often by people who’ve never been in a classroom.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if for a change our policy makers learned to really listen to teachers, and not just merely paying lip service to what we say? Shouldn’t we have a say over what we’re doing in class? Don’t hold your breath. One thing is certain though: for what it matters, Pilgrims will always continue to support the teaching community and will continue to fight relentlessly until all teachers are treated with the respect they deserve.

Enjoy this new issue of HLT and happy back to school to those concerned.

Best wishes,

Chaz

Chaz Pugliese

Director of Education and Teacher Training, Pilgrims.